Sutoratosu

"what the fuck are you talking about, 'do I think it's true'?" She grumbled, leaning her head against the bed post. "It doesn't matter what I thought about it, it never mattered what I thought... or what my big brothers thought whenever they beat the shit of those little sneering fucks who'd throw stones at me. Of course I didn't fucking think it was true, what sense does that make; the birth of one little outcast bitch with white hair bringing the end of the world? We've got a lot of superstitions up there, but that one was the only one that ever really struck me as bullshit. But like I said... never fucking matter what I thought about anything. My sisters, those pathetic, domesticated little prawns living off in the port... even my own damn father didn't want me around, was just searching for a reason to send me off to die...so I gave him one." A crooked grin of satisfaction stretched across her face as she thought back on the last few minutes of that fatal encounter... of how easily she'd turned the tables, simply by listening to him, giving in fully, letting it all out. He'd been right, one way or another in the end... she had no place there. She had never had a place there, even with the affection and devotion of her brothers... eventually, they both would've had to marry, start families of their own, with their own wives and children... neither of them could have defended her forever... and honestly, Rame would've preferred not to have burdened them like that anyway. "I just wish... I was even half the monster they thought I was." She continued, the sound of flames crackling accompanying each and every word as her eyes only grew in their intense radiance... yet there were no flames to be seen around her... "Because if I had been... I would've done exactly like they always feared. I wouldn't have stopped with her...oh no, I would've kept going, conjured enough flame to send them all straight to hell. It would've been fucking worth it to see the look on their faces, after all their shit, best thing I probably would've ever felt...but he wouldn't let me... said she was enough... made me let the other two bitches go free when they deserved the exact same fate, just as much as she did..."

"... It just doesn't end, does it?"

"........" She said nothing more. It was painfully obvious he wasn't being forthright, but there was no point to pushing any further. With a nudge of her foot, the dead man tumbled through the railing and to the waves below, shark bait... hopefully those two treading water down below would get torn to shreds too. And there were other things to focus on; even with how much they'd fine the advance party, there was still a literal boat load of them waiting. Realistically, they could just kill the last two onboard and destroy the planks, try to get away. Only issue though, was hat there was no way to guarantee they wouldn't be followed... an anima mage could've taken out their sales easily, shred it with wind, burn with fire, even snap the whole damn mast in half with thunder... but look at that, no fucking anima tomes in sight. Just the damn rapier at her side... this infernal bit of metal. And even besides the lack of anima mages... they weren't the first ones this fucker had attacked. and if they fled and got away, some other poor lot would end up his victim... "Focus...if we don't put an halt to their miserable careers here, they'll just spread more suffering in these waters and prey on more innocent people. They can come across ramps or stay where they are, it doesn't change a thing... this has to end here."

"13..." she responded nigh instantly. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but... he truly was little more than just a boy. Hell, technically speaking, even she herself would never have been allowed out of training and into the field until 18, by her grandfather's own decree for the household all those years ago. Then there was also the added sting of her birthday... now that she... actually thought about it. Between... what had happened and the extent of her injuries, there hadn't been any time or even anyone to even acknowledge it. But the fact that it had been missed didn't leave a pang of anguish anywhere near as strong as the knowledge that, for the rest of her life, whenever it approached, no matter how joyful such a date one's own birth was supposed to be, it would always be marred by the memory of that day... "How long were you even with these swine for, by chance?"

Well. been a while, hasn't it. But with the new FEF on the forum, there comes a shit ton of new sprites ya'll Here, have some red heads... To the very far left, we have Cadence, my fencer from Crossroads. From the left to right are her sisters, from closest to her age to oldest, and finally their mother at the very end their mother... still need to sprite the old man though. Oh, and I got a crap ton of emotion faces too: Aaaaaaaaaaaand alt outfits too. I've been busy kids. Annnnnd... Why_not EDIT: aaaaaaaaaaaaaand Grandad got done. Just casual clothes for now

"Hmmmmm.... perhaps he could be of use to us... even if he was once one of these filthy, deflective-axe degenerates...and looks even younger than me" "Cadence" She answered, propping a foot up on the dead man's back. Just as with Merc boy earlier, she took the time to wipe the rapier down with the clean side of his shirt... or as clean as a scallywag could be. "fine... so long as you don't kill the fool. Not very often I feel like being nice enough to offer a way out; he's one of the lucky ones... has to make it count. If you're really his buddy, then I'm trusting you to keep him alive till we get to shore" Well, in fairness, he was luckier than the corpse she stood on, that was for certain. Man had a hole clean through the throat and out through the spine, had died instantly once the cord was cut...just as she'd been forced to practice the damn maneuver, over and over again... "how old even are you though? He looks like he could be your sire, and yet you're hefting him around like a sack of flour!"

