#freliaes

Though many—if not all—might object, Niles can be eloquent when needed. Twisting words has always been just as fun as twisting a knife, after all, and he’s rather talented at doing both. But here and now, facing two great beasts with people he wouldn’t trust to stand even a step behind his shadow...

Well, fuck.

...sometimes, eloquence has to take a backseat.

He isn’t a hero, and no amount of participation in any number of wars will ever change that. He doesn’t claim to be kind. He doesn’t claim to be true. If sacrificing half the men and women by his side now will mean he could return to his lord’s side in one piece, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

(Maybe he’ll have to.)

“It was never going to be just a simple in and out, was it?” he grins, drawing his bow. “Not that I’m complaining. Sometimes, a little bit of a rough exit can be fun.”

The first arrow to fly misses; the beast is fast, and Niles doesn’t expect the way it lashes out in turn, a counterattack that he should’ve seen coming but doesn’t. 

Right. As he said: fun.

          pink paper is turned by gloved hands   —   sharena hums, flipping it over a few more times before the excitement of it all finally settles into her head.  innes is the name printed onto one side of the card; pretty and bold and bigger than the words on the back.  where the task is.  it’s an easy one, just taking her partner out to the lake in a rowboat.  as easy as it sounds, it’s always an cute task!  not that she’s ever rowed a boat before or anything but it can’t be that hard, right?

          finding innes wasn’t hard to do either   —   in her quest of trying to befriend everyone in the monastery, she started out by memorizing name to face and voice to person.  she’s not as good at the latter but name to face is something she’s mastered.

          “   INNES!   ”   sharena quickly chases after the retreating male, whether or not he was leaving one of the lakeside establishments or purposefully walking away from her is unclear but it doesn’t matter.  she’s in front of him within moments.  although panting slightly, she smiles from ear to ear and waves at him with her free hand and the card.   “   hi, hello, sorry for screaming so loud.  uh, it looks like we’re partners!  aaaand we have our task, here.   ”   she properly holds the card up and nods her head towards lake, where a couple of boats are perched onto the shore.   “   i’ve never rowed a boat before but hey, there’s a first time for everything right?   ”

          sharena keeps herself from bouncing on the tips of her feet; too much movement might seem irritating right?  well, she doesn’t know anything about innes unless it’s from the normal chatter she’s found herself listening to by other students.  which also wasn’t much.  but dear askr, he so dashing up close!  very prince - like!!

Ignatz knew that his father wanted him to make connections at the Officers Academy and with foreign students allowed to attend the academy he knew his job was ten times harder. They were a merchant family, the prospect of branching out past Fodlan’s borders was a important thing for his family.

So when he was paired with Innes Ignatz knew he had to make a good first impression. What better way than with a poem.

It had been a hour since he sat down to write and the paper in front of him was blank. He had never interacted with Innes, what even could he write about him? 

Maybe he should at least get to know him before writing a poem about him. As he heads out to find Innes he notices him at a table by the lake setting up for tea.

“Oh, hey Innes I wanted to talk to you a bit,”

@freliaes

The Future Fair.

Were Mitama not making a conscious effort to be polite, she would have told whomever decided such an event was necessary just how pretentious their title was.

Mitama’s obligatory smile faded away the second the stranger’s back was presented to her. she at least suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. The more proactive members of the fair had all been knights, hunting for more soldiers eager to throw their lives away. Mitama had done her time as a peon. She had no interest to returning to that life either.

Her appearance at this entire event had been completely accidental as well. Unaware of its presence due to an active lack of interest, she had stumbled upon it while searching for a place to rest. Smelling blood in the water, she was quickly sucked into one conversation after another.

The stranger moved and near immediately Mitama’s eyes were forcibly caught by another recruiter. This time, her grimace was open. By the gods, she did not wish to waste more time on this...

          when they’d finally received orders on the weapon bunker’s location, he’d been pleased to be on the move again, to have a clear and actionable goal in reach. it would help with the atmosphere among the others, too, he thinks; troubles were only stirred when there was nothing else to occupy the mind.

          but whatever he had expected to find, it wasn’t this.

          what he’d anticipated would be a standard military holding, brimmed with storage and an array of rare weaponry, was anything but. the domed interior seemed to shine — metal, there was so much metal; everything seemed to be made of it. strange colors twinkled, as if just out of sight, and what he could make out of the objects kept here didn’t appear of be weapons of any kind. at least, not that he knew.

          and if that wasn’t enough, the only apparent doorway slammed shut with a metallic clang behind them while they were all distracted.

