Fantasy The Five Kingdoms - The Fall of Sarthenfall - Ic

[Blackrose7]

Annabel looked at Cale, because what she had said to her. 'I need to come up with something to say to that, since it would be a bit odd if I ignore her.' thought Annabel.
"I thought it would be a good idea to come to Fransen, because the Rebellion is going to find the capital eventually. Also, I will not let my father send you to somewhere else, Calina." said Alex.
That was the only thing that she can think of saying to Cale. For she wasn't sure how to respond to a question like that without making it too obvious. 'Really me? I should have said that I wanted to come here, but no. I had to say something like that. At least, Cale will get what I am trying to say.' thought Annabel.
Bakuyoshi

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

She ventured into the sitting room of the small shop, her cloak draped over one arm as she pretended to feign intreast in books and objects that were really quite boring as she picked up and eavesdropped on bits and snippets of conversation, moving closer to a group of young women who chattered excitedly on idle gossip she could care less about. She turned her back to them, pretending to place intreast in a book she’d already read before, picking it up and examining the cover.

“You.” One of the women behind her said, leaving a great pause, Azalea turned to see they were referring to her.

“I absolutely adore your hair, my husband would kill me if I cut it that short!” The blonde woman chuckled along with her raven haired friend.

Azalea gave a polite smile, very out of character from herself, and replied, her accent thick with a Northern one, “Then perhaps you should get a new husband.” She said lightly, her tone the slightest witty.

“Oh!” The blonde giggiled, glancing around as if Azalea had just shared some great secret before back at Azalea. “I like you. What’s your name Ms....?

Azalea gave a formal curtsy, “Violet, if you will. Me and my associate,” she gestured towards the bookshelves with a dip of her head, “Are stopping in town for some supplies.”

The raven-haired woman tried to— and failed to—inconspicuously, tilt her head to try and catch a better glimpse of Raymond. “Oh..” The woman blushed as she turned back to her friend and Azalea, “He looks quite handsome doesn’t he?” She asked in a low voice, giggling.

Azalea fought the urge to facepalm, a surge of annoyance going through her and smiled instead as she watched the blonde swat her friends arm, “Rose!” She scolded in a hushed tone, “You have a husband for gods sake!”

The two giggled, “Doesn’t mean I can’t observe men from a safe distance.” She replied to the blonde with another annoying, fully laugh.

“For the love of Gods...” Azalea muttered under her breath exasperatedly, before realizing she had broken character.

The blonde, who thankfully hadn’t heard turned to Azalea, a question written in her face, “Pardon, what was that?” She asked, the echoes of her giggles fading away.

Think fast. “I said, do you play cards?” Azalea lied, sighting a deck of old cards on an end table by a chair.

Four finely gentlemen approached just then, two coming to each women’s side.

“Rose, Harriett, we’ve been looking for you.” The thinner gentleman said, looking pointedly at the blonde-woman, likely his wife.

Harriett squirmed under her husbands gaze. “The children are fine for a few hours dear, honestly —“

The thin man took his wife gently by the arm, and gave a stiff nod in the groups direction before the two briskly walked off, quietly bickering as they did so.

Gods. She would never get married. What a horror that would be, she couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to let a man control them in any way, nonetheless live with one everyday.

Rose laughed nervously, breaking her train of thought as Rose gestured to Azalea. “Neil, this is Violet, she’s stopping in with her associate—“

The fatter, older gentleman, his head gleaming with sweat stepped forward and grasped her hand in a tight grip, smiling broadly and catching her off guard as he shook it fiercely, “And what a lovely specimen, a pleasure my lady.” He said loudly, in an obnoxious voice shaking her hand aggressively, despite the gloves she wore, she could feel the dampness of his sweaty palm.

Feeling both disgusted and attacked, Azalea yanked her hand away sharply, fighting the urge to scowl and forced a strained smile that was easily transparent. The tallest gentleman, shot the fat, sweaty one a glare, whom smiled back cluelessly, before resting a snake-like smile on Azalea.

“Excuse my friend, Ms.Violet. Harold doesn’t know how to behave around a proper lady,” he said, taking her gloved hand, and bowing over it, placing a painfully long kiss on the back of her hand. Somehow, it was far worse than Harold’s greeting. He smiled again as he straightened, “Please, call me Kale.” He introduced himself silkily.

Rose gave Azalea a small smile, her arm looping around Neil’s arm. “Violet mentioned cards earlier,” Rose said, her gaze landing on the rest of the gentlemen and Azalea before back to her husband, “How about one round, honey? I’m sure we can spare the time. It’s not often we get strangers this far north.”

Neil gazed at his wife’s pleading face, her cute smile and pleading wide eyes, before smiling in adoration for her, the fondness clear in his gaze. Azalea wanted to gag. What a bunch of phonies.

Neil gave in with a smile. “On round couldn’t hurt, gentlemen, you in?” Harold, still beaming nodded as he snapped at his red, damp forehead with a handkerchief. Kale, his eyes still on Azalea, smiling a thin smile nodded.

“Of course.” He said, his expression unchanging, predatory.

Azalea narrowed her eyes in warning at him, his eyes widening momentarily in suprise before Neil gestured the group towards some a sofa and some chairs. As they walked, she tried to catch a glance of Raymond, looking for where she’d last left him.

A card game was perfect for loose lips.

Xanto​

 

[Xanto]

Clyde Callahan​

Clyde sprinted into the castle moving from room to room just to find the right spot until he heard a familiar yell from a few doors down. "Leinad?" Clyde quickly stepped to his left, turning away from the room he wanted to hide in. It sounded like his friend was begging for someone to spare his life! Clyde picked up his pace even more at the thought that Leinad could be bullied by some rebels because of his newness to the group. That was the only thought that made sense for the boy at the moment since they were in a heavily guarded castle. Besides, if Shades broke out he was sure to hear more than one person scream.

Clyde burst into the room pretending to knock the door down with all his might only to see an empty floor with a few crates around the area. His tight fists slowly relaxed once his eyes scanned the empty though. Ever so slowly, the boy began looking behind the crates until he found just who he was looking for. Leinad was sitting on the ground with tears rolling down his cheeks. It was a sight Clyde never thought he would see.

Without any second thoughts, Clyde bent down and put a hand on Leinad's shoulder, "Are you okay?" His green eyes studied his friend's sad face. "Tell me who did this and I'll make sure they get kicked out!" Clyde furrowed his brows determined to have his father boot out the mean traitor. Then, his own thoughts caught up making him realize that no one else was in the room with them. No one left it either. Did Leinad merely scream to himself?

"Leinad, we're protected," Clyde mentioned releasing his grip from the other boy's shoulder, "There are trained guards patrolling the castle 24/7." In all honesty, the kid didn't really know what "24/7" was. He just heard Baxter say it. It didn't take long for Clyde to see the grown-up sword on the floor just a few inches away from his friend. "When father gets back I'll have him personally train us," Clyde smiled hoping to put Leinad in a better mood, "Till then, let's not give the real kid in the castle any problems." Of course he was referring to Alex. Don't get the kid wrong though. Clyde had respect for the young man, but he also enjoyed teasing him.

TeslaRolePlays explosiveKitten

Raymond Callahan​

Raymond was looking through the books until he heard a few giggles and shifted his gaze to a small group of three women. It took him a second take to notice that one of them was Azalea. Here we go. Ray watched from a distance catching the princess's curtsy before he looked back at the books in front of him. Their mission was just getting started. As much as Ray wanted to help though, he decided against it at least for the moment. It was a group of women and he didn't want to disrupt the balance of the possible gossip Azalea could come by. According to his younger sister, things flowed differently between a group of women. Ray held back his curiosity for now as he focused on scanning the shelves for the book the princess told him to look for.

After a while, a man's loud voice caught Raymond's attention. His hazel gaze shifted to find Azalea with three men and only one of the two women she was speaking with earlier. Ray observed the interaction from afar almost smiling a bit when Azalea yanked her hand away from the big guy. He knew how she really was. If anything, Azalea would have preferred to strike the sweaty guy in the head. Within a few moments the next guy bowed like a gentleman, but kissed Azalea's hand for what seemed like centuries. Raymond looked away from the scene feeling some sort of dark feeling swell up inside him.

A History of Sarthenfall. The guy blinked a couple of times just happening to find the book in his line of sight. Hm, everything happens for a reason. He thought to himself looking back to finally see the tallest man in the group straighten up.

Apparently, they were going to play a game of cards. Ray's focus shifted from the sweaty man to the taller guy. He furrowed his brows noticing Kale's almost devious expression. That was of course until Azalea's eyes broke character and nearly silently threatened him.

Then, they started walking over to the other side of the room. If a situation calls for separation, then your partner must be in your line of sight. Make a way to be with them. Ray mentally shook Baxter's voice away before noticing Azalea shoot him a glance as she walked past. Don't think about it too much. With that thought, Raymond took the History of Shoelaces book cover, placed it around A History of Sarthenfall, and inserted both books back into the shelf. Who wanted to read about shoelaces, anyway?

Raymond randomly pulled three books from the medical section and casually heading over to Azalea and her group. On the way over, he turned one of the books in his hand reading its title with the other two still being a complete mystery to him. The Circulatory System. "Violet, I found the book-" He paused as his gaze shifted up pretending to notice the group for the first time. "Oh, hello," He waved almost shyly still keeping up his spot on Lorelthian accent. A small smile made its way to his face when he slightly tilted his head forward and offered his free hand out to anyone, "Doctor Jackson Winchester." His cut off sounded natural, but it was really his way of conveying that he found the book she was looking for.

Ms. Sparrow

 

[explosiveKitten]

“Oh, yeah, bandits. Really explains the giant, definitely-not-a-Shade bite in my shoulder.” Angie said, glaring at Ivanna.
“And that story wouldn’t even work either. One, none of us have any burns. Two, again, bandits will not make this gaping bite wound in my shoulder.”

