Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta's reaction was one of raw terror and confusion as Shin up and stabbed himself in the neck with an arrow, for some horrible train of reasoning that Lizaveta could not really comprehend, something about him not having value?? She wasn't really sure what to do, fear and shock playing across her mind so intensely that she found herself just sputtering.

"SHI-- FIC-- W-- w-wuh-- WHY?! Why would you--"

 

Death's laughter and little cackling, bragging rant made something snap in her once again, though, and she began to bare her teeth -- only to see Baldur begin to struggle against Death. It was in that moment that her mind was made up -- she dove for her Worm tome, and began to run towards Death, with the intent of reducing his head to pulp with dark magic. At this point, rage worthy of someone of Ria rather than Vini filled every aspect of her being, and:

"YOU!"

[Swordstar]

Shin what the fuck, was the only thought that was in her head for a second, watching helplessly as he fell into the lake. But Death laughing snapped her out of it. Refocused her anger. The anger the was suddenly a bright white hot ball in her chest. She didn't need Baldur's yell. She had already been moving.

 

A sudden violent twist, pulling her body away from Death, just the slightest bit that she could manage. Her body twisting towards him, as she plunged the arrow she held hidden into his side. A smile, and then she closed her eyes. Waiting. Waiting for the sharp bite of pain and the darkness beyond that she knew was waiting. At least... At least Baldur might have the chance to escape now.

 

 

[Chevaleresse]

Justine leapt forward as soon as she noted the others, smoothly drawing her sword from its place before her. She dove into a roll to close the distance faster - a maneuver she'd practiced, but never with a sharp blade - then sprung out of it directly into an attack on Death, her blade arcing through the air towards the arm that held his bow.

[Zetaark]

The sudden turn of events that transpired honestly made Fey completely speechless.

"What did...why...huh?" Fey stammers, very confused to the events that just transpired and their valiant, if very questionable motives. It takes her a moment to properly respond to Kane. 

 

"Yeah, I can try and drag him up but just...why?" Fey shrugs before going towards the lake, before also turning to Death in the process, taking note of that situation. "You can answer me after I drag his waterlogged corpse out of the lake maybe, but does Virtuous double as a performance group. Cause this is one heck of a clown show," Fey asks, not entirely expecting an answer before heading into the lake.

 

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Seeing the others move, Lysander slides his foot under the blizzard tome near his feet and kicks it up. He then catches it with one hand, and flipping it open with the other. In a flash, icy winds surround him. His eyes focus on the rest of Death's. If any of them make a move towards his allies, Lysander is prepared to blast them with his magic. 

[Flannelmagician]

Per usual there wasn't much for Tabitha to say in this situation. What had transpired with Death and the others and now what was currently going on with Shin. She felt her nails dig into the skin of her hands as she clenched her fists, her hands trembled as slow stream of red trickled down from part of her hand where her fingernails met the palms of her hands. Upon seeing Shin topple into the lake something inside of her broke, whether it be because of his wiliness to give up on life or the emotions she tried to bottle up in the previous encounter it was if every part of her body was telling her to "get mad" and to "take action". 

 

Without considering the consequences of grabbing her weapon, she picked up her staff and began to stumble towards the lakeside. She skidded to a halt by the side of the water and grasped her staff in her right hand, using her free hand to act as a megaphone of sorts. 

 

"GOLDEN EYE! YOU BETTER NOT LET THAT IDIOT DROWN! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT HIS DEATH UNLESS ITS DONE BY MY HANDS CLASPED AROUND HIS SCRAWNY NECK!" Despite her spiteful tone, and rather crash choice of words more than anything Tabitha was begging Fey to not let another person die in front of her. She slammed her staff into the lakeside and keeled down beside it folding her arms and for the first time in years Tabitha uttered a reluctant prayer to the gods. 

[RedMageCole]

Death's maniacal laughter was enough to set Arthur off, too. Much like Lizaveta, he grabbed his Fire tome and began to start casting. He didn't care much about Shin, but he wasn't going to waste an opportunity casting. Kane looked... frazzled. A bit too frazzled to even answer Fey, but he didn't look like he was exactly jumping to deny it, either.

 

"Ngh... Not now...! Wait for an opening...!"