The second mercenary's blood still soaked her blade. She stood over his limp form, scanning the rest of the ship for anyone else who wanted to dare try there luck, cheeky bunch of pirating bastards and their damn deflection skills... so far it seemed they were gradually thining their numbers though. Good... it served them right, getting licked so badly. On her second pass though, she had to do a double take. Indeed, her eyes had not deceived her. A child had literally just felled the fool she'd let go with an axe and hoisted him over his shoulder "what in the seven hells even....?" She didn't know what to say. The man had to be twice his weight, realistically, at least... and yet the boy seemed to have no trouble at all with the feat. But... evne that was not important, considering... he was making off with her convert. After all that she had done to get him to see just how wrong he'd been, she'd have preferred if the fucker at least made it to shore before someone murdered him. "HEY YOU!" she called from the railing at the boy. "YES, YOU! Where'd you come from, and WHAT are you doing with that Merc, boy? You'd better not throw him overboard or anything, took me more than a bit of effort to get his head space whipped into proper shape!"

Her skin was hot to the touch, like a sheet of metal left out for days in the merciless desert sun, and even then, it was relatively low to her body's usual standards. She visibly bristled at the unwanted contact, acting almost on instinct in an attempt to raise her core back up to that of a roaring flame just she'd been during her rampage earlier, but Braith stopped the impulse before it ever reached her nervous system. Stop, This isn't an attack. Calm yourself, little wolf... She still glared at him... but her muscles relaxed gradually. There had only ever been two types of physical contact she'd known; that which was meant to express disdain and fury and contempt, and that which was to comfort... and the latter had been in far shorter supply than the former over the years... even with the docility of his gesture, it still gave her unease... coming from a stranger. "Rame..." she said tentatively. the urge to pull her hand away was growing with every second, regardless of Braith's reassurance. "Snow... that's exactly what they compared it to too. They always said it was a sign... an omen... that me being born meant another great storm like the one of legend would come and kill everyone, finish what it failed to do the last time...and even more of them said that I wasn't just a sign, that I'd actually be the harbinger of it all... told me I was the cause of anything and everything bad they experienced, no matter how trivial or stupid it was... I was always their little scapegoat, their strawman... the thing they could funnel all their petty hate into when their lives went wrong, whenever things didn't go their way. There... are you happy now? Let go of me..." She was already stealing her hand back out of his grip before he could respond, eye's like dying pyres as she gazed to the floor.

"Tch... l-lucky shot, bastard..." She spat the small bit of blood she felt in the back of her throat to the deck... this had to be the third or forth time the damn injuries had been aggravated in so short a time, and she could feel the toll getting worse each and every time...even with the healing... it almost worried her if she'd ever truly recover after this mess... whether her heart would always labor this harshly and her lungs burn like such hellfire. But even as did so, their whispers filled her mind as their invisible influence slowly knitted her damaged flesh back together again... she wasn't quite back in top shape by the time they were down, but she was certainly far better off than before. Imbue, that had always been what father called it... a gift from the spirits themselves, to power to regenerate using their power, regardless of whether or not one had the necessary materials and reagents on hand needed to usually accomplish such a task... It made her wonder... but before the thoughts even formed, they were whispering in the negatory. No, it had not been them who saved her... at least, not alone... strange... but she had other things to focus on. After muttering silent thanks, she turned to the man who'd assailed her. "I spare one of you, and like clockwork, another of you Wandroughts crawls out of the woodwork thirsty for blood... fine then. You won't get the same mercy as your friend. EN GARDE!" And with that, she sprang forward for the man, ducking low and bringing her Rapier arcing up in a flash as she aimed for the fool's Trachea... it would be a terrible death, sure, but the fucker deserved it; hell, all of these damn scum had something gruesome coming to them... Erase Merc2's sorry existence from this world.

