Nodding back to Boreas she went back to the kitchen to get her own toast and hot chocolate before finding a quiet corner to sit. No one seemed to be in the mood to talk and after the awkwardness that was her conversation with her brother earlier, Tinarah was not eager to have a repeat of that. She found herself sitting staring at her violin in the corner that she had left it. She wanted to play, something to end the silence that rung through her head, but she wasn't feeling up to it. The battle and physical excursion of the day left her unable to really do much, she needed to constantly remind herself even though she wasn't physically injured, she was still recovering from her time in prison. It was weird really, getting back into the swing of things here made it seem so long ago, and yet the memories still were fresh in her mind, and her body showed the evidence of how recent it was. She kept hoping to walk by a mirror and see the glowing, happy young woman that Stamatis raised her into, but instead she only saw a hollow, almost sick looking shell. Would it be wrong to call the other him just to talk? He was on the council and didn't really know her, he probably didn't have time to talk with her, but she was tempted to call anyways, just to hear his calming words. In the end Tinarah decided that it wouldn't help her case later, he wouldn't want to help her if she was too clingy, so she put the thought to the back of her mind and picked herself up to retire to her room for the night. She needed sleep and she needed a place outside her own thoughts, maybe in the morning things would be better. Sleep took her almost the moment Tinarah hit the bed, dragging her into a deep dreamless slumber. When morning came she felt more incline to not get out of bed than to keep going. It was a feeling she didn't feel often anymore. It was common those first months with Stamatis. She probably would have fallen into the same routine if Torrin had let her, but after the first few days he began to drag her out to train and put her on a training schedule that didn't allow for her to even think for herself. Today however she stared at the door of the room she claimed her own. She couldn't stay in bed, she knew that, this wasn't her house and they had to leave, but it was a difficult task dragging herself out of bed and out into the living room, where she barely found her way to the couch before just sitting again, waiting for something to happen.
Sasha cringed as she watched Harry slip off. Something deep down recognized this being her fault, this whole storm. She could feel the force churning within her as the storm raged around them. She didn't know how to control it though, she was never permitted to learn how, instead she had been taught how to control her emotions and keep everything calm in order to keep the magic calm as well. Now was not the time for calm thoughts and emotions however as she looked down and took a deep breath, finally lowering herself over the side, searching for foot holds and a place for her good hand. However as she steadied herself she wasn't able to do much else to get down. She tried to stretch her leg down to move down a bit, she couldn't reach another sturdy foot hold. Her hurt arm wasn't responding very well, weak from the climb up, and she was terrified to let go with the other hand. It was a fifteen foot drop down from where she was. It probably wouldn't kill her if she fell but it would certainly hurt like hell. Leaning her entire body against the wall, she slid her hand down a bit so that she could then move down. The process was painfully slow, but she managed to get her next foot hold. If no one was coming after them maybe she could manage to get down, she just had to be careful and take her time, and pray to whatever got was out there to have mercy on her and let her get down safely.
I am sad to announce that Stand Out will not be going up. We had a last minute drop out and I was unable to find someone to fill the place with such short notice.
If she went first then she could get them both killed, but Harry seemed like he was in no mood to argue. It just meant that she couldn't fall, no matter the pain. Taking a few deep breaths Sasha looked to Harry, gave him a nod, them sprinted for the wall as fast as she could manage, grabbing it with only her good arm at first. After finding places for her feet she realized that it was not possible to do this without her other arm, but lifting it above her head with the arrow in it was agonizing. Doing her best to use it to steady herself while she reached up with her other hand, she managed to start her way up, but not fast enough. She could hear everything around her but didn't know anymore who was still chasing them or noticed them. As some shouts got closer she forced her injured arm up and started to climb faster, at this point she couldn't suppress the cry of pain, but it was covered by the sound of thunder. The entire sky suddenly clouded over and rain started to fall, lightning struck the ground around them, but never them, and always in unison with Sasha's cries of pain as she tried to hoist herself to the top of the wall. Barely making it before staring at the way down. The rain was making the wall slippery and her arm was in so much pain she didn't think she could even try and grab another rock with it. She looked at Harry offering him a her good arm to help him up, but felt defeat coming this far and not knowing how to continue.