 

Kane's tone doesn't sound... like an order, strangely. And it sounds oddly loud for an order, as well as... him not looking at any of you when he gave the order. Even if he wanted to order you all to not attack, it was clear he was too late. He couldn't do much, being separated from his knife due to running over to Shin, so he could only pray that the rest of Virtuous acted. Death's resounding laughter stopped with a halt, replaced with confusion at Baldur's yelling and his bow arm suddenly yanking downward, which was then replaced with a sudden 'ack' of pain... before he loomed, silently, watching you all go towards him. After all, you all had to pick up your weapons...

 

 

“You idiots."

 

He said with a malicious smirk, snapping his fingers as his bow arm returned to position. Suddenly, the troops surrounding him closed in with a sword-wielding Pegasus Rider, two of the Scholars charging their own spells and a Mercenary brandishing his sword charging in to threaten Lizaveta, Arthur and Lysander's spellcasting. Fey evaded the sudden tides of battle, going into the murky depths to rescue Shin; thankfully the lake is not that deep, Shin still has a faint pulse, and Fey is able to grab Shin. At the same time, a glitter of a gemstone right near Shin catches her eye... hm, perhaps it could come in handy.

 

Fey obtained an Element Ring!

 

As all of this transpired, the people on the surface not busy focusing on the battle can hear an audible cracking sound... Justine is a little quicker on the draw before the battle really flares up due to her maneuvers and is able to reach Death before the soldiers can move in, but Death is ready for her.

 

Spoiler

Death is affected by Justine's Daunt! -5 Hit/Evasion/Crit!

Justine is supported by Arthur! +2 Hit/Evasion, +5 Crit/Dodge!

Death is consumed by superbious behavior... -15 Evasion!

 

Justine:

AT: 16 - 6 = 10

Hit: 125 - 34 + 15 + 5 + 2 = 113

Crit: 10 + 5 - 8 = 7

 

Death: (Baalzebul)

N/A

 

Justine attacks! Autohit! 44, no crit.

...

Mim is forced to take the attack! Mim takes 10 damage!

 

Death's reflexes were far too great, and Justine's target was just a little too close for Death to not be able to swing Mim in the way of Justine's attack. As Death finishes using his hostage as a defensive maneuver, the lance-wielding Pegasus Rider rushes in to fight Justine back, not giving her a single moment to realize what she had done. Kane bit his lip, drawing blood and keeping his eyes behind Death and his complete lack of guard. Death's laughter began to start up again, his arrow having been embedded slightly within Mim's flesh during the previous chaos as she now suffers a moderate-sized slash wound on her body, blood trickling down her neck and torso, and judging by how close Death's boot was to the ground, Baldur's now-broken wrist was the source of the cracking sound.

 

 

“I see what the plan was. Pull a completely, utterly outlandish stunt to get me distracted, then go on the offensive while I'm not paying attention. Was that it? Let me reiterate for you all; don't worry, the poison I've embedded in your little 'Snowbird's' neck won't kill her for another eight minutes without treatment. I am much faster, much cleverer than any of you combined. I laugh because I have the upper hand, and I will not lose the upper hand. Foolish girl... what kind of shitty assassin do you think I am that I'll keel over, crying my eyes out over a piss-poor arrow wound that didn't even hit my vitals? You're all pathetic. You're all weak. And you will tell me..."

 

Death pauses, watching you all. Suddenly, he pulls his arrow back to Mim's neck, aiming exactly for the spot he stuck her with previously. His arms were completely and utterly occupied; he had his target, and nothing else was going to deter him, nor was anything else going to prompt his swift reflexes to jump out in retaliation.

 

 

“Fuck this. I've changed my mind. Why am I bothering with all of you? You've all behaved too poorly for me to give you any more chances, and thinking about it, I'd rather just have you all dead at this point. Say goodbye to little Snowbird, and pathetic Orchid."

 

"Snowbird! Orchid!"

 

"NOOO!!!"

 

Spoiler

Mim can barely breathe... -30 Evasion!

Mim is supported by Arthur! +2 Hit, +5 Evasion, +5 Crit, +5 Dodge!

Death has a murderous ego! +10 Crit!
Death has critical eyes! +5 Crit!

Death strikes at the vitals! -9 Damage, +45 Crit!

Death has regard for anatomy! Gained WTA!