"Are you always angry... by default?" Rame didn't know why she had let herself think maybe for once someone would actually show some respect, or in general just, you know, calm the fuck down and not immediately talk down or go for some type of jab. Honestly, there was no damn sense hoping for it when everyone else she'd ever met had done the same damn thing in one way or another. Throw stones at the little albino girl, spit on her, call her an omen, a walking disaster...at home or in the fucking port, it didn't matter, she still had no place anywhere, no right to even stand. To them all except Brandt and Ingram, and later on Braith, she had just been a monster with no name. "Only when I have a reason, bub..." She answered curtly, letting the hand she'd been about to shake with fall back to her side "and like it or not, I almost always have a reason... you would too, if you'd been fucking born looking like this in the north..."

She was examining a small carved container when Felis approached. Almost immediately, her eyes darted to his position... passed up and down him a few times, finally lost any real interest and went back to the container. The thing was open, about the diameter of her palm and a few inches in depth, a small sea of powder darker than night housed within. She scowled at the thing before redoing the cap and tossing it back into the back "When the hell did they expect me to even use this?" she muttered beneath her breath "Gods... I appreciate the thought, but I don't need black powder...Braith's already more than enough..." It was only then that the boy coughed, rather expectantly... she again turned to him, eyes still disinterested. He really wasn't all he'd seen at a glance, with those shoulders slouched like that... hell should could tell just by looking at him, there was something about her that put him off... why else would he stand that far from her when trying to make an obvious address? "If you're going to say something, just spit it out already."

Well I mean... in the post where they formed, you weren't very specific about mentioning that particular detail of they weren't... you know, actually visible... and ya waited so long to speak up about the inconsistency that really it's irrelevant by now, so... *shrugs* I mean, if ya really want, I can go all the way back and edit it, but...

"Well... that's a bit..." she shook her head as the dancer promptly emptied her guts into the sea after revitalizing her, "nevermind, thanks... now, about him..." She had to admit... it was a bit sad, seeing anyone get sea sick... the entire country was nothing but islands after all... had she never travelled before, even once? Regardless though, it was the opportunity to distract from any question Rayne might raise about her household, and she was intent on taking it. Her eyes fell on the man once more. Her blade again gleamed at her side under the light of the high sun, her hand intentionally angled to shine it into the poor oaf's face. She stalked forward once again, pointing at his throat for a final time... drawing her arm and stance back in obvious preparation... But the final attack didn't come... "Do you see what I meant now? Do you enjoy this feeling? Being helpless to the mercy of another, sad and pathetic?" She allowed the blade to fall back to her side and her body relax the spring-like tension of it's muscles... "I told you... I'm the one with the sword now, you have nothing... but unlike what you intended to do to our little dancer over there, I'm not going to take your life. You've lost your arm, your pride, and probably some of your piss judging from that puddle, but your arm can be fixed, your pants changed and your honor restored... but the only way I'm going to let you get back what I took today is if you..." The rapier again flew to his throat, stopping just a few centimeters away from peircing skin "Surrender immediately, and vow that you'll never use a sword against an innocent person again... Use the damn thing to protect those who need it, instead of for murder and profit... or don't, and see if you still have enough blood in you to counter what's coming. I honestly don't care, I had your life in my hands, but now I'm giving it back. Whether you keep it from here is entirely up to you, Merc boy..." ((so low key... for this part zet just told me to assume he accepts and finish my move so...)) "Anythin' Anythin, yes, I'll never do it again, ma four swords will only defend the weak, I swear it! Just please lassy, stop this madness, I can'not take anymore, I'm begging ya! Let this old dog change his ways, let 'im bark another day!" "..." "good. We have an understanding then..." regardless of his sincerity, she surged forward, rapier in hand, smiling like a devil... "AIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" A solid thunk of impact. The man was on the ground. Cadence towered over top of him... her Rapier embedded deep into the flesh... of the wooden floorboards. The Merc turned his head in surprise as she retrieved the thing and sheathed it again, walking away from him. From her sleeve she produced a small vial and unstoppered it. "Good choice, merc boy. I've taken one life and given you a new one now... the man you once were... he died the moment my Rapier met the deck. Make sure he stays that way, or you'll join him as sure as the sun doth rises; If I ever see your sorry skin again, you better be fighting the good fight." "By the goddess..." He didn't try to get up, or answer, just curled up, like a child in the womb, whimpering... "this lass is a demon... face of an angel, mind of the most spiteful devil..." Leave Merc1 to rethink his life, move to G13, and Use Vulernary

aight, you've got my interest... let's see what I come up with...

