Chevaleresse

Gabriel nodded at Conah's words. "Yeah, this has been really interesting for me too. I don't think I've ever heard anything but mean stories about demons, but you're really nice." He glanced around at the table for a moment. "I just hope that nothing bad happens with everyone here. There are a lot of people who still don't like seeing everyone work together, so we should probably be careful." Damn it, that's not subtle at all. Gabriel scolded himself mentally at his words. Sometimes this would be so much easier if I didn't have to maintain this damned child act. "I saw this weird guy staring at us earlier, like he was angry at something, but that might have just been because my dad is scary looking." He laughed at this last, mostly because Jorgen was indeed quite intimidating, and provided a convenient excuse for a boy to be talking about keeping safe like this.

"Well I haven't slept for shit, but otherwise I've been worse," Arturia said with a sigh. She glanced around at the room. Huh. At least it's quiet in here. "You were worse off than me, I should be asking if you're doing okay. Where's Lana, by the way? I kinda had my head down when I went home yesterday so I never ran into her. I figured she'd be here." She idly fiddled with her hair, pushing it back behind one ear only for it to fall forward once again.

Sounds like a suggestion game from lots of forums. I could dig it. (FWIW, usually those don't have signups or anything. You just drop in and make a suggestion/pick from the options provided.)

"...If you don't mind, I'm going to go retrieve my arrows." The girl looked oddly uncomfortable, almost scurrying away with her bow in hand as she approached the trees in the distance. How on earth did he manage that...? Well, he'll get a good enough scolding from those two, I hope. Which leaves me alone.

It would help if you cleaned up your formatting a bit. The pasted sections are obvious. Your class list contains a few redundancies as well. Still, I'll be watching this.

"All I did was try to show him how to shoot the bow. I handed it to him and he somehow accomplished this." She looked quizzically at the grounded performer. Cursed by the Ice Dragon, this one must be, I swear. . . "Er, Luka, I would recommend maybe studying form a bit more before the next time you attempt this. . . or trying a different weapon. It's somewhat difficult to injure yourself with a wooden sword."

Hoshiko's mouth just sort of opened and closed a few times. "How did you even. . . Are you cursed?" She looked around for a healer, and shouted at the nearby nun. "Mayanna! Luka needs some divine assistance that I cannot provide!" She looked back down at the dancer. "I. . . am not sure the bow is your weapon, friend."

"Watch me first. Pay attention to how I hold the bow and the arrow both, okay? When you shoot, keep your eyes on the target; don't get distracted by looking at your own technique or something, or you'll miss." She drew the bow as she brought it up into firing position, ensuring that she went through the process slowly as to allow careful observation. The arrow landed in the tree with a solid thunk as she loosed, though it was barely audible at this range. She handed the bow over to the dancer. "Think you can hit the tree?" The plant in question was about 50 yards out from where they were standing.

"Huh? Oh. Well, do you actually know how to shoot?" Somehow, she doubted that the dancer knew the first thing about what to do with a bow. "I know a hero like me makes it look quite simple, but it took years of practice for me to get to this point."

Where do Haley and Arturia exist, btw?

Hiroki frowned at Black Idol's deflating attitude. As the woman moved to sit with the few that had chosen to attend her concert, Hiroki shuffled her way to sit next to her. She reached up to her throat and flipped a switch, then leaned over toward the singer and whispered into her ear. "I-I liked your concert and everything, I just can't cheer and all that like this. Sorry. . ." She looked down. She probably just thinks I'm trying to pander to her or that I'm desperate or something, and this is bad for my disguise besides. Why do I keep doing things like this...?

A patch came out today to fix it.

Gabriel nodded politely at the offer. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind, I promise." He turned to Juliet to answer her question. "I'm working on using charms and enchantments to heal people by basically recording what they're supposed to be like when they're healthy, and then giving them the energy so that their bodies can push back to that point as naturally as possible. It's kind of like rewinding them, except there's no actual time magic or anything involved. We were also looking at ways to change that template a little bit so that people could be stronger and faster and stuff. What about you?"