 

Death: (Baalzebul)
AT: 19 - 6 + 1 - 9 = 5

Hit: 116 - 39 + 30 - 5 + 15 = 117

Crit: 23 - 9 - 5 + 10 + 5 + 45 = 68

Adept: 24%

 

Mim: (Steel Greatbow)

N/A
 

Death attacks! Autohit! 58, crit!

 

 

 

Death is caught by surprise!

Death takes 30 damage! Death is defeated!

 

Spoiler

Kane's face didn't look nearly as panicked as it did when Shin stabbed himself, and Arthur's teary eyes opened up slowly, gasping for breath as he prayed harder than he ever had in his life. In the midst of confusion, it almost doesn't register with any of you that hoofbeats were approaching, but Kane seems to have recognized them quite well. Kane's eyes opened at the exact moment it all happened; the army fell dead quiet as their weapons stopped, the sound of an arrow flying and missing its mark save for a slight streak of blood that ran up the side of the little snowbird's cheek, and the sound of a lance piercing straight through someone.

That someone, as it turns out, is Death, who stands there twitching and not registering at all what happened; as if he had never felt the feeling of a lance through his gut before. As if his complete and utter focus towards killing his hostages meant that nothing else would interrupt him while his non-human reflexes were at their slowest.

As if he didn't know that he, much like his victims, bled.

 

“No... This... This isn't... right... you had... the stupidest... you're all... so why... it's not... was this... your plan... all along, V-..Virtuous...!?"

Kane remained completely silent in the face of Death's anger, with naught but a smirk on his face. Clearly, he hadn't planned Shin's outlandish distraction. He hadn't planned Mim's stabbing. And yet... they somehow all tied together perfectly for this moment. Death hacked up more of his blood with the majority of it getting caught inside of his hood as he struggled against the lance, knowing that he, much like the victim he was loosely holding onto, was now knocking on death's door. His grip on Mim weakens, the hand that held his arrows dropping to his side...

 

“It doesn't... make... any... fucking... sense...!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...

[rokubiraijuu]

He had set his sights on a different future. Once before, it'd been like this, too, the lands of Ceda to his back and the staggering uncertainty of the whole world ahead. He would have to find a form of income first; perhaps he could do what he'd done before meeting Kane, before this mesmerizing fever dream. Virtuous. He'd been a fool to think that clinging to a shining name would wipe away anything, as though through nothing but hope, he could erase what had been done.

 

Naivete was pretty, a glittering tapestry to believe in, but when pretend ended, reality still waited.

 

In the long hours he had to ruminate, he decided that before thinking about a new life, there was one duty he still had to attend to. And perhaps it wasnt even useful to consider a life beyond it yet, until he got there. ( If he got there. ) The band of four. Before anything else, he had to put a stop to them. It'd been over a year now, but he couldn't forget them if he tried: a green-haired young man, angry and impatient; an older looking man with a ready smile; a young, meek girl; and the flame-haired woman. A flash of red hair from behind a hood; a triumphant smirk. The leather of his gauntlets tighten audibly around Bradwr's reins.

 

Burned behind his eyes, His Majesty's body lies as though in peaceful sleep, an arrow embedded shaft deep in his neck. He's only one man, and against assassins so prolific, he knows it may well be hopeless, but if he loses his own life in his pursuit of them, then at least it will have been given for something worthwhile. He can say he tried. 

 

This resolve is no victory march; it's cold and small and hollow. But it's what he can hold onto as he turns Bradwr into the rising sun, setting his sights on a new goal. They couldn't have gone far. He had to have departed Ceda Castle only shortly after them. However, he has no way of knowing in what direction they could have gone. But... if they're hunting royalty, then the next reasonable target would be Ulux Castle.

 

...

 

...

 

It's been a long time since he's traveled this far on his own. If he can even arrive in time to warn the monarchs of the approaching threat, then perhaps there was a chance. It would be preferable to turning his eyes away from the disaster he knew would come. The Forest of Ulux's thick cover grants some shade from the grating light of the sun. According to his map of the area, once he was through this se—

 

The sound of hurried footsteps rustling through the underbrush nearby draws his attention, and he raises his head just in time to catch the flapping tail of a cloak between the trees off to his left. "Ah—" A flash of red hair. His heart nearly stops beating. No, it couldn't... "Wait!" He pivots Bradwr sharply, about to give chase, but either the figure didn't hear him or didn't care to stop, and soon they're lost in the thicket. Ferdiad bites down on a curse; are his eyes just playing tricks on him? Or could he have been lucky enough...

