Chevaleresse

"Didn't hear the part where I said I wanted to be more ladylike." Her scowl only deepened at the rest of it. Typical. Some hick, thinking women were all fragile, delicate creatures that needed to be protected. She sure as hell felt more confident about the ability of a suit of plate and a solid weapon to protect her than some beardless boy. "And no, I don't think it's unfair. Considering the relative amounts of dirt-eating going on between you and me, it'd be unfair for me to fight you." Rhian cracked her knuckles, as if to emphasize the point.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, you could say that." She stretched an arm out across her chest as she spoke. Just this once, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. . . if only to let him dig this hole further. "Good thing I'm not much of a lady; couldn't ever be bothered to keep that sort of appearance up." Rhian gestured at the sword. "Now you gonna do something with that, or am I gonna find someone else to get some practice with?" Her tone, as might be expected, wasn't exactly friendly. Even if she'd wanted to sound that way, she wasn't positive she could manage it in her current state.

Rhian had taken some time to pry herself out of bed that morning, somewhat unusually as she was habitually an early riser. She hadn't slept well at all, and it showed beneath her eyes and in her even-more-irritable-than-usual expression, and she was sore to boot. Her arms and back especially burned; she'd gone straight from the battle to the burial with only the break of the debate and following execution, and that break hadn't been spent stretching and relaxing her muscles properly. By the time all of the fallen were well and truly in the dirt, she'd been too exhausted to do much more than slump into her bedroll, only to lie awake for hours tossing and turning. Okay, so maybe I lost a little sleep over it. It was all the girl. Currently, she was headed towards the village training grounds, alternating between stretching herself out and rubbing still-aching muscles. She grumbled under her breath, something about how she should have seen the healer before she crashed the previous night. She hadn't paid the village much mind, except for noting Argos's shouting off in the distance and noting its location to avoid for the time being. Rhian still felt a little bad for how squashed the kid had looked when she shot him down, and didn't particularly want to deal with that, or the rest of Argos's. . . Argos-ness at the moment. Once she arrived, she set about looking for a practice range or some blunted weapons she could use. It'd been a while since she'd swung an axe at anything but a block of firewood, maybe they had something close. . .

Rhian said nothing, simply nodding at Ceridwen's words while maintaining a stoic expression. She hadn't exactly expected to agree with Kris today, either, but all sorts of unexpected things had come up. She stared grimly ahead, watching Johanna walk forward. Watching the axe. She didn't envy the prisoners, especially the girl, but this was perhaps kinder than what she faced otherwise. Rhian made sure to meet the eyes of each and every prisoner, were they willing. The knight hadn't shied away from what was necessary before, and she wouldn't now.

Kusuke Recalls Leo, then uses a health potion on himself and another on Jun.

Ritsu doesn't note much in the graveyard itself. The graves themselves are small and marked with either names only or nothing at all, and not well-maintained besides, though it does seem that it's at least kept clear of debris - which unfortunately means that she isn't able to find much of interest in it. The most notable thing she's able to find is a set of positively ancient newspapers, with headlines plastered across them such as "A DECLARATION FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and similar things, something about colonies declaring independence from another power. "You don't know what danmaku is?" Chen seemed to think that this was rather unusual, to say the least. "It's like, fighting with big spreads of bullets and stuff! You need to be pretty and graceful to do it right, like Lady Yukari. Though she doesn't actually fight much. Or. . . do much." The catgirl shrugged, before starting to wander towards the road. She turned as if to walk backward while answering the other question, but then remembered her nervousness and stopped where she was. "Well, Muenzuka's close to the Netherworld which is where all the ghosts and stuff live. That's why it's dangerous, but it's also why people put all the humans that don't have families here when they die. So, um, not all the ghosts are that nice."

Rhian watched Dulcibella leave. She grunted, and seemed to be about to speak, but seemed to reconsider it. She was against this. Can't expect her to take responsibility. She wasn't going to lose any sleep over the soldiers, not much anyway. The girl, though. . . "Captain Levenheit." She jerked her head toward the mute healer. "Even her? We were chasing old veterans, not. . . whatever she even is."

Rhian resisted a sigh. It was difficult again. Old loyalists trying to retake territory by turning to raiding? Yeah, that was worthy of punishment, but this girl? Lots of extenuating factors building up here. For one, she could actually accept the angle of having to do it to survive. Not to mention only being able to talk to the one, apparently. "There has to be a reason she was in there initially. You don't hear about a lot of deaf teenaged healers getting thrown in prison." She glanced back over at the mage. "She's got a lot more excuses than you lot, at least until I hear my answer."