Well at least one person was on the same line of thoughts as she did and took the actions Raelyn couldn't without worrying about other people judging her too harshly for her choice. She was thankful that it was over and dealt with though and it was not on her own head, her hands were clean still and could walk away fine. Though the AI didn't take well to what the other girl had done. It was almost entertaining to watch Dot freak out, followed by Rex trying to deal with things. It was fun just watching it all explode from the background for a while. Eventually they would get things dealt with in the end. Slowly the conversation turned to more useful information. There was talk about where they were and what the place they spawned in was. On top of that there was also information on where the nearest town was. That was what they really needed to know, but it did make her wonder why they were there and who else was there. "Well by the markings around we aren't alone here, so we either should go look into that or get out of this place as fast as possible, either way it is better then sticking around this place any longer than we have to. Maybe if leave we can find those crystals with our memories or whatever. I would love to know who I am, I don't know about you." Raelyn pointed out.
"If you know the unsavoury details then you would know that there is no honour in that name, not for me at least." Karina glared before turning back towards the fight below with Shiro. "If you want me to chose then I say none of them. Koa is the closest one I trust, but I don't trust he won't need to leave before the job is done. As for everyone else, I can't say that I can really trust them to lead. Any other suggestions on what to do about it?" She asked before glancing over at Arctus. "How about you, any suggestions for oh so mysterious past?" She questioned him more.
Sasha bit her lip so hard that a tang of blood could be tasted in her mouth, but it was better than letting anyone hear as her shoulder burned through the pain as Harry tried to stifle the bleeding the best he could before they had time to properly deal with the arrow that still protruded on either side of her shoulder. "There are back gates, but I am sure they are watched as well." She looked to the cobblestone work of the wall. "We climb, it is the best chance of slipping out while the infiltrators are too busy with the people trying to escape through the exits."
Even after Midarah gave her instructions, Thea still fidgetted anxiously. She was a bit excited to see some of the council members, it had been a long time. She had not thought as she walked down the hall that getting upset would be an issue in the slightest. It was just going to be a friendly chat, right? Wrong. Walking in the room the air was heavy with tension, even Thea as young and innocent as she was felt that. She stepped back as all eyes turned to her and their group. This wasn't nearly the welcome she had expected, or how serious the conversation was off the bat. Thea listened to the back and forth between the two parties as they spoke of Izra making her sound bad. This wasn't right, they didn't know what they were talking about. There was no way that Izra belonged to a dark guild. "But Izra saved me! She did everything she could to keep me out of danger. If she was bad then why would she do such things? Please listen to me. Maliel did what she had to, to protect her sister. She was trying to protect me when we first met the mayor but I couldn't see it!" Thea was being to get a bit upset with them. She crossed her arms and stared at them with stern eyes. "You know me. Please listen to me, please believe me. They aren't bad. If you don't like them running around on their own, then do with them as you did with me and let them come to Divine Rose guild." It wasn't her place to accept new members but she was sure master Midarah wouldn't mind.
Steadying herself on her own two feet, Sasha walked ahead, listening at the door before opening it. It seemed quiet so she cracked the door open and peered out, not getting a good look before she could hear the people behind getting closer. Taking a chance she pushed the door fully open and dashed outside. This door took her to a tight corridor between buildings, the stables were to the right of her as she entered the narrow way. There was no way they could make it out on a horse, the main entrances would be guarded, so they would have to be fast but sneak around. Waving Harry to follow she crept through the narrow corridor until she could survey the area around them a bit better. It was hard to tell who was and wasn't an ally, but by the main entrance, she could just barely catch a commotion, and by the stables the horses didn't sound too happy either. Between them and the wall was nothing but open space. "Do you think we can run for it?" She tried to ask Harry, not knowing what other option they had anymore.
She would slow them both down if she got on the Prince's back, but from the sound in his command she knew that there wasn't a choice in the matter. Climbing on Harry's back, she held on as tight as she could without hurting her shoulder too much. There were tears starting to flow from the pain and the loss of her parents, but she did her best to hold herself together. "Turn right again, then take the third door on your left. At the end of the hall should be the way out." Sasha instructed trying to keep the pain from her voice as she smelled the fires and heard the shouts of the men pursuing them, more now it sounded like. As they ran she tore a little bit of her dress to try and stop her bleeding that was slipping passed the arrow. She couldn't give them a trail to follow, it would get them both killed.