 

He looks off in the direction the figure had come from. Perhaps... There isn't a moment to waste. Digging his spurs into Bradwr's flanks, he urges him into as swift a motion as he can through the trees. Quickly, he realizes, from the broken branches, trampled brush, that he's coming up on something — then, sounds of shouting up ahead. Voices. A break in the tree line revealing a large clearing — the back of a hooded figure — a strident, crowing voice in mockery — he would recognize it anywhere. Is that Mim in his grasp?

 

"... dered King Tobias of Ceda... King Cyrus of Vini as well!"

 

In a rare surge, red curtains Ferdiad's thoughts. He doesn't remember reaching for his lance, doesn't register the others of Virtuous, the marks of a fierce battle strewn across the plain. All he sees is a bow and arrow whose fletching had been bloodied by the life of his King. The flash of red hair and the smirk. "You are a disgrace to this Kingdom." Stella's stricken cries as she falls to her knees.

 

"All because of you!!"

 

A tremor as the impact shudders up the length of his arm, all at once momentous and distant. A crunch as the lance's blade pierces a lurching back.

 

He wrenches it deeper with another crack of splitting flesh, sinew, bone.

 

"I'll kill you!!"

[ElfCollaborator]

So....that was the plan all along. He'd seen Knight earlier, most likely, while they were busy fighting for their lives. All Kane was doing was buying time, precious time, until Knight could get here.

While Death had placed all of his cards on the table, Kane had kept one back, waiting until the final end of need to play the trump card. Lenore wasn't sure he'd planned on this, but she was sure he knew he could use him. Lenore had been right to hold back; there was no weak spot for her to exploit; Justine and the others had been countered easily and Lenore, handy as she was with a knife, wasn't a fighter herself. Leaping into the fray, when he knew where she'd be coming from, without overwhelming strength behind her? A brave move, but a stupid one. Lenore cared about Mim, true, but she was outmatched. Best case scenario, Lenore would get herself hurt and Mim killed. Worst case, they both ended up six feet under.

The noble move would be to attack, but Lenore was a pragmatist. Nobility was best saved for when other people's lives weren't in the balance. The good woman in her wanted to lash out, to attack, but the thief, the con-artist held her back.

Shin.....she was going to chew him out later. If Liza didn't, she would. The boy had no leverage on Death and Death was no honorable soul; what was he thinking? The fool almost killed himself. Might still have done. One of the rules of the hunt; never overplay your hand. Another rule of the hunt; never come in without leverage. Shin was a gods-damned fool. As she watched him fall into the lake, Lenore had to hide herself gritting her teeth. Self-control was the name of the day. This was what they had signed up for. Lenore didn't like it, but she'd seen far too much of it to not remain calm.

 

He was still a fool, however.

Knight here was living up to his name.  Lenore flashes him a smile.

"Knight....really living up to your name, hm? It's good to see you again. I'll take care of Snowbird."
She turns to Death, striding over to pry the wounded Mim from him, knife sliding into her hand to ward off any final strikes from him; she didn't want to have to kill him, but she was doing a lot of things that went against either her common sense or her morals today.

"If you're going to kill someone, just kill them. Sadism is a poor choice of tool for an assassin. Especially when you leave your back exposed."

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta found herself locked in combat with an enemy mage, spells flying, and her teeth grit -- she couldn't get to that hooded bastard, and now Mim was going to die even if Shin lived, and she couldn't get to him, this scholar was in the way, she couldn't do anything-- A lance meatily stuck through Death, and her opponent was distracted just long enough for Lizaveta to furiously throw a bolt of magic into his head, that ate through his skull and brain and left the mage dropping... As the corpse hit the ground, Lizaveta was torn about whether to go to Mim or to the lake, but eventually she screamed something to Tabitha as she herself ran to the lake.

"T-- Ta-- Rose-- Get Snowbird taken care of! Orchid can't take care of her, so you need to help her! Ficus! Ficus! Ficus! Are you alive?! Do we have him yet?!"

 

Now, she made it to the edge of the lake, going to her knees at its edge and trying to peer down desperately through the water.