She rolled her eyes at Ivanna as the young woman irritably snapped that Aurelie was her own responsibility. Oh, she could already tell this one was not going to be fun to have around.
“The point of this trip is to recruit others for the rebellion, and if not that, then the least we do is sow the seeds of doubt into these people’s minds.” She looked around to make sure nobody could overhear them,” Spread rumors, remind them that they don’t know anything about the person posting these flyers. Having them think that Shades are attacking regular people despite what Soris says will make them afraid. Make them doubt his ‘control’ over the entities.”

She looked at the town, staring it down before turning to Ivanna and snapping, “You were assigned by Baxter to take care of Aurelie, just the same as me. It’s your job to watch her as well. Don’t think I’ll always be there.”
That being said, she turned to Aurelie and offered the woman an arm. She looked down at the young woman, whom took said arm in hers. “Shall we, my dear?” Angie asked, putting on a thick Ezerisian accent.

“Er.. y-yes, of course!” Aurelie chirped, putting on a big, nervous smile as she turned towards the town. She could be seen visibly shaking as she looked at it, like she was facing down a horde of Shades, rather than a town full of people. “Let’s g-go, dearest. Heheh.”

“... alright, great. Come now, let’s get this over with before my wife has a heart attack.”

NinjaGirlGamer

Alex stood outside for probably a little longer than he should- probably because he got lost somewhere between ten and a hundred. He wasn’t the best with numbers, okay?

Eventually he just took off into the castle, simply wandering around, shouting “Clyde! Leinad!” intermittently to see if he could hear them start to giggle at him being close or something.
This was probably a bad idea to be honest. This was a massive castle, why did he suggest hide and seek? Stupid! Now he would never find these kids! And he couldn’t even shout to tell them to come out if-

Something changed. The young man stopped where he stood. This harsh buzzing started in his ears, making him wince and look around for the source, but found none. He thought... if he listened hard enough...
Nothing. The buzzing faded. He thought... he could hear...

Don’t think about it, he thought, shaking his head and continuing his search for the kids.

Lo and behold, he found them! In.. the armory. With all the weapons.
What is with these kids and deadly weapons?!
“Heeeeey, well look who it is!” He sad, leaning over the crate and looking pleased with himself- honestly, more like relieved- as he looked at the two kids. “I’ll be honest, I was expecting you two to find somewhere separate to hide, but hey, it’s up to you, I guess.”

He then glanced over towards the door, having apparently not picked up on Leinad’s mood, before he looked back at the pair and clasped his hands, “Well, since I found you both at the same time, I guess that means it’s you two against me! You two count to a hundred, and I’ll hide!” He took off and stood in the doorway, waiting for the boys to start counting before he ran off to hide.

TeslaRolePlays Xanto

 

[NinjaGirlGamer]

Ivanna shot back a glare at Angie, she didn’t like people having authority over her. “Tch...this whole plan is a waste of time” saying in a bitter tone “Instead of planning an attack, we are trying to recruit townsfolk from this type of village.” Ivanna kept her annoyance to a minimum, not only being a babysitter to a royal of all people, but someone who was injured would slow her down if a fight were to occur.

“You two just play your parts and I’ll play mine.” The only sentence Ivanna would say and nothing more. Angie and Aureile would be playing husband and wife, and Ivanna? Well that’s for the town to determine her role. She could play the villain or the hero, every town presents something new. A few stares going her way, some curious of the sword handle sticking out the back.

What’s the point of recruiting these folk, she thought. Observing the crowds, hearing their conversations, their laughter, children playing ball. These weren’t warriors in her eyes, but she scarcely remembers being one of these people once. If only time could go backwards, she was behind the pair walking hand to hand.

She wasn’t the best suited to encourage anybody, only intimidate. A ball rolled across the path then bumped on her boot. A little girl and boy looked at Ivanna with some curiosity and fear. Ivanna lightly kicked the ball back to them then carried on with the walk. “Start doing your tasks so we can get this over with.” Ivanna folded her arms under her cloak to wait on the silly show they are about to pull.

explosiveKitten

 

[TeslaRolePlays]

Leinad wasn’t in the mood, in light of the recent events, he couldn’t stop feeling sorry for himself. It took several seconds for him to mentally berate himself. ‘You should be dead!!!’ he thought to himself. ‘Your one of the lucky ones! Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and try to enjoy the life you were lucky enough to keep!’ He stood up, steeling himself for yet the second time in such a short ime period. “Better run fast!” He spoke with a happy tone, it was faked of course, but he wasn’t too obvious about it.

He didn’t realize it, but ever since the shades had attacked, it had been as if he had matured three years mentally, maybe even more, but this was good, it increased the chances of his parent’s sacrifice being worthwhile. It’s funny how it takes death and sadness to create life, success, and happiness. He seemed to wait on Alex, before finally picking up the sword from the ground, and turning to the other kid, the one that was just a tad bit younger than him. “That sounds fun... But as much as I would like such a thing to happen, I can’t wait any longer.” He sighed, speaking the next words through grinded teeth, words that were almost never heard from a child’s mouth. “We could all die Clyde. All of us. Only the best will survive, and I wanna be among those few.”

He sighed, perking up slightly again and clasping Clyde on the shoulder playfully. “Now we have a little kid we gotta find, and keep an eye on. So lets do that for now. Let’s have some fun.” He meant the words he spoke, they weren’t forced or faked like they had been before, and it was quite clear when he flashed a genuine smile, something that seemed unusual on the child as of late. It was like an outdated trend that had finally returned some time later, just to be enjoyed by another group of people.

He sighed, figuring they had been waiting in there for more than 100 seconds easily, and took his sword from his left hand, and returned it home within it’s scabbard. He beckoned Clyde with his right hand, and took off running, a true smile on his face yet again. No more secrets, no more being fake, these people were his family now, Azalea had saved him, and it took him until now to realize that she had given him a new home and family as well. It was his job to protect them as much as it was their job to protect him. And he knew everyone who was able would do their part, including him.

 

[Bakuyoshi]

"Unlike anything we have seen? Well, that could be something we could be interested in? Ah it's fine either way, you merchants are always a sight for sore eyes. Even with the royals shades being turned on them I wish this new king would stop using them." The lady responded almost scared at mentioning them. It was clear that this whole thing was some form of distraction for her. "I mean some of the fellow villagers say shades can be used as replacements for armies. And well there are a lot of them, hell I saw some just arrive here in Fransen. Probably a patrol sent out to see if we are behaving ourselves, or see if those royals are hiding here. I don't know nor care just show me the wares so this lady can be at some peace."


Priscilla was shocked to hear about the fact shades were here in Fransen. Last she checked this town was in the boonies. If anything could be sparked it was unlikely it would be. And this woman was proof of that. She was nervous of the shades, yet she seemed very content outside of that. Not interested in the higher up stuff. A rarity in the Lorelthians eyes. "Well these are a bunch of oddities found around the kingdoms. Some may seem odd but with us these things are far cheaper outside of their home countries! Seriously this doll right here is a commodity for Lorelthian Noble children to own, but for the average commoner these things could cost a well refined sword. I'll let my fiancé do the price talking but these could be worth having in the long run. Believe you and me!"

Xanto

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Cali stopped in her tracks upon realizing something. "We best find the person in charge of this little town. Best we get a layout of who to go to and where to stay. I shall take the lead Milord. If any of these villagers give you trouble call for me as your father as instructed you to do. I'll make sure they learn their place in a heartbeat." It was hard to believe just how well Cali was acting here. Cale never had this form of bravado. Or maybe Cali had it but her role determined she could not be nervous and needed this. She even found herself surprised at her own behavior, but never making it obvious. Until she muttered "Maybe I should've been involved in a few plays. Mother was right, I was born for the stage. Not being a maid, might just send my resignation to your father when I find you a nice place to stay. Maybe find a better maid for you." She said taking the lead into the village. Looking for someone in charge.

Blackrose7

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

Rose and her husband had taken one of the two only dark, red velvet lounge chairs that faced the large, velvet sofa, the only place left after Harold took the other chair. Begrudgingly she slumped down on the sofa, Kale following after her and leaving little to no room between them as he sat directly next to her and she found herself nearly pressed into the end of the large couch. Azalea pressed her lips thinly together to keep herself from saying something sharp.

Neil, with Rose on his lap, grabbed the deck of cards from the wooden end table by his chair and began to shuffle. Rose opened her mouth to speak before a familiar voice interrupted them, Azalea glanced up, relieved somewhat at his statement of finding the book, recognizing his hidden message in the words.

“You’re a life saver,” Azalea said, her false northern accent slipping into place, letting loose a breath as she did so. He was too. Perhaps, hidden in the history book, she could find some answers. Meanwhile, Harold grasped Raymond’s extended hand eagerly, shaking it aggressively just as he had done with her. Azalea tried to force back an amused smirk and failed before covering her mouth with her hand to stop herself from snickering.

Neil gave a polite wave, not wanting to disturb Rose from his lap, who extend her hand from Raymond to kiss, smiling prettily, “Rose Evering, a pleasure,” she introduced herself. Some part in her wanted to smack her hand down, despite it being a customary greeting.

She felt rather than saw Kale stiffen beside her, she glanced over and observed his expression. Kale gave Raymond a hard look, as if measuring him, looking from head to toe, before he noticed Azalea watching him and gave her a reed-like smile, causing her to recoil back the slightest in disgust.

“Kale, scoot...over for my associate please,” Azalea added quickly, trying to maintain her polite, formal act.

Kale’s expression darkened before he scooted away from Azalea, and she let out a quiet breath of relief, her space no longer stifled.

Neil handed out the deck of cards to each individual. Azalea shot a side-long glance to Raymond. He had a few magic tricks up his sleeve—she knew, considering just the day before they’d escaped the General’s tent with one. Hopefully, he had a few handy tricks with cards.

The game started off and Rose instantly opened her mouth before Azalea could get a word in edge-wise.

“So,” She said, unusually chipper, “Are you too, like, married?” She asked, though it sounded like more of an interrogation.

Azalea leaned forward, though her cards were kept hidden from view, “Actually, I’m more curious to hear about you,” Azalea said, veering the subject away from themselves.

