Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)

[Shauntaro]

Shin starts to look a little better after ingesting some of the potion. His eyes still remains closed, it'll take a tad longer before he wakes up.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Taking the time to watch the supply group off, Godiva turned back to the fort, taking a deep breath as she approached the blonde haired knight from before, having taken note of him going around and closing the eyes of various bodies left by the battle. A gesture she could appreciate, seeing as it pained her to leave anybody alone without some amount of respectful send off.

 

“Hello, uhm… Ferdiad was it? Would you mind if I checked your injuries? You got pretty banged up in that last fight.”

[Thunderjames]

As Mim began to question her, Mina managed to snap out of her shock for the who situation, quickly managing a reply.

"Oh where are my manners! My name is Mina Noma and I'm just a Sage passing through."
 

The magic user attempted to maneuver Scoopo towards his owner as she began to apologize to the girl who was questioning her.

 

"I'm truly sorry about landing on your friend. It really wasn't my intention to do so, but hey he did manage to break my fall"

[WolvZephyr]

Seeing that Mina is safe and the man now on the floor is presumably alive, Boss notices someone talking to her.

 

Following suit, she points at herself. "Boss."

She points at her wyvern, who makes a chuffing sound. "Vaughn."
That's her entire introduction. Her stare is utterly blank. To be fair, it's immediately obvious that she is a wyvern rider.

She pauses. After a moment of silence: "Sorry."

[RedMageCole]

Arthur had just a smidge of relief once Shin looked like he was stabilized.

 

"Well... He's been through more than that, at least. One crazy bi-... someone dropped a meteor on him once and he was fine. My name's Arrrrrrrrr..." Arthur's voice trailed off, catching himself in the act of giving some questionable information. "...Crimson... Yeah. Anyways, we need to get going. Like. Soon. Quickly. Before dark... How long until Shin comes back into consciousness?" Arthur looked to Mim without dropping her name.

[Shauntaro]

Shin responds a small bit to his name being called out. He's still not fully up yet, however.
"Mh...........wh........."

[Thunderjames]

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Crimson, let me try and help your friend out"

From Shin's horse Mina used some of her memory magic to heal up Shin

[WolvZephyr]

Arrrrcrimson. What a long name. How many R's is that? Boss's spelling has always been a bit spotty. But very legible, she promises. Not like Vaughn's.
(Boss is unaware of how low of a bar that is.)

"..."

"...I have deer."

She holds up a bag, with wrapped packages of deer meat inside. They're from earlier today, very fresh.

[RedMageCole]

"Yeah, sure..." Crimson muttered an inaudible not really in response to Mina. His eyes were drawn to Boss— "Wait, you have- where did you get that? Deer meat is not that fresh— don't they have that stuff cooped up in the cold weather for days?"

[WolvZephyr]

Boss shakes her head.

"Got it today."

Vaughn's head suddenly lunges at her hand. Boss grabs her by the snout and holds the meat away from her. It's reminiscent of a guardian keeping a child from sticking their fingers in uncooked pastry by pushing their forehead. Except, in this case, the child is a large adult wyvern with very sharp teeth.
Otherwise, Boss completely ignores her, continuing to address "Arrrrcrimson".

"Do you want some?"

[RedMageCole]

Arthur blinked a few times at the deer meat.

 

"Mmmmh... Damn, I guess I am kind of hungry... But we don't really have time to eat. Can it wait?... Or are you two headed somewhere?"

[Aurorix]

"Hmmm, this is quite the issue now isn't it. We can't just leave the girl freezing there either." Baldur tilts his head and ponders for a moment, "I don't believe those men will be too willing to listen to an enemy in a suit any time soon... Though perhaps they might be more willing if a former ally came along as well." Turning his gaze back towards Adelaida he continues, "Would you by chance be willing to accompany me down there? I'd sooner like to get the confrontation over with than risk a surprise assault sometime soon."

[RedMageCole]

"Eh, sure." Adelaida shrugged. "I'm not exactly the most charismatic person in the world, so you'd probably be better at doing the talking. I'll just be here to tell people to shut it and stop thinking about General Richter... Hm. Might have to break it to them that the guy's dead, too. At least that part wasn't our fault, that'll be points in favor of us."