"What, you think I planned on grabbing your axe and swinging away right here? No, we're going to do this right." She was already mentally bracing herself for what was coming next. She had offered, after all, and she didn't know if a place like this had a headsman of its own. Plus, she'd made the decision; she ought to at least be willing to see it through personally. One thing, though, niggled at the back of her mind as she watched the group. The girl - she looked young. Too young. She returned her focus to them. "Who is she? There's no way she's a veteran, there's more to the story here."

They liked heat? That was bad news. Still, she'd dealt with heat-resistant targets before. As it turned out, nothing was truly fireproof; one merely needed to apply additional fire until that claim was proven false. . . and Hiroki had a lot of fire to supply. She unleashed a focused beam from her primary cannon, steadying it with a clawlike off hand while it swept across the tide of scorpions. Hiroki uses Melt on the Kofo-Jaga, dealing 2d6+SYN (14) unreduced, undodgeable damage. This has a 10% chance to deal 2d6 additional damage. Loadout

"Ceridwen is right. They made the decision a long time ago. All of this is planned; none of these people swung the weapons, but they've basically admitted they would have if they'd been standing a couple dozen feet away from where they were. We can't just let them go. I know you probably want to be all kind and merciful like some knight out of the stories but real life doesn't work that way." The dragon knight was making an excellent point, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, it had solidified her own thoughts on the matter. "Bandit tells you he won't do it again, and as soon as you turn around he'll be back to taking what he can. Or maybe he doesn't - but that doesn't bring back the people that died to the ones that did. And from what this looked like? It'll happen again. Some other fossil arranges a jail break and they're back to "foraging" for survival." Forage - a polite term for the sort of organized banditry an army on the move in hostile territory did to keep supplies up. "So, to me, there's just one more question." She turned to the group of prisoners. "Do you wanna drag this on, or would you rather we just shorten you all now and end your suffering?"

"I just might, you big meanie!" Chen stamped her foot, tails fluffing up angrily, while Ran shot an annoyed look at Rory with a less-obvious twitch of hers. The kitsune couldn't muster up too much irritation, given she'd expressed more or less the same concern already, but she couldn't help being slightly offended. "I wouldn't even need orders from Ran-sama to beat you up!" Well, it seemed it was over her initial shyness, at least. "Chen, quiet down now." The bakeneko seemed slightly startled to be receiving a direct command from Yukari, and she followed it immediately. "To answer your question, I've already taken the time to codify your abilities as spell cards. They're a way of preventing things from getting, shall we say, out of hand. It puts a bit more emphasis on grace and skill, and a bit less on one's ability to rend a foe into their constituent atoms." She leaned back slightly. "They're simply a translation of your natural abilities and learned techniques into danmaku. Using them should come as if there was no difference at all." She was quiet for a moment, but still not dismissing them; though her gaze continued to rest on the group in general, it seemed that, on closer inspection, she was thinking. "The system should isolate you from any permanent harm." "I must say that this is a time-sensitive issue, though. Chen or Miss Masako should be able to answer any other questions you have; I have other things to attend to, as well." She gestured out the door with her fan. It took a look from her and another significant glance at the door to spur Chen into motion once more; the bakeneko skittered to the front of the party and started leading them back out of the building, down. . . well, it should have been the same hall, but the decor seemed to be different, down to the wood paneling on the walls being in a different style. There was a lack of certain styles of art, though the oddly modern pieces still remained, including several depicting an angry-looking white-haired man in a red coat. Or several angry men; it was difficult to tell. It was also lacking certain other, more "exotic" flavors of art. Still, Chen seemed to be taking her mission fairly seriously, as she did her best power-walk out of the building. "Ran-sama said to take you to the Forest of Magic, so we have to go to Muenzuka first. Watch out for all the ghosts and stuff. Lady Yukari said they wouldn't, but I heard some of the forest youkai say there's a pink one that might eat you right there!" She sounded as if she believed the latter, and not the former. The bakeneko even shivered dramatically for effect as she walked. The path she chose didn't follow the main one that seemed to be laid out, but a smaller one that seemed to veer off to the side slightly. In a slight reversal of their path inward, the orderly nature of the garden faded out over the course of their travel as one might expect. However, rather than becoming that formless, eye-filled space, it seemed to fade to a more unkempt sort of nature, the trees starting to appear haphazardly rather than arranged in neat rows and undergrowth starting to spring up around the party. The path itself turned into a simple dirt trail, closer to one shaped by game than one manmade. The most notable thing seemed to be the patches of red lilies. "Be careful around the flowers too, by the way. I mean, it'd be a little weird if you ate flowers, but even if you do, you should probably leave them alone. They'll make you really sick." There was a slight sensation of slipping, and then. . . Not much, really. If anyone was to look backward, they'd find that the mansion and gardens they'd left behind had vanished entirely, though it didn't seem that they'd walked so far as to have them cross the horizon - the ground was rather flat up to this point, after all. "Okay! Oh, also, don't mess with the trees either. Some of them are cranky youkai trees. They might, I dunno, eat you or something. This isn't really a safe place for humans. Or youkai. . ." She seemed to falter slightly, realizing just where they were. Among the cherry trees - these ones not blooming - not far from the road they stood on, was a graveyard, consisting of small, densely packed graves that looked mostly-overgrown surrounded by a fence in a similar, but slightly better-maintained state.