Rose’s eyebrows lifted in suprise.

“What do you think? About this “rebellion?” Azalea asked indifferently, her eyes shifting to her cards.

“I’m not sure what to think,” Rose admitted, putting down her rather weak card. “I mean, is it true? First the Shades attack us—then they aren’t, and now we’re supposed to believe it’s the rebellion who did this? What do they gain?” Rose shook her head, sounding whole-heartedly confused.

“Of course it was them.” Kale said quietly, his gaze on his cards as his thin fingers searched for a perfect card to put down, “Did you see the rebellion volunteering any explanation? What have they got to hide, hmm?”

Azalea leaned forward in the sofa so she could see past Raymond and at Kale, “Perhaps because they didn’t think it was necessary to put down something so obvious.” She said flatly.

Kale smirked, “Obvious? I would think standard. Clearly the rebellion is hiding something, my dear.” He said dismissively, his smile annoyingly gentle as if she was some clueless girl.

Azalea’s fingers tightened on her cards as Kale put down a rather sly, sneaky card that put him ahead in the game.

“Or perhaps the ‘new crown’ is just covering his own tracks,” Azalea pushed.

Neil reached around his wife and put his card down, putting him just behind Kale, “Personally,” Neil said, “I want proof from either side before I go off of talk alone.” He waved his handle, “It may as just as well be gossip.”

Harold smiled cluelessly and put down his own card, putting him behind then the rest of the group, his mind elsewhere, still beaming and smiling as his gaze shifted from the game to the other players of the game.

“It just seems odd doesn’t it...” Azalea trailed, putting down her card, putting her behind Kale, “This...King doesn’t even have a name? He’s suddenly the savior of Sarthenfall with one piece of paper?”

Kale looked at her witha measuring glance as she went on.

“Don’t you find it strange, that all the royals would have magic? Only to have it turned against them? That seems rather convenient for someone trying to take power.” She said, her gaze darting from her cards to Kale.

Kale clicked his tongue. “Such is the way of misused power, you should always prepare to have it taken.”

“I think,” Azalea said, ignoring him, “it’s highly odd for all five people to agree to murdering their own family?” She said thoughtfully.

“Well I—“

“There would have to be meetings, letters to plan such an event don’t you think? No doubt every kingdom has spies, where were they then, I wonder?”

“My dear, I know such girls love the idea of a romantic rebellion but—“

“Did you, Kale, ever want to murder you’re family?”

“Power is a tempting mistress, with all due respect, my lady.” Kale said, sounding slightly agitated.

“So then why magic?” Azalea pushed, “Is poison not just as quiet of a tool, a knife in the dark, just as quick?” Azalea’s tone became colder, forgetting herself, her acting, her surroundings, as she leaned forward further in her seat to stare Kale down. Suddenly, convincing Kale was all that mattered.

Rose looked uncomfortable. “Really, this is hardly pleasant conversation—“

“Or what about the siblings? The younger ones I mean—obviously the older ones had to go.” Azalea said quickly, not quite herself at all, “Why kill them?”

Now it was Kale giving her a measuring stare, “Your getting worked up, my dear, perhaps it’s best if—“

Azalea cut him off, “What about the rest of the rebellion, all the soldiers and civilians fleeing to them with nothing left, what do they gain, do you think?” She hadn’t realized her voice was rising or how quickly she’d been speaking, lost in her own passion and beliefs.

Kale leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. “You’d quite feirce on this subject, aren’t you my dear? What exactly, do you believe?”

Azalea paused, realizing she’d gotten carried away. How could she have been so stupid? This was a mission!

Bloody hell she could’ve given anything away. Her brows furrowed, she wasn’t quite sure what happened there. She just got lost in her emotions...again.

“I think,” Azalea said after a moment, trying to calm herself, “That the rebellions just doing what they think is best. I think they deserve a chance. Who knows, maybe they’ll set the world right.”

Kale looked doubtful, but for once did not open his mouth, in fact he looked to be contemplating something, his brows furrowed and eyes narrowed. She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or concerned.

Rose looked at Ray, “What about you, Doctor Jackson? What are your thoughts?”

Azalea looked to Raymond before she felt a slight tingle in her cheek, an itch really. She fought to keep her hands on her cards rather than itch her scars and risk scratching her makeup off. She glanced up as a young boy entered the shop.

The bookkeeper frowned at the boys pale complexion, and she strained her ears to listen in on their conversation.

“...Shades are in Fransen...”

“Ma says their looking for rebels...”

“Don’t worry, boy...”

Kale was listening to it seemed, as he spun a hazel eyed glare on both Azalea and Raymond.

“Where did you two say you were from again?” His smile was absolutely cold. Rose and Neil stopped their conversation.

“Oh, why?” Rose asked politely, looking between Kale, Raymond and Azalea.

“Because,” Kale said, “There are Shades looking for some rebels, right here in Fransen.” Kale said in such a convicting tone, it was as if they were already guilty in his mind, not taking his eyes off the pair of them. Even Harold’s smile dropped, his eyes widening as the tension in the room suddenly increased tenfold. Rose looked just as uncomfortable as Neil did.

Well...shit.

(Feel free to control the NPC’s)
Xanto

____

????????

“It’s fucking cold,” the soldier complained to his fellow man, “I’m tired of Nathanial sending us out in the freezing snow, on these gods damned scouting missions for one Shade sighting.”

“Quit your bitching,” the other soldier said as he stomped through the snow, the thick, blanketed forest around them was quiet. Still. “it’s one Shade, then, once we kill it, we can go back, eat some food, maybe find a few laundry gals to lie with tonight.” He elbowed his friend, “Like that one girl eh? What’s her name it’s, ah...Dina, Diana?”

“Delilah.”

“Right! Delilah. She’d keep your bed warm.”

The two men chuckled.

“Right,” the other soldiers responded, “So let’s hurry this up so I can get to it, alright?”

The man chuckled and waved his hand before placing his hands over his mouth and yelling, “Over here you big bad Shade! Come on out!“ His voice echoed in the quiet of the forest as he spun around, a big, stupid grin on his face as his voice carried through the woods. Completely still.

“Come on man, don’t antagonize it. It’s probably just waiting to ambush us.” He said as he looked around, his hand moving to the sword at his side, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at the stillness of the forest.

The other soldier waved him off dismissively with a laugh, “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” He yelled, cupping his hands over his face.

He was answered with silence. Then a rustle in the trees above. A glimpse of red, contrasting against the whorls of white snow.

“Stop yelling man,” the soldier said sternly, drawing his sword.

The other man rolled his eyes but drew his sword. “Come on, it’s just a stupid Shade.” He spun around slowly, “Here Shady, Shady—Frank!”

He watched in horror as a woman cloaked in red flashed from the trees, there was a glimpse of sharp, black metal in her mouth before they embedded itself in Franks neck, gorging into it—killing him in seconds. Frank fell to the ground, a hole torn into his neck, blood spilling unto the snow.

The woman grinned at him with gleaming, pointed metal teeth, that dripped with Frank’s blood, staining the white snow, just as her white hair was stained in red, her gold eyes glowing with cruel amusement.

“Wrong kind of creature,” She said coldly, and lunged as he let out one, final scream.​

 

[Xanto]

Raymond Callahan​

"It's what doctors do," Raymond humbly shrugged in response to Azalea calling him a life saver. A quick yank at his arm was all it took to get Ray to focus on the first person who decided to shake his hand. The man who nearly pulled his arm out of its socket didn't hog Ray's attention for long though when a slight wave motioned at the corner of his eye. At this, the newcomer's hazel gaze shifted over to a couple before focusing solely on the woman's hand. "Rose," Raymond repeated gradually moving his eyes to meet her's. Kissing hands wasn't much of a gesture in Ezeris since people were more likely to hit one another if any physical contact was made. "A lovely name," He smiled gently taking her hand and giving it a light shake.

It didn't take long for Azalea to almost happily shoo Kale away. Raymond took a seat between the two, glancing at the princess who let out a breath quiet enough so only the both of them could here. Soon enough, Ray found himself looking at the worse hand of cards possible. High card. He looked around at the other individuals noting their expressions before pausing at Azalea. Their gazes met, but Ray was clueless about the fact that she was trying to convey anything. I think she has a two pair. He looked back at his hand of cards almost completely focusing on the game.

Within a few seconds, the first voice of the game spoke up asking a question that made Ray smile a bit. Were they married? Ha! The answer to that question was at Azalea's disposal. It depended how she wanted to portray their "characters," but Ray thought she might rather slap him than say yes. The guy's shy smile faded though once Azalea abruptly turned the interrogation around. He couldn't believe how quickly she jumped to talk about the rebellion.

Ray was busy glancing at his cards when Kale placed a sneaky card down. Ya want to play like that, huh? Raymond kept his eyes on the pile as Neil placed another card down. Thankfully Harold put a card down almost randomly before Azalea turned the game in her favor.

How Ray wished winning the game was all he had to care about though. It only took a few moments for Azalea to nearly drop her act and start ranting about the Shades. In fact, with a little more push it almost seemed like she was about to admit the whole truth!

Then, there was a brief silence.

A few seconds was all it took for the princess to get her thoughts back together and snap back to their mission. However, before Raymond could give his own two cents, Kale suspiciously asked where they were from.

Ray paused and looked at Kale for the first time after handling his cards. It almost seemed like the man was accusing Ray and Azalea of being part of the rebellion. "W-we," Raymond nervously stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. His other hand trembled almost dropping the cards in his grip. " . .The truth always comes out, right?" His eyes quickly shifted from face to face trying to evade actual contact with their's while he took a deep breath, "Violet and I are the c-couple from Aubigine."

". . . Wait, THE couple from Aubigine?" Harold's eyes widened in disbelief. That man had the scoop of all the latest news even if he didn't want to admit it. "I-I thought temporarily relocating to a small cozy, town like this and gathering some work supplies could get us away from our past . ." Ray tilted his head slightly downward in humility as he let out a hopeless sigh. "In that case, I am sorry for your loss," Harold politely replied with a bow of his head. His voice was kind of low for what seemed to be the first time ever, "Losing a child to a Shade must be eating away inside you." The phrase made Neil pipe up from the side in curiosity though, "Pardon?"