[Aurorix]

"I suppose that does work in our favor..." His voice trails off a bit at the end there before he quickly shakes it off, "Lets head down then. Better to just pull this band aid off quickly than to have it be long and drawn out." He waits for the warrior to lead the way down.

[RedMageCole]

"Sure. I'll give you an introduction."

 

Adelaida led Baldur down to the basement— almost immediately, they were greeted with an infirmary setting. Rian soldiers were in bed, resting. Some peer up as they hear the door open.

 

"Oi! Dickheads! Get up— Stay in bed, though, I'd rather you all not pass out." Most of the Rian soldiers sat up, puzzled. One stayed laying down. "Yeah, I see you, Nazariy, don't even try to go back to sleep, get your ass up." The last one laying down groaned as he tilted himself up, rubbing his eyes. "Adelaida, reporting for duty. Got some news for ya— the battle's lost for Ria." The soldiers immediately started chattering— "Shut up, I ain't done talking. We didn't fall by Perusian hands, so rest assured on that. We got some people who actually give half a damn about us, like Ivanovich did. Alright— floor's yours," Adelaida stepped back, many eyes falling on Baldur.

[Aurorix]

The eyes pressed against the boy all felt like daggers. He wasn't much one for public speeches either, though someone has to do it. He takes a deep breath before he begins,

 

"I won't bore all of you with something long and drawn out so I'll get straight to the point. I ask is that some of ours be allowed to rest here before we begin leaving and moving forward. That is all." Glancing around at everyone's condition he adds, "And... if you would wish it of me I shall be glad to help heal the wounded if you all would grant us stay." He stands firm waiting for their responses with baited breath. Maybe he was a bit too direct here.

[RedMageCole]

A few— well, most of the Rian soldiers were looking at Baldur with disdain and confusion. However, Adelaida's presence alone was enough to get them to start muttering and then hurriedly nodding. Once again, however, the guy Adelaida referred to previously as 'Nazariy' let out an audible groan.

 

"Whatever. We've all pretty much accepted that we're gonna die without a commander, so why don't you just shack up anyway? You don't need our opinion."

 

Adelaida made her way towards Nazariy. He continued to stare at her with an uncaring expression— all the way up when Adelaida clocks him in the head hard enough to send him tumbling back down to a laying down position.

 

"Idiot. I'm only gonna say this once for all of you— Be lucky they're not Perusians. If they were? We would be dead. But they aren't. They're Virtuous. You know, the criminal group? I ain't gonna pretend I really know why they're in Ria, but all I know is that they need our help. They're good people, alright? No grudge against us. Our army got warriors' deaths. In the end, that's what we Rians want." As the group seemed to settle down, content with Adelaida and Baldur (even despite Nazariy's continued groans), the woman turned towards Baldur with a hand on her hip. "You got anything else you wanna do or say, or are we blowing this joint until we get a full squad of healers down here?"

[Thunderjames]

"Are you well?!" Mina canters over towards to Shin, still unsure if he was still alive. "Do you have brain damage?"

[Aurorix]

Baldur squinted towards Nazariy character and their constant outbursts, though he ultimately decided to shrug him off. "No, that should be all that's necessary. I'll go bring the girl down here in an open bed then start working. Thank you for your assistance Adelaida." He gave a nod to the warrior before heading back up and to the throne room. Gentle picking up the sleeping Lucy he took her back down before softly placing her in a bed under a warm blanket. He did not waste time following up on his word fixing up the soldiers down here, though he did always keep Lucy in sight. He did not trust these men and far as he could throw them. They were not about to do anything funny to her under his watch.

[Shauntaro]

The woman's voice managed to jolt Shin back to his senses.. a little. He attempts to sit up, seeing Mim, Arthur and Boss there as well.
"...huh? Oh.. yeah, I-I'm fine. Are you okay? Miss.. uh.... what's your name? Who is she?" He continues on, pointing towards the tall blue woman, currently holding up some fresh deer meat.

