#meldacioxhq

"I reckon they probably know already," it'd taken him such a long time t'climb even the steep ramp up by the power plant that eld onto the roofs, Dave had no doubt some hunters had seen him an' told Kaleb or someone else by now.

The ramp had been the easier option than ahulin' his body weight up one of the ladders. He was healin', but Dave knew he wasn't back to full strength jus' yet. That's take a good bit longer. If the medics had had their way he'd still be in a bed at Formouth, but he could walk ... barely. Someone else who needed the bed more could have it.

"I know that an' m'sorry." He couldn't turn this around into a jokin' and admirin' praise of all they'd done with Lestallum, not when Kimi was lookin' at him like that with her big blue eyes full o' worry. "An' I was scared for you jus' the same."

The call had been her convoy attacked and scattered; of course he'd raced to Galdin with the others. They were their people. She was his daughter. Two daemonwalls had never been heard o' before, never mind the creatures ambushin' out in the open.

It took him a second to grasp her accent and he was slowly getting used to the twang some of these Lucian mainlanders possessed; he hadn’t heard anything like that in Gralea or any of the posts he had been assigned to.

“Thank you, miss Kim.” Kunsel gave a quick nod of his head, glad to have found the young leader on his first attempt. And she didn’t have the look of uncertainty that tainted most other people’s expressions. It wasn’t their fault and he didn’t blame them; Nifelheim had occupied their country and now came here for refuge.

It was a simple run down south for some supplies. He had been visiting his sister in Lestallum and offered to lend a hand with the convoy. Routine trip haul resources back to the main outpost. And it had all been going so well until it wasn’t.

Back up the steep road away from Galdin and Petra had been looking at the trucks behind them to make sure everyone was travelling in a tight column. It was the sound of scraping metal that made his attention snap to the truck in front of them. Confusion had slowed his reactions because Petra hadn’t understood what he was seeing; the lead-truck was being tossed to one side and it all seemed to happen both in slow motion and too fast for him to understand. 

The driver of his truck slammed on the brakes just in time and there was a split second where they both just looked at the devastation in front of them two trucks were totaled and a third on its side. Fortis flung his door open there wasn’t a second thought before he sprinted forward, just like the other hunters in the trucks behind them.

“Kim, you okay?” Crouching down beside Dave’s daughter, he could feel the panic in his chest when she didn’t answer; she’d ended up on the asphalt beside the ruined truck. A quick glance inside and he felt his gut sink; Jim was dead. Whatever had carved through the door had went through him too. Another shake of Kim’s shoulder and he reacted on instinct and yanked her backwards when a massive wall of blackness spawned in the road ahead of them. She was shook, in shock, but she gave her orders and he yelled them for everyone else to hear.

A daemonwall. He’d heard the older hunters who ventured into dungeons speak of this thing. But it was only supposed to spawn in one Solheim ruin ... not in the open of southern Leide. “How strong are the lights at the Mother of Pearl?”

His question was low and serious, loud enough for only Kim to hear, and Petra kept a hand on her arm to keep her close to him. She had to be hurt after that wreck. A flash of movement from their right and he saw the arm far too late; the daemonwall lunged from the edge of the road and the claw would have wiped them out, but it was stopped by a transparent shield. Blinking in surprise at his reaction, Fortis let out a breath but it wasn’t relief.

The world was changin’ with every day that passed on by; new folks livin’ in outposts that they’d never even visited before. But one thing Ezma found comfort in was that an outpost never lost its character, not really. 

Lestallum was more crowded these days than it had ever been, things were a bit darker an’ more dangerous no doubt, but the city was still unmistakably itself. Still the maze o’ narrow alleys and steps an’s blue pipes all leadin’ back into the power plant. 

Knockin’ on the door, the old woman offered a nod an’ pleasant smile to some o’ the hunters makin’ their way to the front barricade for watch duty; she could well remember them signin’ up years ago an’ learnin’ their trade out on the plains o’ Leide like so many others ‘fore them. But then the door opened and Ezma’s attention focused back onto her granddaughter.

@gingersmiith asked:

The crate of supplies balanced on one hip, Tredd pushed the door to the general store open and peered inside. "Hello?" he called softly. "Uh, Dave said I should leave these here..." {gingersmiith}

@meldacioxhq: 

they were getting low on potions … and low was an understatement. she had a crate on the top most shelf of the tallest shelving unit. she could call lestallum, see if her grand-aunt kimya could brew any more, but that’d be a last ditch attempt to bolster supplies. they were running out and that was that. when they were gone, it was basic first aid alone.

squatting down behind the counter, kim pushed a few dust-covered tins and jars to the side, uncovering a smaller box hidden from view. tugging the tape open, she lifted one of the flaps, letting out a breath of relief when she saw a couple more potion bottles peering out at her … okay. that was the back-up back -up.

the jingle of the bell above the door had kim jumping back to her feet - forgetting about the open register above her head … poor guy. what a greeting to get, the head hunter’s daughter turning the air blue instead of returning his hello.

a hand clamped down on the top of her head, where she’d met the corner of the register’s drawer, kim shot the offensive thing a wary glance before shutting it with her hip, ‘ — sorry. i don’ usually say hi that way. ’

her head still aching, and fingers tenderly touching the bump she’d earned, kim gave the guy a proper look over - he was new. definitely hadn’t seen him around before, not in meldacio and not in any of the other outposts - she’d definitely remember seeing a guy like him, unusual hair colour and the scar on his face too. that was good though, wasn’t it? people were still arriving from outside the outposts, it meant there were still survivors out there.

blinking herself from her stupor, kim nodded her head, moving some things off the counter to make room for the crate burdening the man’s arms, ‘ right here’s fine, i’ll go through them in a bit - i’m kim, by the way. ’

Tredd hid a smile. Something, anything approaching normal these days was appreciated. Even a ridiculous little accident greeted by a solid round of swearing.

“Call me Red,” he answered her, placing the crate where she’d indicated. “Mostly rations in here -- the usual cans, but I picked up some greens on me way in.”

Baldur and Ida had kept away from the celebration of the former head huntress’ birthday. Like most of the Gralean refugees. It just did not seem fitting and they still were exhausted and tired. But Ida had fetched some water and she had seen them. She had seen them laughing. She had seen them dancing. She had seen them kissing. She had rarely seen her son so lighthearted and never so in love. Now, Ida stepped up to the small store, seeing the girl working there, standing behind the counter, sorting something. Carefully Ida knocked onto the doorframe. She was curious. She had not yet had the chance to ask Loqi – and he would avoid the subject anyway. She wanted to see herself. Blue eyes with a million questions resting on the young huntress. “Apologize my early appearance… can I take a look around?”