Gabriel thought for a moment. Ah, I doubt they would be understanding if I told them my true interest. "It's a pretty rare one that runs in my family. We've had all of the local healers look at it, but they haven't really been able to do much. It would take a long time to describe the whole thing, and some of the symptoms are kind of embarrassing to the ones that have them. . ." That much is true, at least. Blast, I keep getting distracted. I need to try and sniff out the killer or his possible targets. I do not doubt they are here to target a demon or a human; a human is the more likely target, what with how easy it will be to foist the blame upon demonkind, so this fellow is likely safe. . . I need to steer the conversation toward the humans here.

Hoshiko was busy making a nearby tree feel the wrath of the chosen hero of the goddess herself; that is to say, she was practicing hitting a knot in it with her bow from increasingly long distances, or practicing hitting it from different firing positions, such as upside down in midair, or while diving sideways. Fortunately for the rest of the group, she was doing this facing away from them, and was a fairly good shot besides. Sweat shone on her brow, though she still wore her characteristic scarf, headband, and chestplate. The girl seemed to be almost inseparable from the getup.

Hoshiko nods again. "A noble reason to wield a blade, for sure. Thank you for your kind words." She paused for a moment. "You know, you don't need to be a chosen one to ask the Goddess for a hand now and then. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind helping out someone that was already working toward her goals." A part of her still wanted to be left alone - a hero must stand apart from other people - but at the same time, she was glad someone had actually given her the time to speak her thoughts. Not to mention, said thoughts were about the Goddess; an individual she would be glad to speak about at length.

The archer nods. "Truly, being a chosen hero does ease one's mind on the battlefield. I stand proud before the faces of injustice and tyranny because I know the Goddess will keep me from harm. Since I am a tool of Her will, I don't pray for safety; I know that she will see to it that I am not broken. However, I do pray. . ." She trailed off for a moment, considering her next words. "I pray that her protection be extended to my comrades in justice - though if I could I would do this alone. And. . . I pray that I can fulfill this task without taking innocent lives." She looked down. "It's easy to see the Dragao soldiers as nothing but obstacles to be swept aside or tread over, but some of them are just people pressed into service, or people trying to guard their families from evil. I . . have never really had the stomach for killing, even if the Goddess wills death. I can't bear to do it up close. Father was always stronger than me in that regard. I hate injustice more, though, so I will not put down this bow until such time as there is no one else that needs to die so that others may live their lives free."

Hoshiko jumped slightly in startlement; she hadn't seen Rosalvya go over here, though fortunately the other woman didn't get a knife pulled on her this time. "O-Oh, I wasn't aware anyone was back here." She frowned. "Why do you ask? No one except for Terrin seems to put any stock in what I have to say about the Goddess, so surely you wouldn't care about what she had to say to me, or I to her." The archer didn't seem overly hostile, though, if rather more guarded than she really had to be.

Hoshiko bowed politely at the group after all the speeches were over, having cheered at Meredith's rousing speech. "If you'll excuse me, I have something important to tend to." With that, she walked off, starting the same routine she had after the previous battle - though lacking an axe wound, there was a bit more spring in her step. She headed for another stand of trees and settled down behind one, performing the familiar ritual of maintenance on her weapon. I suppose I'm going to have to get used to big groups like this, but for now I'd prefer the company of the Goddess and no one else. Once again, she crossed her legs, leaned back against the tree slightly, and closed her eyes, almost looking asleep.

"Thank you, Terrin. By the way. . . that pose. . . No, it couldn't be. You were simply swept up by my passion, no?" The archer took on a distant look for a moment before striking her own pose and holding it for a time that was aaaalmost uncomfortable. At Saffron's introduction, she struck another pose, though this one was slightly more casual; she put one foot forward and spun an arrow a bit before resting the broad-headed projectile on her shoulder - it was no wonder the things were driving through armor. "So you are the rightful heir to the land then? I consider it an honor to meet you and aid you in your quest. I knew I was here for a reason. . . Oh! But pardon my discourtesy, I am known as Hoshiko the Righteous!" The talk of how badly outnumbered the Children were didn't seem to faze her. "Fortune favors the just. Even if we are few in number, we are strong of heart and soul, and I am sure the wishes of the people go with us. I don't think we will stay such a small thorn for long; nay, we shall become the mighty axe that fells the corrupted, gnarled tree of oppression!"