[Thunderjames]

Mina sighed in relief seeing that the person she fell on was intact. "Oh I'm Mina and that over there is Boss; She's a bit odd, but she's a good person" 

The sage got off the horse she was riding and attempted to help Shin up. 

[RedMageCole]

Later that night...

 

Arthur, Mim, Shin... and the two new unlikely yet still potential members of Virtuous arrived back at the outpost. Kane made sure to not rest for too long and call everyone to a meeting in the throne room— to assess the battle plan. The five hadn't quite arrived yet— most likely a result of Kane's compulsive need to be on scout duty for at least a little while. Lucy was also present— but mostly off to the side, fidgeting with her hands and only half-listening.

 

"Alright. So, we have two orders of business. First, we have the issue of Godiva. She'll need a nickname, and we'll need to find a mask for her. If you have a hood, that'd be ideal, but we'll need to find something to cover your face. You'll also need a codename which we can refer to you mid-combat..." Kane sounded extra high-strung, as if he was making up for all of the time he spent not working. He talked at about a mile a minute. "Whatever codename you want is fine, if you need something temporary to think on it more, that's fine too. Anvil, if you could start making some prototype masks, that'd be excellent. Once you've gotten all that, we have the issue of sneaking into the-"

 

It was that moment that the five walked in— Kane's eyes narrowing towards the group. His eyes turned into a brief moment of panic, before growing slightly frustrated.

 

"...Crimson. Snowbird. Ficus. Why are there two people with you? Why did you bring them to-"

 

Arthur was quick to interject.

 

"Alright, look, we didn't really have much of a choice? Mina here literally fell on top of Shin and then... Boss? Was with her. They just came shopping with us and Boss actually fed us."

 

"And did you tell them that we were in the middle of a highly dangerous operation that would make them highly wanted traitors of their own nation?"

 

Arthur paused, whispering a shit under his breath.

 

"Well— Fuck, I don't know! I figured we could try recruiting them, or something!? We lost Justine's sister-" Arthur's voice got caught in his throat, avoiding Justine's gaze as he suddenly felt immediately ashamed of what he did. "...Well, we don't have any fliers... and Mina seems like a decent mage... Look, Mim's fine with them, Shin's fine with them and he almost got a damn concussion because of them, why aren't you fine with them? They aren't even from Ria!"

 

"We can't just let anyone into the most wanted gang in Purgus, Crimson—"

 

As Simeon was mulling over everything quietly, a voice suddenly made a loud 'uhh' next to him.

 

"I dunno about that one, chief? I mean, all I did was get stabbed and get discovered that I was a kleptomaniac and I got into Virtuous okay."

 

Kane looked like he was about to object, but then a less gruff voice cleared her throat.

 

"Were you just not gonna give me an invite, or?" Adelaida looked significantly more content wearing a somewhat plain black coat and pants combo— unassuming, but hard to draw attention to. "If I go back, I'm pretty much branded a traitor, so. Wouldn't mind actually having something worth a damn to do. What was it, mask and codename? Easy shit. I can just cover my face with my bandana or something."

 

Kane remained silent. Simeon was next to speak up.

 

"No 'arm in it. If they want to get into the cause, that's on 'em. If not, they'll just leave. Nothin' wrong with that."

 

Kane remained silent for a little longer, eventually sighing and looking straight at Boss and Mina.

 

"...Alright. In that case, the two of you will need a proper induction into the group. You'll need something to cover your faces and codenames. If you're both not up for it, just leave on your own and I'll pretend none of this happened. Second course of action— in one... mgh. Two hours, we'll be headed to Ria Castle. There, we will sneak in while everyone's asleep, incapacitate King Ruslan and Queen Zaara, and leave with the Relic as quickly as possible. Sound good?" Kane didn't even wait for a respond to his extremely vague plan. "Alright. I'll walk everyone through the details later. For now, just... hang tight. Please."