                                        ❝ ... ❞

          most of the others had already fanned out, whether to curiously inspect what caught their eye or in pursuit of the mission they’d been assigned. he has half a mind to follow suit, but now has little idea of what the church wants to secure from this storage. he sees no swords, no spears, no tomes. in fact, watching the others leave their backs vulnerable as they begin to comb, he feels less and less sure of what to expect. there shouldn’t be any active danger in a subsidiary armory, but then this place had been almost too easy to access for what claimed to house the church’s most formidable arms.

          ❝ ... i’m going to patrol the perimeter for anything dangerous, ❞ he informs innes, one of the few who hasn’t yet dispersed, grasping the shaft of reginleif hung across his back. the polished wood slides into his palm tip-down, at the ready, its weight comforting. and then, noticing that the woman who claimed to be a diviner — the sole accompanying faculty, if he recalls — has hung back as well, he offers to her: ❝ you can come with me if you’d like. i’ll protect you if anything proves suspicious. ❞

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 from children, couples, and friends alike. Had he not been dragged along by Lucius, he would find much better entertainment back at the training grounds or somewhere where it wasn’t so loud and rambunctious. He had now lost said healer, however, which left him to wander around to arrive at one of many booths.

          The game itself held none of his interest, but it was difficult to miss the large, white, and fluffy pegasus plush that hung on the booth’s backboard. Maybe he could send Priscilla it, something to keep her company at night. Did he really have to play the game though? All these workers wanted was money so... 

          “How much for the pegasus?”

          “Oho! You must win it good sir!” Much to the chagrin of Raven, the attendant explains. “It seems the pegasus plush is in high demand and for good reason—it’s the last one! You do have some competition though heh.”

          And he gestures to the green-haired man beside him. Raven levels him with a narrow-eyed glare then turns to the booth attendant. “...Alright, I’ll bite.” From his pocket, he fishes two gold coins and slaps them on the table. Turning back to the green-haired mullet man, he leaves him with one final comment, “Sorry, but I’m going to win that thing.”

@herrings @amnesiac-pawn @freliaes

Although there have been already a couple of days that Dimitri and the other students have been in Brigid, the Crown Prince has only familiar with the shores and the ocean. Most of his time was spent aiding the fishermen and hunting for food, with little time nor excuse to go on to explore the surrounding areas or the town. A pity, since Dimitri did enjoy some exploring, but his duties would come first.

Despite being given clear coordinates for a certain area, something felt...strange. Was the path truly supposed to be this difficult to advance through? With each step, the Prince felt himself sink in the mud more and more, to the point he began using his own lance to try to support himself. The smell of salt was also absurdly strong to the point Dimitri himself began to notice, which was also puzzling since he was very sure that the shore was in another direction. Yet, the crash of the waves sounded as if they were mere meters nearby.

The exertion from advancing through the difficult path combined with the strong saltiness in the air and the loud waves felt almost nauseating.

A grunt left his lips as he stepped forward. Then he lost his footing, fell into mud, the world spun and he closed his eyes shut. The next thing he knew was blue. Blue everywhere. His ears felt as if they were plugged, as if...he were underwater? 

It became clear as soon as he let out a gasp, bubbles passing right by his face as he exhaled. But how? How was this even possible? Was this some twisted dream? Had he passed out from the heat? No, it felt too real. So real that something slapped him right across the face- that sting also felt very real. Was it a flipper? A delicate seashell collar wrapped itself around his neck. Not enough to choke, but tight enough to make its presence clear. Where did that come from? Too many questions.

     “...Is anyone here? Show yourself!” As he turned around to face whatever hit him, he let out a startled shout when a gigantic, glittering eye stared back.

Frantic and disoriented, Dimitri tried swimming away from it, only to spot some buildings sitting on the seafloor. One specific house caught his eye.

Dimitri wasn’t familiar with the shops of Brigid, but...that seemed like a bakery of sorts, crooked and worn down. He felt a strange connection to it, even though he had never seen the house before.

     “Where am I...?”

(roll 13 with speed bane)

"Oh FU-uudge!" Her tone quickly changes from feral to flirty when she sees exactly who it was that shot her. With a giggle she rips the arrow out of her shoulder and tossed it aside. Fuck, that hurt, but this is a prime prince meeting opportunity.

"I mean, wow, what a great shot! You're just super talented, milord!"

It won't do for him to see how rough and tough she can be. She charges at him, aiming to close the distance between them and holds back her strength as she throws a punch in his general direction.