Harold took in a breath ready to narrate the couple of Aubigine's story until he was halted by Ray's gaze. "Please excuse my associate from declaring her opposition against the Shades. You see, Violet and I-" Raymond looked at Azalea almost hesitating to continue his story. "We . . had a one night stand at work. However, from that sin came a blessing we weren't worthy of," He took a while with his cards deciding not to place one down just yet. The whole group needed to wait until they craved for a response. "A girl, with hair as red as her mother's and eyes that nearly matched mine . . ha. But the smile was her own." The guy pretended to snap himself out of a memory that was only partially true. The matter of fact was that Ray actually ran into the real couple of Aubigine and their baby during his travels. News only traveled weeks later about their daughter's recent death. "We aren't married, but we had a child who just recently died at the claws of Shades. Some claim it was cross-fire, but the village saw it," Ray paused looking at the wall with eyes that were almost moist. He cleared his throat blinking the thought away.

Having a child out of wedlock in one of the most scandalous ways possible who died from Shades sounded traumatic. Unfortunately, it was all based on a true story. Raymond refocused his attention mainly at Rose, "We are ashamed of our past and tend not to bring our history up, but the Shades took our child's life." After a brief pause for dramatic effect, Raymond continued, "You asked me what my thoughts were.The truth I know is that the native Sarthenfall rebels are against the Shades. Whether they are traitors or not is debatable. The real question is, what are the appearing Shades trying to accomplish?" On that note, Ray placed his card down wrapping up the game with a win, "Honestly, Violet and I would probably even join the rebellion if it wasn't against the law."

"Now," he stood up placing not his arm, but hand out toward Azalea, "I must take my associate away from creatures that trigger our greatest sorrows. Unless she says otherwise?"

Ms. Sparrow

Clyde Callahan​

"What's going on, Alex?" Clyde stood up from his position questioning the light-haired man like he hadn't seen him in years, "Father always said two heads are better than one." The boy didn't want to tell him about Leinad's situation feeling that it would intrude on his privacy. Besides from the looks of it, Leinad didn't want anyone else to know about what happened except for Clyde. "Alright Alex! One, Two, Three, Four, Five, SixTEEN, SevenTEEN!" Clyde counted knowing very well that he didn't have to patience to actually count to a full hundred. The start was merely something to get Alex running down the halls of the abandoned castle.

Clyde smiled when Leinad held his shoulder declaring he was ready to have some fun. Once Alex was out of sight, Leinad gestured for Clyde to follow with a genuine smile the boy had never seen before. "Let's go!" Clyde announced running out of the room after his friend.

TeslaRolePlays explosiveKitten

 

[explosiveKitten]

Angie blinked, staring at Ivanna completely deadpan as the armored woman began to mutter bitterly to herself, and Angie was starting to get angry with her. But she otherwise said nothing as they slowly made their way into town.

“You know, maybe putting on a smile would make you look more friendly, yes?” She said, throwing in as heavy of an accent as she could. “Maybe people would actually like you, er... what was your name again?”

As the trio wandered into town, Angie tried to look casual, ignoring the throbbing that was starting in her shoulder. And the fact that Aurelie was clutching her arm like it was the only thing keeping her alive did not help Angie relax.

“Ah, dear,” She hissed, trying to stay casual, “you are holding on a little tightly... and it’s cutting off the circulation to my arm.”
“OH!” Aurelie squealed, very suddenly releasing Angie’s arm, earning the attention of a few people around them, “I, uhm, I’m sorry, dear, I just, I’m so-“

“It’s fine, my... love, just perhaps ease up on the grip a little?” Angie suggested, offering her hand to Aurelie once again, whom gingerly took it and pressed herself to Angie’s side with a nervous laugh.

The trio of them wandered through the city, Angie trying to come up with something to bring herself naturally to the town’s attention, when a voice spoke up, curious and concerned.

“My gods... sir, are you alright?” A bleeding heart of a man approached from the street, along with a bustling, huffing young woman. Probably his wife, definitely pregnant.
When the pair came upon them, the woman gasped at them, as if she had never seen a man draped in furs and leathers as Angie was. The man was staring at Angie, of course, because who else could he be addressing here? She was the only “sir” in the trio.

“... me?” Angie asked, looking around.
“Yes, you! My gods, what has happened to you?” The man exclaimed, gesturing at Angie as he did. Angie just looked at him for a moment, confused, before she heard Aurelie gasp.
“An- ... ah, Lorenzo! Your.. your wound!” Aurelie gasped, pointing at Angie’s shoulder. When she turned her head, she cursed and took in the red patch spreading across the cotton shirt that she had borrowed for this.

“Ah.. oh, that.”
“Yes, that! What happened to you?” The man asked again, reaching out to try to touch her, which Angie quickly stepped back from. The man looked surprised, but continued to try to grab at Angie. “Please, sir, I’m Fransen’s doctor, I must insist that I take a look, you are bleeding-“

“Truly, I am quite alright, doctor, I’m sure I just need to change the bandages, and it will be fine.” Angie insisted. “I have dealt with worse.”
“I still must insist, mister...?” The doctor questioned, reaching forward. Angie hesitated, then with a sigh of defeat, she pulled the shoulder of the shirt down off the wound, revealing her bandage, but nothing else. The shirt was big and stretchy enough to allow for that, without exposing any of her chest bindings to the world.
“Windsor, sir. Lorenzo Windsor. And my wife...” Angie blinked, then internally started to panic. She hadn’t come up with a name for Aurelie! OH GODS.
“A- K-Katherine! I’m Katherine.” Aurelie piped in when she sensed that Angie had been stuck on the name.

The doctor nodded at the introductions, “My name is Barnabas Layne. And this is my absolutely beautiful wife-“
“Oh, stop it Barnie!” The woman chided, resting a hand on her stomach and blushing.
“... my beautiful wife Valery.” He said, his eyes misting over a little as he glanced adoringly at his wife. Angie looked at him as he did so, secretly finding it absolutely adorable that this man loved his wife so much.
She paid extra special attention to where this man was poking and touching her body while he unraveled the bandage and took his first look a the wound... and gasped through his teeth.
“My gods, this is horrifying!” Barnabas cried, looking at it with wide eyes as he moved to Angie’s back, running his fingers over the skin, “It- It looks like an animal bite, but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen! Certainly none of the predators in this area could have done it! ... good gods, these punctures go straight to the bone!”
“Oh, that’s dreadful!” The woman remarked, looking intrigued by the strangers, but also horrified by the bruised, bloody injury that adorned Angie’s skin. “Whatever do you do for a living that you have seen worse?”

“I’m... I’m a hunter, you see. A frontierman. I catch and skin things for a living. Mostly live on my own with my wife,” She nodded in Aurelie’s direction (whom was desperately trying to avert her eyes from the horrific wound), “selling meats and furs to anyone who passes through. Which is how I met this one.” Angie gestured at Ivanna, then shot her a quick glare to tell her to introduce herself before continuing.
“Me and my wife live in a cottage out in the middle of the forest when this one passed by... or...” She let her voice and expression drop, “I suppose I should say ‘lived’ in a cottage.”

“Hm? Why the sudden change?” Asked Valery, thoroughly absorbed by the story. This was probably incredible to her, Angie thought, she probably rarely leaves her home.
“Well... our home was attacked.” Angie said, which earned a gasp from Valery. “These... things, black as night, sprang from the woods and tore our home to shreds. I don’t know what they were after, but they weren’t holding back.”

“Shades?” Barnabas questioned, eyes wide as he connected the dots, “Shades attacked your home? It was a Shade that did this to you?”
“Yes... and if they weren’t Shades, then they were some of the strangest wolves or wild dogs that I’ve ever seen. They swarmed my home and acted as one, like they had one mind in multiple bodies!”
“But-“ Barnabas stammered, “The shades are supposed to hav-“
“Oh, Barnabas, please!” Valery snapped, looking like she was about to start into a rant. “I can’t believe that you believe those posters!”
“What posters?” Angie asked, looking confused, only to jump when Valery very passionately began to gesture around.
“These confounded flyers that appeared everywhere in town, seemingly overnight! Talking drivel about some coup the royalty cooked up!” Valery looked exasperated as she continued. “Saying something like, ‘the royals of your country have betrayed you, I am your savior, your new king, bow down to me’ bluhbluhbluh! Some people in this town actually believe it!”
“Valery, dear,” Barnabas started, leaving Angie to rewrap her shoulder and walking over to his wife with his hands up in a placating gesture, “I’ve told you many times, we shouldn’t talk about this in public.”
“I think it’s hogwash, Barnabas.” She replied, smacking his bloodied hands away from her.

“... well, it certainly sounds like malarkey,” Angie said, looking over at the pair as Barnabas tried to calm his wife, “doesn’t it?”
“... oh! Uh, yes, for sure, dear, heh!” Aurelie agreed after a moment’s pause, throwing in a big scowl as she attached herself to Angie’s arm again.

NinjaGirlGamer

He took off the moment he heard counting.

Had he ever played hide and seek before? No. Which is probably why he hid in a closet, like an idiot. Just threw open the nearest door after the armory and stepped in.

He was enjoying himself, of course. Why wouldn’t he be? It was a game! With childlike glee he crouched in the closet. He thought he had the best hiding spot EVER. It’s so obvious that nobody would even think to look in here!

Of course... it was kind of boring. Just sitting in a closet waiting for a couple kids to find him. Almost as if the universe was answering his plea for entertainment, when he leaned back against the back wall of the closet, it creaked... and moved.

SECRET PASSAGESSSSS! AHHHH!

He pushed on the wall, making an even bigger noise than before. He kept pushing till the secret passage was open enough for him to slip inside. At which point he looked around for a moment into seeing some wall sconces that were probably lit with flames however many years ago. It was absolutely incredible.