[Zetaark]

Managing to wade through the combat, Fey dives into the lake unimpeded, and manages to grab Shin and find some treasure along the way. As she begins to surface, she notices a face close to the water's edge, along with a scream. Recognizing it, she surfaces with only her head at first to talk to Liz.

 

"Calm down, Ficus is retrieved and alive...barely. How's Mim holding up?" Fey asks as she begins to exit the lake.

[Flannelmagician]

Tabitha got up from her kneeling position and immediately upon being ordered by Liza turned her head towards her and towered over her staring down with what could only be described as some form of territorial malice. 

"I'm sorry but you don't get to tell me what to do in this situation. I'm the only one who isn't close to death who can use healing magic aren't I." She clenches her fist and lets the blood trickle down from the palm of her hands onto the sand of the lake-shore. She's angry, of course she has to go and heal Mim and Baldur, she of all people know's this well, but right now they not Tabitha's priority. Whether it be because of her hitting him during their first encounter, or some other self-serving reason Tabitha refuses to leave from the lakeside until she knows for certain Shin will not die. 

"Scarlet you want Snowbird not to die so badly I suggest you get out of my way and let me finish doing MY JOB here so I can move onto her next." She continues glaring at Liza and spitefully adds on "Or did you expect to stop the internal and external neck bleeding in his neck with a simple vulnerary?" She preps her staff to heal Shin as he's being taken out of the water. 

[Shauntaro]

Spoiler

"........."
Shin's barely lifeless body lays on the ground after Fey had fished him out of the lake. Not conscious enough to be cognizant of anything that's being said around him, his breathing growing fainter by the second. What did and what currently IS going through his head at the moment? None can really say.

[Powder Miner]

"I-- I just thought you could help M, Snowbird while Sh, while he-- while-- while Ficus was being taken out of the water--"

 

Lizaveta hadn't expected the glowering rage that Tabitha turned on her, and as panicked as she was she really didn't have any way of handling it -- she just pulled off her mask so she could take off her glasses, hands shaking, wiping at her lenses and then her eyes with her sleeve since her tears were starting to get on the glass and making it difficult to see. She took a deep, shaky breath in.

 

"PLEASE just help him! Help them! I-- I just-- I don't want either of them to die! I-I-- I can't-- I can't do anything, but-- please--"

[Flannelmagician]

 

Tabitha looked down at Liza tearing up, admittedly she felt bad for raising her voice but knew that at this point it was necessary. 

 

"Look if you knew you'd be no help why did you think throwing yourself into this situation would be the right thing to do. Honestly." 

 

She walks towards Shin and places her staff on his wounds and begins to heal them. She turns back to Liza and smiles as if to say "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do" before turning back towards Shin. When he's in a somewhat stable condition she takes her staff and places it standing upwards into the sand. She then almost instantly pulls her left foot up and drops it down on Shin. She continues to do this with increasing intensity each time, eventually resulting in her starting to kick his sides. 

 

"YOU. ABSOLUTE. BRAIN-DEAD. IDIOT. HOW DARE YOU WORRY ME LIKE THAT. HOW DARE YOU THINK SO LITTLE OF YOURSELF YOU'D THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY IN A SITUATION YOU KNOW YOU HAD ZERO POWER TO CONTROL" She hated losing control of her emotions, she felt like a monster as if some part of her was telling her to rip him apart and leave anything behind and without thinking she let something slip out. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY YOU HAVE NO VALUE ROSE..!" 

 

Immediately after her outburst she picks up her staff and begins healing him again. Once that's finished she continues to beat him to a pulp and heal him again as if repeating this cycle of needless violence would somehow help in this situation. 

 

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta stood there for a moment, just drying her tears, but what Tabitha then began to do to Shin is really something that Lizaveta could not stand there and accept. She too had been worried sick about Shin, and she too was horrified and disgusted by how his value of himself was so evidently low that he thought killing himself would work better, but... watching Tabitha start to kick the hell out of him, and seeing that she intended to do some horrific cycle of healing him and beating him bloody...

"NO!"

She launched herself bodily at Tabitha, intending to knock the other girl to the ground.