 

Kane was quick to leave the outpost once more.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Throughout the day, Godiva had spent her time trying to help the various members of Virtuous around the outpost… Or at least, the ones that she could find easily. It had been a chaotic day, but by the time Kane gathered everyone in the throne room, it was hard to tell if she was even winded by the amount of running around she had done, holding her hands in front of herself as her situation was discussed, 

 

“Actually, I’ve been spending some time thinking about a code name for myself, even before today actually. I thought 'Solstice' would be a good name. It has that bit of ‘mystery’ to it that a member of Virtuous needs, right?” she explained, before suddenly looking a bit sheepish,

 

“Though a mask would be helpful. I don’t… Really have a hood for this coat”

 

With that, Godiva had said her initial piece, marked by the entrance of her cousin and, surprisingly enough, more people then there had been when they left. Naturally, the noble gave her cousin a wave before returning her hands to their initial position, letting the members of Virtuous discuss their next move. She had her own feelings on the matter, yes, but she was committed to her earlier actions now, and since she wasn’t an ‘official’ member of the group yet, she figured there wasn’t much room for her comments.

 

Of course, as soon as Kane left, Godiva was quick to move from her position, advancing on Arthur’s position with great speed,

 

“This has been coming for a long time” Godiva stated as she approached, finally reaching her cousin and, with a surprising feat of strength, lifted him off his feet with a gigantic hug,

 

“Aaah, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you Arthur! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again after you disappeared, but you’ve been doing so much! Who would've thought that you'd be a part of Virtuous of all things?” she exclaimed, swinging herself, and by extension Arthur, from side to side as she happily made up for lost time.

[rokubiraijuu]

He simply doesn't know what he'd done with the passing hours. And now they're standing here again, and Kane is telling them about their next plan, and some part of Ferdiad wonders if something is wrong. The man he's known over the last year doesn't seem the same as he used to be. But then, he thinks, redirecting his gaze to the stone floor — is he? Are any of them? He looks around at the loose group, then back to their leader as he beats a hasty exit as though something was chasing him. Different.

 

His hands curl loosely at his sides, iron of his gauntlets creaking. His thoughts seem to come and go, each one drifting away before he can grasp it, leaving him blank. They're off to another fight soon. One after another. There's Simeon getting ready to work on masks, a handful of newcomers. Somehow, it'd felt as though Kane was simultaneously too on-edge about letting them join and also too irreverent about the same.

 

But perhaps things are just... different.

 

The thought makes his head hurt. He glances over to Baldur, now mobile and seemingly back to health after... and that makes his head hurt too. Part of him wants to go after Kane, see why he'd left in such a haste, find out if it's simply his imagination or if something is troubling him, shoulder it with him like he used to. And part of him wants to approach Baldur, pose the looming question — why?

 

He does neither, of course.

 

Instead, at a loss, he simply walks and sees where it takes him, not wanting to draw attention to himself by simply standing in the middle of the hall while everyone else is busying themselves. Clunk, clunk, clunk...

 

"... Oh."

 

He looks down, finding that his steps had brought him a few meters shy of Lucy, by herself off to the side. She looks as nervous as he remembers. There's a prolonged, uncomfortable silence, before he quietly offers:

 

"... I... apologize for earlier, when I yelled at you."

[WolvZephyr]

Boss stares, as blank as ever. Uhh, dangerous operation, traitors, something... Boss has never understood even a little bit of politics, despite having it explained to her more than once. To be honest, she has no idea why she is here. Sounds like a job or something? They looked hungry so she shared some provisions and now she's here.
It has been a long time since she's travelled with a group. Maybe it'll go better this time. Why not?

...Something about a mask and a codename? It's hard to think of something good. Boss's naming conventions tend to be as literal as possible--A spear called "the spear", an axe called "the axe", no more effort than necessary. The only reason Vaughn has a proper name is because she already had a nametag.

"A codename? ...Is 'Codename' good enough?"
Vaughn swings her tail at Boss's torso. She stumbles but doesn't fall.

"...No, it isn't..." Boss acquiesces.

It seems it will take more time for her to think of something. As for a way to cover her face, she has a hood already and a face-warmer in her bag. That much will be easy.