“... I should probably not go in here...” he mumbled to himself, looking off down the passage, hesitating.

Xanto TeslaRolePlays

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

Of course, it was obvious they’d suspect the pair. Shades arrive moments after outsiders do? Kale had caught them on it. An insulting phrase was on the tip of her tongue, her body prepared to leap into action before Raymond quickly stepped in.

Luckily, Raymond was the better actor, and swooped up the broken peices before their plan shattered completely. She watched Raymond as he stuttered and solemnly speak to Harold.

“Violet and I are the c-couple from Aubigine.”

Azalea choked on her breath, sputtering a cough, her face enflaming to a bright red, which she tried to cover up quickly with more coughs, politely covering her mouth and looking away as Raymond went on with his mournful tale. She stared at the wall until the redness from her face faded, listening to Harold get worked up over what Raymond had said. Obviously, the story was true. It just wasn’t them. It had happened to other people.

A pang of guilt went through her. Another family, devastated by the Shades she may as well have helped create, she didn’t need to act this time, for the forlorn, solemn features that were now plastered on his face.

Kale was still leaned forward, watching her, trying to believe if she truly was a mother whom lost her child. Of course, it was hard to make it believable when her face kept erupting into flames the moment Raymond mentioned a one night stand.

She was gonna kill him later.

But Kale has to buy it, they all did, so as Raymond described his story, the story that had the rest of the group on the edge of her seat, Azalea tried to conjure up a tear of her own.

She didn’t cry—she got mad. It was simply how she coped, but then buying the story depended on both of them, and desperate times called for desperate measures. Azalea stared hard at her deck of cards, as if in shock or perhaps still deviated, and tried to summon some sort of thought that would make her shed a tear.

~~
Two days.

It had been two days of ...nothing. Two days since she’d sprinted back to the palace after the sword had shattered into peices, and found her sisters and Hale missing. Two days since she’d ran into the magic passage to look, and found only Soris waiting, the magical surroundings gone—left nothing but a void. Two days, since she’d been shut into the darkness, alone and cold.

Azalea was huddled at the top of the wooden staircase, her dirty, torn, black skirts pooled around her friends and her knees brought up to a fedal position as she leaned against the back of the cold, brick, fireplace, inches away from her bedroom, her family, but unable to get to it, having no silver to open the passage back.

She couldn’t see anything but the wooden platform she sat on, and the bricks she lay her cheek on. She clutched a hand to her stomach as the hunger pangs hit her, gritting her teeth in the dark.

“...Az..?”

Azalea raised her head a touch, the voice coming from the other side of the bricks. “Aye? Vi?” She asked in a hoarse voice, which echoed into the void around her.

“Lea!”

“Lee-aa!”

Azalea smiled in the darkness, recognizing Hyacinth’s and Jasmine’s voice.

“Shhhhh, not so loud!” Violet reprimanded them. Azalea could imagine them now, all huddled up in the grand, soot-filled fire place. She grinned slightly at the thought.

But still, she could hear the hoarseness in the girl’s voices from shedding one too many tears, the strained, weariness of Violet’s voice.

Azalea and the girls talked for awhile, and she did the best she could, being silly, cracking jokes, to make the young girls laugh. But she knew it was only a matter of time.

“Oi, wee chits, why don’t you go check on Hale by his crib, alright?” Azalea told them, and was answered by a series of ‘Okays’ and listening to the feet scuffle as they got up and faded away.

“Vi.” Azalea said, her tone taking a serious tone.

“Yeah?”

“What’s happening out there?” She asked softly, remembering the screams on the other side of the fireplace from the day before.

There was a pause before Violet answered.

“Keep—Soris, he’s...creating these—these...things, I don’t know what they are Az...it’s like their just these...entities made out of just...just..” Violet broke off with a sob so violent, Azalea felt it rattle through her, breaking her heart.

She didn’t know how to comfort people, only to make them laugh. But right there, in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to hug her older sister. Azalea pressed herself against the wall as if she could somehow will the passage to open.

“Oi...” Azalea said through Violets sobs, “Do you remember when the King—Papa tried to show off for Mother?”

Violet sniffled, and there was a huge inhalation of air before she responded hoarsely, her nose stuffed, “Yeah? What of it?”

“Do you remember how drunk they all got? Him and Ana were both trying to play, she was trying to teach him and—“

Violet sniffed, “And she was just as drunk.” She added with a weak laugh.

Azalea smiled slightly, accomplished in her goal, “We snuck the bottle of wine right from under there noses, remember?”

“They didn’t even know it was gone,” Violet said, echoing the story they’d talked about a thousand times, she sniffed, a few shuddering gasps escaping her.

“We hid behind the shrubbery all night, getting drunk off our asses, and when Ms. Haybern caught us—“

“You grinned, and said—“

“Let’s go rattle the stars.” Azalea said quietly.

Violet took a shuddering, calming breath.

“And then we ran like hell.” Azalea finished after a long pause, her tone as wry as she could muster. Violet giggled, Azalea joining her even as she felt a tear sliding down her face.

It fell into silence for a long moment before Violet spoke again. “The— Papa’s stills missing. Soris has been in a rage, not finding him.” Violet’s voice dropped. “We can’t leave the room, those...things are out there. I can’t—so many people are dead, it’s like he’s—he’s testing his power. I tried to get food to you—“

“I’m fine.” Azalea said sharply, not wanting to be cared for. Not because she wasn’t dirty, or starving, or lonely, but because she had caused all of this.

“I can’t find Kaiden.” Violet said hoarsely, “I haven’t seen him since Soris rounded up the guards and servants.”

Azalea tucked her knees in tighter, feeling more and more helpless. “I’ll kill him for this,” she said coldly. “I’ll make him pay.”

“When...when I was going to become Queen, I was going bring the Kingdoms together, you know. I was gonna make it so we weren’t so closed off from each other. I was gonna give us an age of prosperity, like, like before the Dark Ages.” Violet said quietly, “That’s what Ana would have wanted.”

“Don’t talk like that, your still going to become Queen—I’ll kill him I swear it.” Azalea said sharply before pausing, “And when you do, you’ll be the best Queen this whole damn world has ever seen.”

“You seem so sure of it,” Violet said with a bitter laugh.

Azalea arched a brow, raising her head a bit and looking at the brick wall, despite Violet being unable to see it. “When the bloody hell did I become the positive one?”

Violet laughed. “You’d make a good Queen too. Your strong, and brave, and passionate—“

“And a temperamental, angry pain in the ass.” Azalea added flatly, earning another weak laugh from Violet.

“That’s your job anyway. What a horror that’d be, being Queen.” Azalea said.

“I would’ve loved being a Queen.” Violet said dreamily, turning serious again.

“You will.” Azalea said sternly, trying not to choke on the grief that was tugging at her heartstrings. “I promise.”

“I wanted to rattle the stars too.” Violet said, her tone shaky, on the verge of crying. Azalea heard a quiet sob that broke through. It broke her heart.

“We will.” Azalea said, pressing her face against the cold brick as she closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her face as her chest threatened to cave in to her sorrow. “We’ll rattle them together.” She promised, trying to keep her lips from trembling.

But they both knew it was a lie.
~~
Azalea blinked, coming back from the memory and realizing a few stray tears had indeed slipped from her gaze, her lips trembling as Raymond wrapped up his story of the Aubigine. Rose looked at her with a deep sympathy that matched Neil’s own expression.

Kale sat back, crossing his legs, satisfied by both Azalea’s and Raymond’s performance, his expression however, remained unreadable.

Rose suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Azalea’s hand to her suprise, “I’m so sorry for your loss...I couldn’t,” Rose shook her head. “I couldn’t even imagine what I would do if we lost our little boy.” She said empathetically, to which Neil grabbed Rose’s free hand and lightly squeezed it supportively. Beside them on the other chair, Harold nodded his head in agreement, his brows furrowed in concern.

Azalea squeezed Rose’s hand and smiled tightly, before letting go. “Thank you,” She said hoarsely, her tone unusually subdued and solemn.

Azalea wiped her eyes with her gloved hand as Raymond stood up and offered her his hand, his act flawless as he prepared to smoothly exit them from the bookstore. They’d accomplished their mission for the most part, now they had to get out before the Shades sniffed them out.

Azalea took Raymond’s hand without hesitance this time, picking up her cloak and draping it around her other arm, and she gave the group another feigned strained smile, whom responded with there own, all for Kale’s, yet it wasn’t quite false either, her heart still heavy from the memory she’d tried to blot out.

Azalea dipped her head in a slight nod. “A pleasure meeting you.” She said quietly before turning her back to them and departing from the bookstore at a slower pace, as if weighed down by her troubles.

The act dropped as she the bookstore door shut behind her, her expression turning far more serious. “We need to find the others before the Shades do,” Azalea said in a low voice, glancing around at the people passing them, not giving them a second glance, and most, if not all, of Fransen’s citizens looked uncomfortable, clearly aware of the nearby Shades.

“Something tells me the Shades aren’t here to invite us to high tea.” Azalea said dryly, spotting the transparent, black mass of a Shade, floating silently through the scurrying crowd of shoppers and market dwellers, it’s head moving slowly from side to side as it searched the street, still quite a distance from the pair, but moving closer nonetheless, not spotting them yet.

Xanto






​

 

[TeslaRolePlays]

Leinad heard a lot of noise coming from the closet, making a shushing sign with his finger towards Clyde, leaning up against the wall, and throwing open the door. He saw that there was nothing. "Where could he have gone? I swear I heard something in here!" He sighed slightly, dissapointed in himself and started looking for loose bricks in the walls by pulling them towards him, but to no avail. "Think there is something about this closet we don't know? I swear I heard someone or something in here..." He sighed, half babbling to himself and half addressing Clyde, he sat on the floor of the closet, and leaned against the wall. If only he would of leaned against the correct wall, he would have discovered the secret passage. But to no avail. He seemed baffled. It had to of been Alex... No one else could have been making noise in a closet with the door shut. But where did he go?? He spoke to Clyde. "Maybe I have just gone mad. I thought I heard something in here. Did you hear it at all?"