[Chevaleresse]

"Snowbird!" As Death had jerked Mim into the path of her blade, Justine tried to stop her swing, but couldn't manage to direct it away from Mim - and worse, she hadn't even succeeded in getting him to lose the killing position he had. Time seemed to slow down as he drew his bow up again. . . and then the lance pierced him, accompanied by a mighty shout. "Knight!" Her outcry was quite the opposite of her previous one, a joyous celebration of their reunion. She didn't waste any more time, though; she ducked around the lance thrust in her direction as the pegasus rider turned and fled, and darted in to make another assault on Death. This time, though, it was a simple feint (not that she seemed to need one); her real goal was snatching Mim from Death's grasp.

[Flannelmagician]

Tabitha was taken off guard by this and felt herself topple to the ground as Liza launched herself at her, as she hit the ground her staff flew out of her hand. 

"YOU..." 

 

Tabitha stared at Liza with scorn in her eyes. She thought about pushing her forward and bludgeoning her with her staff, or thinking of ways she could rip her Liza cleanly in half. She was angry at Shin, angry at the Icons of Sin, angry at Liza, but most of all angry at herself. 

 

_{"He's not the only one who see's little value in themselves."} 

She turned her head and looked away, realizing that she's done enough at this point. She sighed heavily and braced for whatever Liza was about to do to her. 

 

 

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Lysander sighed a breath of relief when Knight swooped in to save the day. Things really did look grim, but at the last minute the tide turned towards their side. He didn't waste the moment, grabbing his remaining tomes but keeping them at the ready. He felt like Death might still have a trick or two up his sleeve. 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~
Nothing to see here officer

[RedMageCole]

Though Kane had been panicking, he knew it was mostly an act and that he could put the act down (though for Shin, he genuinely did panic. He would be talking with Shin about this, later). He kept himself in order, looking to Ferdiad with pride in his eyes. Though Ferdiad now had the face of someone full of vengeance, and Kane could see plainly that there was more to this whole thing than just Ferdiad attempting to help his old crew, Kane was thankful.

 

"My dear friend... you saved our lives, despite all I've put you through... Thank you so much."

 

However, Kane had more pressing matters to attend to. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tabitha beginning to whale on Shin, and Lizaveta tackling her. Kane took a deep breath as he went into action, pulling Lizaveta off of Tabitha and looking down with a disappointed expression at Tabitha.

 

"Neither of you are getting yelled at, because this is an extremely stressful situation. Scarlet, thank you for the restraint, but try to ease up on the force next time. Rose, I understand what Ficus did was... very foolish, but physical punishment is wholly unnecessary. I'm trusting the both of you to make a quick decision on what happens next, as long as it does not involve injuring any more team members."

 

Kane let go of Lizaveta quite gently. Arthur looked like he was just trying to avoid a panic attack, and it was not because of Death.

 

"Stop mentioning that name, stop mentioning that name...!"

 

Arthur did push through, however, to try and get Mim to safety much like Justine and Lenore were attempting to do. Death, meanwhile, was still barely clinging to life, grabbing onto Ferdiad's lance with every last bit of strength he could to avoid him from twisting the wound even further. He was in immense pain and his anger at both what had happened and his cowardly troops now all beginning to flee was not helping matters. Though Death prepared to block Justine's attack with any sort of resistance he could find, both her, Arthur's and Lenore's attempts to grab Mim were met with zero resistance; if anything, Death was happy to get rid of the extra weight.

 

“Keep the little waste of breath...! Mark my words... you're lucky I used... my weaker poisons... fucking get off of me!"

 

With a single thrust, Death ripped himself off of the lance, letting out a loud gasp of pain, Quickly, the hand that had let go of his arrows that had been fumbling to his side threw a smoke bomb down; it was a deep one and covered the entire area in black soot; Baldur was going to have some dry cleaning to do especially for himself. Death scrambled away, looking not dissimilar to a heavily injured wolf from what you could barely make out in the soot as he scattered to the trees, his bow now tied to his back. He left a trail of blood where he went, and Death clearly did not care; he looked anyone who looked at him in the eye, full of anger. His eyes met Ferdiad's for a brief moment, and for that moment, he snarled to complete the picture of a feral animal.

 

As a parting gift, the same arrow he attempted to shoot into Mim had been picked up from its resting point in the ground and embedded into Baldur's body... wait, weren't Death's arrows rigged to burst with the rest of the poison in them when they were fully embedded in the skin?... At least he'd have a little more time than Mim, but not long... Tabitha certainly had her work cut out for her.