L2

"Don't worry, there are plenty of people in Gensokyo that could use your help, miss Emphala. For now, though, this is slightly more important." She stepped backwards into a gap, reappearing behind her desk in a seated position once more. Yukari glanced at Hikari before continuing. "You will be exiting my home near Muenzuka. It can be. . . treacherous, and it wouldn't do for you to slip and join the phantoms. The Forest of Magic nearby is home to one of the miko's acquaintances; Chen and the map should do well enough to guide you from there." Seemingly ignoring Masako, she turned to Rory and raised an eyebrow. She seemed about to speak, but ceased with a slight, yet mischievous grin. Rory would probably learn the hard way if the faunus decided to loot Marisa, of all people. "Speaking of." The sound of footfalls, a measured set already recognizable as Ran's stride alongside a lighter, faster, and slightly more irregular gait moved towards the group from the hallway behind. Soon enough, the kitsune appeared in the doorway, though the owner of the other pair of feet was yet to be seen - until a green hat and a pair of cat ears poked out from behind Ran, followed by a glimpse of dark eyes. This set of features quickly vanished from sight once more. "Chen, now, don't be shy. These strangers need your help." Ran attempted to step sideways, to reveal only a rustle of cloth and a brief flicker of two white-tipped tails. A muted look of frustration crossed her face once more. "But they're all so weird!" The voice was notably higher than Yukari's refined tones or the somewhat more rigid ones of Ran's voice; in fact, it seemed to belong to a child. "Yes, they are, but you need to do what I tell you or you won't grow up to be a big, strong youkai." "But Raaaaan-!" "Chen." Ran's voice, though her inflection seemingly didn't change much, became much firmer. Rather than protesting again, the mysterious Chen finally revealed themselves; a girl in a red dress that could have been confused for a human child if not for the ears and tails seen earlier. She moved in front of Ran and waved slightly awkwardly at the party. "As you may have gathered, this is Chen. I already gave her the instructions on where to guide you. Keep her safe for me."

"If what they say about that prison is true, it'd be more merciful to kill them now. I've swung an axe before, I'll do it myself if nobody else can stomach it." She didn't exactly revel in the thought. . . but someone had to do it.

Haruka scratched her head. "Um, thanks." Compliments, her bane. Though it's not like she could complain much about them, it was much better than being insulted. Or, you know, struck in the face by flying shields. Kyubey, for his part, seemed to be relatively content with the situation - Haruka wasn't actually sure the thing had to breathe - only wriggling enough to settle into the girl's arms in such a way that he could see his surroundings. "I'm Kyubey!" The telepathic voice was closer to the sorts of intonation Kyubey had used when Haruka had first met him. Cheerier, friendlier sounding - not the dispassionate tones that represented the creature's true nature. "Make sure to crush it to death while you're at it." She couldn't really summon up that much venom about the Incubator at this point, but there was still a definite note of hostility in her voice.

Rhian leaned back for a moment. This was hard. Killing people on the battlefield, fine, it was life or death out there and she'd said as much. I don't know that I'm the right person for this. This was. . . different. They didn't seem like bad people. Maybe not necessarily good people, but she could understand being in a place that felt suffocating, after everything had come crashing down around you. "The way I see it, there's three choices here. One, we ship you back to prison. Two, we kill you, here and now. Something tells me you'd prefer that to number one. I would. And, three. . . Say I was feeling extra merciful. How am I supposed to know you're not going to go bandit or try to stage some kind of prison break?"

"Let them go for what?" She turned back to the man. "You know what a brigand is? Then you should know why I called you one. Killing people to make off with their goods - sure, you did it to live, but I went through rough times and never stooped so low." "So I gotta ask. Why? You're gonna tell me 'honorable' men went for that option? There's something else going on in there. And whatever that something else is, is gonna be what decides what happens to you."