 

[Daniel Reaving]

Adrian

It hasn’t taken long for the first shades to make it through the secret tunnels. Bursting out of its exit they immediately killed whoever was near by. A few seconds later more shot through the hole wails and screams of the beasts echoed out as they looked around with anxious wait. Then Adrian came through in a casual stroll a wicked smile spread across his face as he took a deep breath in through his nose.

“There here. I can smell them... Spread out! Tear this place apart!! Find them!!” He barked at the shades who instantly shot off with glee. Making there presences known as they started to tear through the town. Meanwhile Adrian sat back for a small minute.

“Ive got you know Azalea.” He whispered to himself before he started into a gentle stroll despite the chaos around him. He was looking for something... for someone. Then an echo came out from a shade saying it had found who he was looking for. Wailing as it burst into the area Azalea and raymond where with a furosity. It had almost ended them, had the drop, had the perfect chance but didn’t. It knew better than to take the kill from its master as it moved wildily around them. Blocking any escape for the moment as it called out to Adrian.

A small smile slipped to his lips as the share echoed into his mind with glee that it had found his prize. “Gather the rest. I want them alive.” He ordered out to the shades that where tearing through town. Meanwhile he would go after the full prize. Looking up to the sky he took a deep breath. He let out a happy sigh knowing it was time to finish this.

Ms. Sparrow Xanto​

 

[Blackrose7]

"Unlike anything we have seen? Well, that could be something we could be interested in? Ah Cali stopped in her tracks upon realizing something. "We best find the person in charge of this little town. Best we get a layout of who to go to and where to stay. I shall take the lead Milord. If any of these villagers give you trouble call for me as your father as instructed you to do. I'll make sure they learn their place in a heartbeat." It was hard to believe just how well Cali was acting here. Cale never had this form of bravado. Or maybe Cali had it but her role determined she could not be nervous and needed this. She even found herself surprised at her own behavior, but never making it obvious. Until she muttered "Maybe I should've been involved in a few plays. Mother was right, I was born for the stage. Not being a maid, might just send my resignation to your father when I find you a nice place to stay. Maybe find a better maid for you." She said taking the lead into the village. Looking for someone in charge.

Annabel gave Cale a nod at what they said. "Alright Calina. I will do that if I need to and go ahead." said Alex.
Now she knew how the nobles behave when they are in public, but Annabel never tried to act like them. For this reason, Annabel might be a bit too quiet for being a noble. 'I hope I can get this acting right, because I never acted like a noble despite knowing how they are like.' thought Annabel.
Cale then said that she was born for the stage, and in character, Annabel was sad when they might send a resignation to her father. "I am sad that you are thinking of doing a resignation, but I won't stop you if you really want to do that." said Alex, following behind Cale. Annabel's fake character: Alex do respect his maids, but if they want to do something else. He won't stop them from sending a resignation to his father.
Bakuyoshi

 

[Xanto]

Raymond Callahan​

Raymond held Azalea's hand in his, giving a slight wave with his other as he used his back to smoothly push the door open for his partner. It only took a second for the duo to release each other's hand once they blended in with the crowd. She's right. Ray glanced at Azalea who was looking at all the people around them. They needed to find the rest of the group before the Shades did.

The guy doubled his pace when his eyes caught sight of the Shade from afar. Luckily, they saw it before it recognized them. "Let's go-," Raymond coincidentally bumped into Cali holding the woman by her arms and spinning her slightly so she didn't fall. "Pardon me, miss. Rushing out for an appointment next town over," He slyly signaled their escape prior to carrying on in the opposite direction with Azalea, "We leave now."

Regardless of any objection Azalea would have against leaving and not finding the other five, Ray carried on in his path. They ran into one pair. The chances of him and Azalea finding the other two groups before the Shades sought them out first was little to none. Even if the two were on the way to the stables, Ray scanned the crowd not capable of fully forcing himself to give up on their search. It was too good to be true when the brothers made eye contact from afar. The small interval of seconds only gave Ray enough time to mouth "Angelo" though.

It didn't take long for the Shades to start tearing through the town. All of the sudden one of the dark creatures shrieked and nearly engulfing him and Azalea in a tight space as it circled around them. "Any plans?" Raymond questioned only finding black matter every time he looked around for an opening. He was typically one to improvise with anything, but this time the stakes were much higher now that they involved keeping a princess safe with little to no means of weapons or escape.

Raymond's arm wrapped around Azalea holding her close as the Shade continued to circle around them. In truth, he might have been able to take it on. The only problem was that he heard a faint scream announcing that there was a gang of Shades around the area. Perfect. Sarcasm rung through Raymond's mind after seeing a faint glimpse of what was waiting for them outside the Shade's dark mass barrier . . . until he glanced up. His gaze shifted back to Azalea almost immediately afterword.

Ms. Sparrow Daniel Reaving Bakuyoshi Blackrose7

Baxter Callahan
​

There is a Shade "army" in Fransen? Baxter furrowed his brows as he scanned the area wanting to immediately abort the mission. "This is absolutely adorable!" One of the women remarked carefully taking the doll from Priscilla and examining it herself. Baxter's blue eyes came into focus once again centering on the one who showed interest in the random item. What happened next made him pause in silence for a brief moment though. Fiance? Since when was he Priscilla's fiance? They never talked about this at all! Baxter blinked away his usual stone cold facial expression and quickly exchanged it with a smile.

"It will double in value if the Shades and our new king continue to reign. The doll will be a relic of the 'land before Shades'," He noted one of the women glowing while the other was still a bit unconvinced, "A doll gives hope to a child. Let it be a token of when we didn't have uncertainty under anyone's rule." The skeptical woman's gaze softened as her eyes met Baxter's, "How much?"

"150," Baxter flatly stated. The woman's skepticism almost returned, "Gold?" "'A commodity for Lorelthian nobel children'," Baxter quoted casting his "fiancee" a glance, "Silk from the west and inner mechanisms from the south. Not to mention, stainless steel trims imported from the east along the lines of the design." In all honesty, he almost had to stop himself from cringing. Business ran in his blood and Bax knew it! The man never really admitted to it though, letting his younger brother do most of the talking back in Ezeris.

"Aye, too much!" The penny-pinching woman furrowed her brows despite the product's true quality. Baxter rebutted, "It will double in five years." "60, I am hesitant, sir," She replied with crossed arms. "I will make it 100 and it will triple!" Baxter unhesitatingly bounced back. They stared at each other in silence.

The blacksmith wasn't used to selling, but knew he was annoyed by bartering on either end and just wanted the transaction to be done. Just look at it. As a salesman, he decreased a third of his product's price right off the bat. "Lowest," Baxter firmly stated watching the fake penny-pincher start to smile.

After an exchange of 100 gold for a Lorelthian doll, the two ladies turned to leave. Baxter quite luckily caught Raymond at the side of his eye during the process. It seemed like his younger brother was leaving and mouthing Angelo's name. "If by chance you see a frontiersman with red hair and his timid wife, please let them know that the product they wanted was sold out," Baxter called out after his two recent customers lacing his message with the secret code that the groups were to return to the castle at once.

"Our shift is over," Baxter told Priscilla while he tied the loose items and started rolling the wooden cart toward the carriage thing. That was until he heard a Shade's shriek in his brother's direction. A bunch of darkness encircled both Azalea and Ray. "Gather all our horses and latch them onto the carriage. Meet me up the hill," Baxter turned in the opposite direction running up the hill with the barrel pushing it hard and fast.

Bakuyoshi explosiveKitten

Clyde Callahan​

He heard nothing. Why would a sound come from an empty closet anyway? Clyde innocently shook his head in response to Leinad. "I could check a different room so we can be more effishment," He suggested trying to pronounce the word "efficient." With the size of the castle, it didn't seem like the kids would find Alex anytime soon. Just think about it!

It didn't seem like his friend wanted to budge though. Clyde sighed making his way over to the closet Leinad was still observing. "If you really want to make sure, then we can just call him," The boy took a deep breath followed by a call out, "ALEX WE'RE GOING BACK TO THE ARMORY!" That should do it. If the light-haired man didn't come out in seventeen seconds, Clyde would check out another room just as he previously mentioned.

TeslaRolePlays explosiveKitten

 

[NinjaGirlGamer]

Ivanna didn’t pay much attention at Angelo’s comment. She looked over when she heard Angelo hiss in pain. It didn’t help the fact she was injured, why did Baxter allow her to come—. Just when she was about to finish the thought, a shout was heard from a man who had a look for concern directly at Angelo. A group started to walk over, this wasn’t good.

Ivanna just stood back and watched the whole scene play out. Angelo used her fake name and told her fake story. Ivanna caught a glimpse of the glare from Angelo to introduce herself “I’m just a traveler. Just passing by and accompanying these good folk.” Ivanna gave a fake half witted smile, it was probably noticeable.

Ivanna perked her eyebrow when she heard about the posters. Hoping Angelo’s and Aurelie’s disguises pull through with enough time to get out of the town. She was silently wishing the three strangers would go away already because how much attention they are drawing. So she stays on guard, ready to step in if suspicions would arise.

Out of nowhere, a woman’s scream was heard nearby. Making Ivanna turn immediately towards the direction, narrowing her eyes, seeing a black darkness form in the distance. Of course the shades would be here so soon, she thought as running villagers passed by them. Her immediate thought was to confront whoever was the head of the shades, this excited her in a twisted way.

“Finally some action, this calm air was becoming a bore.” She was speaking in a scary enthusiastic tone, If anyone would tell her to run, she would go in the opposite direction, towards the danger. “You two newlyweds flee this area and I’ll hold them off.” Wasting no time, she started going towards the direction of the increasing darkness that surrounded the village.

explosiveKitten Xanto Ms. Sparrow

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

She had no choice but to follow Raymond on his path to leave as quickly as possible, and it was lucky for them they’d ran into Cale and Annabel—but where were the others? Her glanced grew more frantic as she scanned their surroundings whilst maintaining her fast pace with Raymond, her hands clamped tightly on her hoisted up skirts. She counted her weapons in her head to concentrate. Five knives, one dagger. Two knives in her laced up boots, two hidden at her wrists, one strapped to her left thigh, and her dagger strapped to her right thigh.