She hesitated, for just a moment... but honestly there was no point delaying the inevitable... she'd have found out somehow eventually. "Cadence..." She began, "Cadence Medea Albus..." She'd no idea if the rider had ever set foot on luceria, but even if she hadn't, someone would've had to either lived under a rock or be an absolutely godless heathen to have not heard of the house, and even in the case of the latter, chances were they'd be hearing it soon enough once they ran afoul of the church enough. Known just as for their prowess as their grace and beauty, -even for the men of their line- they produced Defenders, Enforcers, Clergy and Regulators; no matter the individual role, Albus served the faith with the full strength of each and every generation it produced, elite units one and all, sworn holy fealty and bound by the mark of their holy sigil, that old fiery lamb. Hell's, her own grandfather had practically made himself a legend in his younger decades: Regis The Ruby Sun, The Ember Glint, The Dawn Flash... regardless which of the three titles used, it mattered not, only the countless transgressors and literal devil's advocates who died by his hand. And by the goddess, somehow even in old age, the geezer had barely lost any of his touch with combat; he was still faster than her, regardless of if she were burdened by the coat or not...and he could disarm her in a mere flick of the wrist before she even knew what was happening... And that gesture... she only recalled because of him... her people or their guild had been in contact with the house at some point, surely even as airheaded as she seemed, she'd heard of them at one time or another. Though honestly Cadence hoped she'd be proven wrong on that and the rider would be oblivious, just as she had been with her own javelin in her hand; why, even the mere thought of having to explain her presence here made the burning sting her wounds pulsate all the worse, just as fresh and ugly as the memory of how she got them...and who gave them.

"I....I don't know what to say...thank you. It's... not that looking like a man is important though....I just... I don't know. I just wanted for no one to be able to tell one way or another, make it so pointless and difficult that they just stop trying..." At this point, she stowed her rapier back through her belt. She doubted man would be brave enough to try anything at this point. There were still enemies about, sure, but... they were a distance away. And like the damn weapon or not, after so many years she could easily both draw and strike in a mere flash. "If you can really do the one thing for this coat he couldn't though... then I don't see a reason to hold those comments earlier against you. ummm..." She didn't really know what do about the whole bow and gesture. seldom had things such as the Clothiers or other such contractors held her interests or attention; only magic was ever able to do that... and even that had been restricted after a point... though wait... hadn't her grandfather once...? this seemed familiar, yes...indeed, the man was quite fond of that cloak after all, even now... "Please... rise, I'll accept your offer..." the memory was faded and rough, she was probably barely more than a tike when she saw him do it... and surprised herself she even recalled what needed to be said, clumsy as her attempt to copy his motions from so many years ago was... but they managed to get the point across well enough... hopefully.