"My orders were to help bring in a bunch of brigands and tyrant-supporting scum. Curious as to what part of making a quiet getaway involved storming a village and killing people for the crime of being around." She let the statement stand as her question. "Bit more than fighting on the wrong side, there."

"Well, I wanna hear what the bastards have to say for themselves. They basically threw themselves onto our swords, they've gotta have some reason for this level of idiocy."

Hiroki, by this point, had at least calmed down enough to pay attention to her surroundings and process what had been said. "Dackly wasn't a minion, she was. . ." A friend? She didn't know the snake woman that well, clearly. Still, they'd spoken, and she hadn't been entirely offput. Given time they probably could have found a bit more common ground. She shook her head, the motion mostly muffled by the armor. Deal with what was in front of her. Spiders, or something, were coming, she could handle that. And then she would handle Medusa, and then Makuta. She'd fought gods before.

G7 kill Mage 4

Heidrun, seeing that the initial tensions had been defused, took a mental step back to consider her options. The gang members, as "friendly" as they were, were probably not likely to be of much help. A glance at the unfamiliar street taken in combination with the warning she'd just received made trying to find her way back, alone, to where she was supposed to be alone a rather unappealing option. Which mostly left the group of outlandish individuals that had intervened on her behalf. She wasn't entirely keen on relying on a group of strangers for help, especially given the robot woman's seeming lack of care about the boundaries she'd tried to set. . . but it's not as if she had a lot of options. "Um, do you mind if I stay with your group until I can get my bearings? I don't need all the details of your business or anything, but I have no idea where I am and would rather not travel by myself in a strange area. I can offer my services as a healer, if you need compensation!"

Hiroki simply stood in stunned silence for a moment, before another blast of static (and an underlying angry screech, if anyone could pick it out under the horrendous digital one) presaged another burst of plasma that flew down the tunnel. The mech stomped once, before freezing in place. Calm down. Calm down. Even if that bastard did whatever that was to Dackly and made you feel that way and deserves to be crushed under your boot, you have to calm down. The girl struggled to bring herself back toward some semblance of composure; now that the target that had allowed her to narrow and focus her thoughts was gone, she was left with a ball of anger and no viable outlet. Not to mention the shock of Dackly's sudden betrayal. So, she stood there, guns still whirring slightly in a ready state but otherwise statuesque, trying to recollect herself.

"All excellent questions. Or, should I say, one excellent question, as you seem to be all centered on one theme. The miko in question, as well as her usual crowd of helpers, is the unusual occurrence this time. They've been acting strangely, the sort of strange that proves to be quite disruptive." She raised an eyebrow at Rory. "I haven't the faintest idea of what you mean. . . and, I suppose, you could refuse, but I thought the favor of a beautiful young maiden like myself might be worth something to you." Her eyes lingered on Isobel for just a moment before they resumed their more general casual examination of the group. At least, until Empi received a similar treatment. "As for invaders, well, that descriptor could describe you, no?" She shifted position, moving into a slight lounge on her opposite side. "The source of their behavior isn't quite clear, and I haven't had the time to look myself - hence my calling you." Somewhat abruptly, she seemed to slip through the gap supporting her, only to reappear risong out of another that had opened up in the floor before the party. She held out her free hand, and a rolled-up sheet of parchment slid out of her sleeve and into her palm. "You have an adequate guide, but this will show you where you need to be for those unfamiliar with the area. As extra insurance, Chen will be accompanying you." At this, Ran moved for the first time since the party had entered the room - the kitsune had been standing in a nearly statuesque manner. "You aren't sending me, Lady Yukari?" Her voice held confusion and a fair amount of concern. "Chen isn't always. . . well, you know." Yukari shook her head in response. "I have something more important for you to take care of. Chen will do fine." Yukari's tone actually seemed to hold a note of genuine reassurance - though this seemed to have the opposite effect on Ran herself, whose ears and tails drooped slightly. "I see. I'll send her along shortly, then." Ran bowed slightly. "Thank you, Ran." The kitsune walked off, somehow weaving through the party without so much as brushing anyone with the prodigious volume of her many tails (which twitched slightly once she was out of range, seemingly shaking out the slight remaining tengu-shaped ruffles.) Her absence meant the return of Yukari's attention to the party, her yellow gaze shifting from casual analysis to a much more piercing one. "Now, can I rely on you for this small favor, or am I going to need other methods of. . . encouraging cooperation?"