Stubbornly, Azalea planted her feet just behind Raymond, stopping in her tracks, “We can’t just leave everyone—“ she cut herself off as her eyes found Baxter and Priscilla, her stomach loosening in relief.

There was a sudden, inhuman shriek behind her that caused her to whip around, just as a Shade charged for her, Azalea leapt back, a jolt of terror running through her as she nearly slammed into Raymond, finding herself trapped by the Shade, which encircled them in darkness, allowing them no chances of escaping.

Her mind raced, just as determined and desperate for a solution as Raymond asked if she had any plans. Her mind worked quickly, just as her movements as she subtly began shook her wrists, the knives sliding into her cupped hands, the tip of the blade poking against her palms, hidden from view.

She’d been so focused on the darkness around her, seeking an opening that she hadn’t felt Raymond’s arm wrap around her until she felt his solidness against her back, and it was just as she did that she caught a glimpse of a figure, a man, with a scar over his right eye, strolling for them through a small opening before it was blocked again.

Once, she had known a boy, a friend, with a very similar scar on his face.

Azalea suddenly felt a cold sense of dread go through her, paling. She was glad for Raymond’s arm, for she felt she would’ve fallen otherwise.

No.. Not him. Not him too.

Numbly, she glanced over and sighted Baxter from afar, he had a plan, she knew. One of them always did. And yet...they needed an opening. Something, anything.

Azalea grabbed Raymond’s hand that was around her with both of hers, sliding the small, but sharp knives into his hand, and looked up at him with a wicked grin that didn’t quite match her solemn eyes, “It’s my turn to be the idiot.” She said, before letting go of his hand and turning her back to him, hoisting up her skirts with one hand and pulling the large dagger from his sheathe, “Help Baxter!” She called, stepping towards the blindly fast Shade, her eyes focusing on it’s wild movements.

“Don’t hold me back!” She yelled at Raymond, before, with her free hand, tossing the cloak that had been dropped over her arm, into the air, directly at the Shade, blinding its line of sight as it covered his face, giving Azalea the opportunity to leap upon it, and Raymond the opportunity to escape the darkness as her dagger pierced its neck as she wrapped her legs around it’s body—with some difficulty with her dress—and stabbed it twice more in the neck, her blade stabbing through the cloaks cloth and into it’s neck several time, before it’s inhuman, piercing cries went silent, and the Shade dissolved into it’s only black liquid—dropping her to her knees, but only for a moment as she quickly jumped to her knees, her face grim and serious as she faced the monster that strode towards them, her dagger dripping with black, oily liquid.

She glanced to her right in time to see Ivanna marching straight for the main group of Shades. “No, no, no,” Azalea groaned, finding herself now needing to improvise.

“HEY, YOU ROTTEN-SHILLING-PUNTER!” Azalea screamed at the man—the thing—that resembled what she now entirely recognized to be her former friend, Adrian. “I DIDN’T REALIZE YOU HAD TO HIDE BEHIND YOUR SHADES TO KILL A BUNCH OF PUNNEY HUMANS!”

Azalea glanced to her right, down a narrow alleyway before she looked back at Adrian, and grinned. “I can’t wait to rub it into your Masters face that his subject couldn’t manage to kill one, dressed up Princess!” She yelled, before darting down an alleyway, seeking to quickly find Aurelie and Angelo.

And find out what the hell she was going to do, and she prayed to the gods that the group had no intention to wait for return.


Xanto Bakuyoshi explosiveKitten Blackrose7 NinjaGirlGamer Daniel Reaving​

 

[Bakuyoshi]

"Oh no, this is lovely. Shades, then Azalea throwing insults at the shades. Our cover is blown bigtime." For a moment Cali was ready to run when she stopped. It was not normal. She never hesitated in following a plan. But this time she had a bad taste in her mouth.

"If we flee then fransen will be burned. People will be attacked for no reason. Our escape will harm more civilians. I'd be no better then Soris. No I can't live with that. I can't just leave these people to the shades."

After that thought she slowly turned to Annabel with a determined look on her face. "Find the others, don't worry about me. I'm not fighting, I'm going to get as many people as I can out. The people won't trust us if we keep running!" Cali shouted to Annabel as she ran into the village. Doing everything she could to avoid the shades. She saw what they did no matter what. All of those destroyed villages. All of that death.

Cali was going get these people out. Even if she went down swinging. Even if Angelo was going to shout her down. Even if Azalea was going to call her an idiot. She didn't care at the moment. All she could think of was the people of Fransen.

Blackrose7


-------------------------------

Priscilla had to take a moment to realize Azalea just ran off. And if the story was true Raymond pulled a similar stunt, leaving the Lorelthian to remark "Gods this is one suicidal rebellion. But nontheless we have a backup plan, right?"

Priscilla wanted to chase after Azalea. Maybe it was the facr Priscilla remembered assisting Ray. But for all she knew Azalea could run into someone filling the same role as Priscilla. A friendly nomad hardset on a destination. Or something worse. But unlike Ivanna Priscilla was more of a thinker. Trying to get a plan together from her surroundings. And waiting for Bax to say something. Then she was left with the fact she was in charge of gathering the horses and getting them prepped for take off. "That... ok that is a good plan. I'll get the horses rounded up."

Priscilla quickly got to work with the horses all the while muttering the fact the one with the gun was gathering horses. It worked yet she had to swallow a lot of pride to even go through with the plan.

Xanto

 

[Xanto]

Raymond Callahan and Baxter Callahan​

Raymond's gaze shifted down to Azalea when she held his hand with both of her's and sneakily slid sharp knives into them. A smirk made its way to his face after being impressed by her move, but quickly faded when she noted that it was her turn to be the idiot. "What do you mean-," He began quickly getting cut off by the princess's attack. What followed next was a flurry of movements allowing Ray to sprint away from the Shade that trapped Azalea and him.

I won't hold you back, but I'll be back for ya. He quickly glanced over his shoulder at the princess as he took off in the direction toward his brother. Azalea said it herself. It was her turn to be the idiot. His eyes turned to face back forward momentarily catching a glimpse of what seemed to be the Shade gang's leader in his peripheral vision. Ray knew that no situation with somewhat of a distinguished Shade leader could afford for both of them to be idiots at the same time.

___​

Baxter furrowed his brows examining all the group members from his angle on the hill. Everyone could be seen except for the missing trio. That was of course until Ivanna came out of no where running toward all the Shades. Amateurs. Baxter thought to himself seeing Azalea scream who knew what from afar. Now even with disguises the group would be recognizable from anywhere by everyone.

The rebel leader shut his eyes for a few moments massaging his temples before hearing a familiar voice. "Oi Bax, tell me ya got fireworks," Raymond breathed heavily slowing his sprint to a jog up the hill. Baxter pulled his hands away from his head and opened his eyes to view his younger brother. At least Priscilla and Ray were in contact with him. "I have something better," Baxter pulled off the sheet on top of his wooden crate and shoved the products off to the side revealing Ray's usual coat armor, gauntlet, and chain whip. The younger brother quickly removed his doctor coat and tossed it over to Bax.

The rebel leader caught the coat before studying his younger brother, "For the first time you are following orders." "Yeah well, for the first time everyone else is going against them," Raymond replied routinely pulling the armored coat over him and yanking his hood down. "Do not return unless your partner is with you," Baxter reminded watching Ray slide his gauntlet on and hide his chain whip away, "Priscilla is taking horses up here and bringing the wooden carriage. We'll use the momentum to ride down the hill back to the castle in case we need to run from that Shade leader. Some of our men are at the halfway point for support."

Raymond nodded heading toward the village center again, "You got it, boss. I'll redirect the members here." With that, the guy ran and effortlessly slid down the hill taking off in a sprint once he pushed himself up again. It didn't take long for Ray to nearly run into Cale for the second time that day. This time, Cale was instructing Annabel. The prince was right. People wouldn't trust the group if they kept running. Ray was sure Bax would be proud of Cale's words later on. "Head over to the hill Baxter's at when you're done," The guy commented before catching sight of two large Shades headed their way.

In an instant, Raymond flung his chain whip out of no where wrapping it around one of the Shades causing both dark creatures to turn their focus solely to him. The one on his left was still free, meanwhile the one on the right was pretty tied up. They're as big as the thick logs. Ray ran far right as the unwrapped Shade tried attacking him from his left before jolting left himself. The momentum from that Shade's force strongly pulled the chain whip in the opposite direction, snapping the restricted Shade into thin air. "Ah," The man mumbled in pain having kept a strong grip on his weapon's handle throughout the process. Before Ray knew it, he found himself getting bumped into the air and thrown into the wall. The other Shade moved a lot faster than he thought.

"Dr. Winchester!" An oddly familiar voice sounded. Raymond's eyes shifted up to see Harold with wide eyes paused in terror. The loud man held a torch in his hand though presenting it to Ray from a short distance.

Shriek! The Shade sounded charging at Raymond with high speed. In one smooth motion, the guy flung his whip around the torch and swung it over to the Shade. The creature dissolved almost immediately after.

"Mr. Harold," Raymond jogged over to the man as he wrapped his chain whip up again, "How many more torches can you make?"

Ms. Sparrow Bakuyoshi Blackrose7

 

[Bakuyoshi]

"Yeah no, we are not running until we are beat! For the first time I'm sick of it!" Cali shouted as from her dress she pulled out her hidden Crossbow and loaded a bolt into it. And alongside that she drew a shortsword still in its sheath. "Alright you fucking shades I'm right here. Come and get me! I'll take you on one at a time! And I ain't running! So you want me, come and get me!" She shouted into the village. Ready at the moment any shade would come out to attack her.

Xanto Blackrose7 Daniel Reaving explosiveKitten Ms. Sparrow NinjaGirlGamer

 

[explosiveKitten]

Angie was standing there listening to Barnabas listing off various things she needed to do with her shoulder to prevent infection, close the wound properly, yada yada, when a high pitched shriek cut through the air like a knife.