".........." they simply stared... so too did the Mercenary... before he made to reach for his sword with his good hand, hoping to seize the opportunity. An outstretched length of iron leaking a single bead of blood from his throat was more than deterrent enough though. Cade didn't even look at him... again, he had nothing. "I...." she was at a loss for words, honestly (but the timbre had been cast aside for an obviously female pitch). Even with both the coat and bandages restricting her bust and all the shit that had perplexed everyone for years... and this airhead somehow sees that the coat is simply an old garb taken from her father and hemmed by old Smitty... granted, she knew the old man was senile, only kept around and given room and board and a few insignificant duties because of the life debt owed to him, but... hey, at least he tried... and most of the chaos was on the interior anyway. Actually hell, she took far more issue with the shit she said about him than the other stuff... "...shut your airheaded mouth about the stitching, would you? The old man did his best, all things considered... and at least he got it right where it actually counts; it's only because of his hard work that this thing has kept me alive... so don't bash him, else you bash me too." She took the rapier away from it's place at the man's throat and slammed the basket of the hilt against her chest... hard. To hell with the screaming fire of her injuries of the discomfort of her breasts from being compacted so long, the resounding ring of the countless small iron plates sewn into the thing's internal lining was what she cared about. Smitty may have been shit at sewing, but he'd far from lost his touch with metal... "And no... it's not comfortable. But I never wore it for comfort...I did it so idiots like this one-" She flicked the weapon back to the man's neck, just as he was again reaching for the blade... still not bothering to look at him. "would stop getting so hung on what I am and start paying more attention to who I am... you!" finally she looked at him "Does it matter to you that I'm a woman?" A shake of the head... slow to keep from cutting his throat. "Good... " She took the rapier away and turned back to Rayne. "You have any idea how annoying it gets, a child growing up constantly being asked what gender they were? Seeing so many goddess damned officials who were supposed to be competent and responsible for so many crucial things, make themselves look like complete idiots by having to ask whether a child in a dress was a boy or a girl? It's certainly... image shattering, I'll say that... and once I realized how stupid they actually were under all the big talk, I had to have some fun with it, milk for it all it was worth, watch them fumble over such a simple thing... It's just too bad that by the time I saw the real opportunity, I was already starting to grow up a bit..."

"I'm sorry what?" they had to do a double take away from the merc's suffering. "And just... how are you so sure whether or not I'm female? What, do I truly look that feminine to you? Do you see many women with shoulder's this broad, chests this flat, or voices this even? And regardless what I am, just why should I put fashion above my life on the battlefield?" Blood dripped down their arm all the while and onto the deck... the bandages felt heavy, damp, far from comfortable... but Cade ignored it as they took another look at the rider. There was no way she had just seen through it like it was nothing... after all the hours of altering the garb, after all the countless people who had been left so utterly bested by the mystery of what they were, when they should've been more concerned with who they were...nay, it could not be so easy for a single fool like this to see past anything at a mere glance...because if it was... it definitely brought into serious question the intellect of many a respected official, both within the church and without...

"...Touche" A few spots of wet heat once more blossomed beneath the bandages... but they'd felt their own blade carve through muscle, hit the bone. Even if the bastard had gotten a bit lucky, they'd still come away with the true victory. Fool would have to use his other damn arm if he wanted to keep fighting in what were his last few miserable moments of life. "But.. this doesn't defeat my point. I'm bleeding yeah, but you're dying. Go ahead and make your peace if ya want... as if that will help your case later." The man simply kept scowling at them, albeit this time far more pathetic in his appearance. Cade's attention was more drawn by the random shouting behind them though- "I had this villain handled Lady! Though I have misplaced my Javelin so thank you for the assistance! But, I totally had this covered. Most likely... Probably! Still thaaaaanks!" "No you didn't... If he had been handled, there would've been a corpse at me feet instead of this grovelling little..." they gave the woman a moment's glance and said nothing though, turning back to wipe their rapier on the Merc's shirt... not like he was in any condition to stop the disrespect, now was he? Yes... good that it had been flipped. "Oooooh... now where did I put that thing? Has to be around here somewhere. Cant' be the one in his leg... I threw that one already. What did I do with my spare...?" "You're... joking, right? Check your hand..."

"...." Their gaze narrowed as they paced back and forth around the Mercenary, arms folded behind their back with bloody rapier in hand. The man cast a yellow toothed scowl at them as he tried to nurse his spear injury. Their eyes immediately went to the sword at his side... the arm wasn't limp, but nor did have the ready alertness of top form. Their eyes drifted back to meet his as they finally stopped, tapping the thin blade against their heels... "So... I see you like going after weak people. Defenceless, frail...? ...I get it, I do... you have a sword, they've got nothing, you gotta ask yourself...what could they do you?" A flashing glint, the blade was peircing through the air with an audible whistle as they lunged in an attempt to destroy the fucker's sword arm, eyes hardened into naught more than ruby marbles. "But what if it flips? what if I become the one with the sword, and you the one with nothing? What could you do to me then, Wandrought?" Stop pacing at F11, End Merc1's Career

Well... the story just lost a bit of class but this outta be fun... enjoy, kain, I know I will...