 

“You won... only because I underestimated you all... take the rest of my poison as a little parting gift. Enjoy it... because it's nothing compared to what I can bring; you all have no fucking clue of what I am capable of. Gloat all you want, call me whatever things you want... but mark my words; sleeping with one eye open... is going to be a requirement for you all from now on... Where the fuck are you, idiot!?"

 

A puff of black smoke as Famine appears next to Death.

 

“Hey, Pestilence has been watching the whole time with me, she's been crying her little-"

 

“I don't give a flying fuck about what that crybaby is doing GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW, FAMINE."

 

With a shrug, Famine and Death teleport away, Famine giving you all a wink, a wave, and a fingergun motion as he does- ah! He sent a bolt of dark magic after Lysander just as he disappeared, though it was thankfully slow moving. It wasn't going to be too hard to dodge, or block, just-

 

...Wait. This isn't a bolt of dark magic... it's a scroll of parchment enshrouded in black flames, complete with a little black ribbon tying it all together. Hm.

[Flannelmagician]

Tabitha didn't have much else to say in this situation. She stared back at Kane and knew what she had to do. She picked up her staff and went back to healing Shin. Once he was conscious she would head to Mim and then to Baldur. She tightly grasped her staff and continued to cast healing magic on Shin, feeling that she could snap the wooden rod at any moment. Her rage had subsided, but her feelings of anger towards herself continued. 

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Sure enough there was a final trick, and for some reason aimed at him. With a quick motion he intertwines his hand in winds, and grabbing the scroll. The winds quickly dissipate the flames apart, leaving the scroll behind. He looks around to make sure he's not in the way of anyone trying to help the others. He wasn't a healer, he had no idea of how to help the wounded so he focused his attentions on the scroll. 

He opened it, examining the insides. A perplexed look appeared on his face. After a while, he rolls the scroll back up, tightening it again with the same black ribbon. Lysander places it in the inside pocket of his cloak. He brings a hand up playing with his hair as he thinks about the events that just transpired. 

 

[Swordstar]

The pain came, but not how she expected. A stabbing pain in her gut, followed by the piercing pain in her neck had caused her to let out a whimper, the only sound she was letting herself make. She was crushed in Death's grip, in pain, and once again had an arrow to her neck. The pain was building, and there was no hope in sight. He was going to kill her. At least... At least that would free the others up to do more than they could now... But... Crimson, I... I'm sorry... She mouthed the words, eyes still shut, hoping that he would see it and know that the message was for him. A regret there then. She could be ok with that one regret. He deserved better anyways... And now it was just waiting for the pain...

 

Instead, she was jostled, a blaze of pain on her cheek and then... She opened her eyes, one arm wrapped around her belly, trying to slow the bleeding. Ferdy... More happened in an instant. They were still fighting... And then she was yanked away, bringing the pain back up as she was jostled, bringing attention to the fire starting to burn in her veins. A cry escaped, pain filled, blood coming up with the noise. Her vision was turning hazy, black edges closing in. And as she tumbled down towards the black, a single image caught in her mind. Baldur, on the ground, arrow sticking out of him. She could do one last thing before she died at least. A hand fumbled at her waist. A single potion pulled out. Tossed gently onto the ground next to the priest. "F-for... Poison. No--not strong... enough... for me... Give... to... Bal..." And then she gave in, letting the darkness wash over her, pulling her down into the depths of the pitch black ocean that awaited her.

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta had been planning to shove the staff into Tabitha's hands, but Kane did something similar, and the ponytailed girl didn't resist as Kane pulled her off. Instead, when she was let down, she immediately fell to a knee beside Shin, crouching down beside him. She looked him over, even if she had to get close to do so because of the fact that her glasses were abandoned somewhere on the ground, and then looked up at Tabitha.

"I-- I think he's going to make it now, b-but-- Snowbird-- she's probably in real trouble, please...! I can do anything else now with a vulnerary, please go save her!"

 

[ElfCollaborator]

Now was the time for Lenore to lose her cool. She does take the potion, but....

On one hand, she was tempted to use it on her. On the other hand, Mim knew better. She'd made the thing. If she knew it wasn't enough....

They were going to need the metaphorical bigger stick, and stat.

"Tch....damn it. We need a healer, here, now! We're losing Snowbird!"