People began to rush around, panicking and fleeing from something Angie couldn’t quite see. But guessing from how things had been going, she got the feeling that she already knew what was going wrong.

“Ohhh, no...” She muttered, looking around.
Valery and Barnabas looked up as well, the young couple looking frightened by the ungodly noises erupting from the town.
“You two, run. Now!” Angie commanded, startling the two as she started to herd them away.
“But- What is-“ Barnabas tried to question, but Angie only growled, “GO!” at him. He then took his wife’s hand and began to run off, in the opposite direction of the danger.

“Aurelie! With me, let’s go!” Angie ordered, turning and charging off in a different direction.
“R-Right away! Ahhhh!” The young princess squealed, picking up her skirts and running after the leather clad woman dressed as a man.
“Wait... where the fu-“ Angie skidded to a stop and looked around, searching for Ivanna for only a moment before ultimately deciding that if she was stupid enough to run off on her own, then whatever happened to her was her own problem.

With the running and screaming and panicking of the people around the duo, Angie was busily looking for any of the other two groups, eventually almost completely colliding with Azalea.
“Holy sh- AZALEA! HERE!” Angie shouted, quickly taking off the bow and quiver of arrows she had borrowed and tossed the two items over to the princess, being fully aware that Azalea was much better with a bow than Angie ever would be.

With that, she took off once again. Eventually, she found her way to the main thoroughfare of the town, at which point her directed Aurelie to head towards the evac point that Baxtr had told them about. Not waiting to see if the princess listened to her, Angie then ran off again.

Soon she collided with a familiar face- Oh god, it’s lady Cale. Seriously, she felt like a complete idiot everytime she looked at him- her, now. How did she’s miss this? No wonder it was taking so long for the guy to build some muscle- He wasn’t a guy at all!
Angie turned to look at Cale... whatever this person’s name was, they’d have to talk about it later- and made eye contact for a brief moment before she gave a very small eye roll and turned to the guy’s back or whatever.
Cale was still top priority after all. And if the idiot wanted to stay here and fight, then Angie would be forced and stay and make sure he-they didn’t die. Gods almighty!

Ms. Sparrow Bakuyoshi

 

[NinjaGirlGamer]

The Shades were ransacking the town when Ivanna started rushing towards the main pack. Her hand moves to her back to grip the sword handle. One shade spots her and decides to advance upon her surroundings. In a quick stroke, Ivanna pulls out her sword and cuts through a shade which shrieks loud. It wasn’t until Azalea’s shout caught Ivanna off guard for a brief moment.

Another Shade took advantage of that and grabs Ivanna then chucks her into barrels of oil, knocking over a couple, spilling onto the ground. “MY OIILLLLSSS!!!!!!!!!” a local oil seller shouting in distraught. Ivanna was slowly getting back up when a torch that got knocked off the wall upon impact lighted the ground then made the two Shades give ear screeching sounds, backing away from the flames.

This made Ivanna grin with an idea then she faced the oil seller, “You got any more flammable oils?” The oil seller looked confused for a second. Ivanna stood up while hearing another person yell. Something about helping people? Who was shouting? “You better find those oils Old man and fast!,” this made the seller rush back into his store.

The girl with the ball from earlier, holding the toy tight was wandering the streets of the village. “Mommy?......Eep!” The girl jolted making her drop the ball when she saw a Shade appear in front of her, ready to slash down. A huge rod shaped of flame struck in the Shade’s head, killing it as it screams. All of what’s left was black goo on the pavement.

“Get out of here kid!” Ivanna shouted directly to the little girl who quickly said Thank you and ran off. “Now then” holding up the flaming sword “Who wants to die next?!!!!” Once again, charging towards the impossible danger. Swinging left and right her hot blade through each shade that stood in her way.

Xanto Ms. Sparrow Daniel Reaving Blackrose7 Bakuyoshi explosiveKitten

 

[Blackrose7]

"I am not surprised that this has happened, but I am so not going to throw my cover away." said Alex.
Annabel was determined to keep her fake identity on, because she didn't want the enemy to know what she really looks like.
As she went to go look for the others, Annabel saw two kids running away from a shade. ‘I need to go help them right now, because those kids aren’t going to survive from that shade.’ thought Annabel.
Annabel took out her flint and steel, made a torch from a stick, and run after the kids so she can help them out. Once she made it to where the kids were at, Annabel threw the torch at the shade, because she knew that it was their weakness. The shade dissolved from the fire, and Annabel then hugged the poor kids. “Are you two alright?” said Alex. One of the kids was crying from that while the other one gave Annabel a nod. “Did something happen to your parents?” said Alex. “We don’t know, because our parents told us to run.” said The little boy. “Then you need to head towards that direction, since you two aren’t going to be safe here.” said Alex. “Alright, and thank you, mister.” said The little boy, who took his sister with him towards that direction. ‘Please be safe.’ thought Annabel, as she turned her focus back to finding the others.
Before Annabel had left: Bakuyoshi

 

[Bakuyoshi]

One of the shades had ran out from one off the alleys ready to kill whoever just called them out. On all fours rushing at the princess. It knew it's job and it was going through with that job.

Cali was at first terrified. Everything for a moment jammed up at the shades scream. But it was only when Angelo was their that everything had come back. For the first time she fired her crossbow at a shade. She felt every piece of her weapon working together. The pulley system that sent the bolt flying to the twang of the string which she could feel and hear at once. It was all so exhilirating as she saw it hit the shade going through but only causing the thing to struggle.

"Angelo I'm going to go in for the kill. If anything like me dying looks possible end it!" Cali shouted as she drew her shortsword and charged the shade. And in a single movement she ducked under a swing from the shade as she swung her blade in response, hitting it square where it's head would be.

The shade however didn't go down it's own form morphing to fit the current situation. But it's own target had knowingly put herself and it into a stalemate. She was in a place it could not reach and they both could not hit the other. Rapidly struggling to gain the upper hand it tried to grab at her only for Cali to dodge each hit. She was making it clear how while she was fast she fought differently then Azalea. Her entire style was based around this. She was keeping in all of it's blind spots and nearly giving it the upper hand. She adapted alongside her opponent.

One moment being in its sight only to stab it in a way it had to adapt to.

One time the shade seemingly pinning her down only for her to stab it in the gut and slide underneath it with her blade tearing right through the thing. She heard it's last scream before she looked up as a small amount of black liquid from the wound she caused poured on her.

"EWWW! Nobody told me killing a shade would do this! I thought they just vanished!" She said nearly ready to gag at the smell of this stuff. The shade falling to the ground as it vanished into thin air.

explosiveKitten

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Azalea Eve Windfore

Azalea whipped around a corner into another alleyway and pressed herself back against the wall cold brick wall , panting as she caught her breath, her heart racing widely. She didn’t know how far Adrian was behind her, or if he had been tracking her and the wild goose chase she was leading him on, weaving through constant turns and alleyways, to crowded streets and more, to confuse him on her wareabouts. Her dagger brought her the only sense of comfort she had right now, clutched tightly in her hand.

Azalea took one last deep breath before launching off the wall and whipping around the corner, skidding to an abrupt halt as she nearly slammed into Angie. She didn’t have time to express her relief before Angie shoved her bow and quiver into her arms and taking off once more.

Azalea gave pause, her brows furrowing for a moment. Why the bloody hell did Angie have her bow?

Somehow, it was exactly what she needed however. Blending in with the crowded chaos around her as she stood in the middle of the street, Azalea quickly shoved the dagger into her boot, the hilt sticking out at an angle before throwing the quiver around her shoulder, savoring the wooden grip of her rather mediocre bow.

Suddenly there was the familiar woosh of metal behind her, quickly she spun on her heel, twisting her body so she had suddenly ended up behind her familiar, thin and lanky opponent, her arm wrapped up and around Kale’s throat, her other arm holding an arrow pressed against his neck, “I don’t want to kill you,” Azalea hissed as he froze, daring not to move.

“You have brought doom to our town,” he spat, his breath coming out short with the arrow pressed into his skin.

“Oh I know, I know” Azalea said exasperatedly, letting out an annoyed breath, “I’ve brought doom to the whole bloody country,” she groaned, “I’ve paid for that, and will pay some more,” she said, “But we’re not the enemy destroying your town, you great idiot,” she kicked him, hard in the back of the knee, taking him off guard as he was knocked flat on his back, his sword clattering across the stones.

“So quit acting like it,” she snapped, an unnatural authority in her tone as she walked around him and swiped up his sword, Kale sat up with a glare, but there was a doubt in his gaze this time as he considered her words. His features softened slightly.

“Then what—“ he began to ask, just as a large, massive black shape leapt from nowhere, tackling Kale as it’s black teeth ripped into his throat. Azalea gave a horrified choke of breath, terror and guilt ripping through her, the black, translucent wolf too fast for her to react as Kale’s life was ended in just a second. Quickly, she swallowed her terror and raised her chin, facing her enemy.

Blood dripped from the wolf’s massive maw, as it looked up from its kill and faced her it’s face distorted into a snarl as it circled her. A Shade, shaped into the form of a massive wolf. Azalea gripped her bow in one hand, a sword in the other as the beast and her circled each other, each waiting for the other to move.

The wolf almost seemed to be grinning at her, challenging her, and she wondered, black, depthless eyes taunting her, just how much of Soris was staring back at her. There was some part of her, deep down, that knew she faced both Soris and a Shade, as if Soris was watching from the sidelines. She threw her bow to the side, not taking her gaze off the wolf, the predator that gazed upon her not as if she was prey but a challenge to be slain.

Azalea’s eyes narrowed on his black gaze, her lips pulling into a cold, cocky smirk, her steps slow and precise as they circled one another, everything else around her fading away. Now it was just her and the wolf.

Her cocky smirk thinned to a razor sharp grin, “Hello, lover.” She crooned sarcastically before she lunged, and the wolf leapt.
​