"Uh.. um..." Sasha was still in a shock, but as Harry tugged her arm and she stumbled towards him, she cleared her head just in time to turn and run. As she did an arrow struck into her shoulder. She let out a small cry of pain as she heard the men at the end laugh and curse at her. Blinking back the tears, Sasha remained behind the prince but sort of pushed him forward as they ran. If these men were going to pursue them, then she would be hit before Harry. "Turn left up here. There is an exit to the back garbage disposal area a few more halls down. It is probably our best way out." She warned him as they rounded the corner and Sasha nearly stumbled, stars dancing in her eyes. "Right." She instructed approaching the next door.
As they got across the river and everyone was questioning what happened but also praising her, Auburn put them down and took a small step back. As she did her form started to shrink, slowly at first and then more and more quickly as time went by. Within 30 seconds Auburn shrunk beyond her normal size into a small pixie sized. Because she took the step back where she ended up was about ten feet away from everyone else. Looking around she quickly ran and hid behind a rock that was just big enough to hide her form. The reason she didn't use her semblance much was that this was the downside of it. When she was done she shrunk into a mini form to let her energy recharge. In this form she could hardly do anything, even her attacks wouldn't do all that much. She had to be careful. Peaking out from behind the rock, Auburn watched to see if anyone was looking for her. She was too embarrassed to show her face to anyone, not like this. She didn't want to explain what her semblance did to her. She didn't want to be judged for it. Sure she had gotten them across the river, but now she was useless to them until her energy built back up and she could grow back into her normal sized body. Just as they thought they were done, the White Fang took one of their own. Before Arian could stop them, he was hoisted on a helicopter and started to be taken away. "No! If you want take anyone, take me!" He yelled as he pulled back the bowstring and fired towards the Helicopter, using his semblance to make sure that his aim was right as he shot the blades of the copter in order to jam the thing. As his arrow connected he turned back to Noire. "We are not just going to keep moving. I refuse to let those B*stards just get away with this. Come on we are finding where that helicopter crashes and saving Lloyd now!" Arian was in no mood to argue with Noire as he turned in the direction the helicopter was going. He would save Lloyd. He would stop the White Fang from doing more harm. Damnit, this wasn't how to get the world to accept faunus, all this was going to do was make people hate them more, and Arian was not okay with that. He would stop them and show them how to really gain respect, but first they had to rescue their friend.
Sasha held her ground. She knew that if the guards weren't able to stand up to them, neither was the prince. "You will die along with your kingdom then. One of the royal family needs to make it out tonight." Sasha argued with him. At this point she wasn't thinking about how a servant should act, just about the survival of the kingdom. As she spoke she heard voices from in the ballroom. "I think I heard something." "Probably just some pesky servants." "What if they are helping one of 'em escape? I don't see the princeling here. We could interrogate one since we kill'd all of em here." Her breath caught in her throat. Sasha's parent were serving in there. "We have to go." She whispered again before she caught figures at the end of the hall. "There, there is some down there. Ya better surrender and then maybe we will play nice." Sasha saw them level something in the smoke. "Run!" One hand pushing the prince and the other flung out towards the assailants, what happened next Sasha was not prepared for. A small bold of lighting leaped from her fingers towards the figures, she heard the first cry out in pain and stood there frozen. She always knew that she had magic but never the extent of it. As she felt it roll through her blood in this moment of desperation, she was afraid, more afraid of her own magic than the attack on the castle.
"What does-" Before she could finish her question Iridia had already flown over to the unsuspecting Dwarf. He was out before he ever knew what hit him. "Oh." She quietly said cluing it. Then a smile crossed her face as she ran up closer to Iridia, fishing through her own stiff for her hairbrush. "Alright. I will take the hair and you take the beard?" She suggested already struggling to pull the comb through the dwarfs short but thick hair, all the while contemplating what she might do with his hair once it was brushed out.
"Follow me." Sasha flung open the door to the armoury and ran for the servants passage. They were the most direct routes to nearly anywhere in the castle so that there would be no excuse for servants to keep anyone waiting. As they neared the hall that lead to the ballroom however, smoke filled the hall, mixed with screaming and the tang of blood. "My prince, we can't keep going, we need to get you to safety." Whatever was happening in there it sounded like the castle guards were not winning, and if that was the case, neither would the prince. She had to keep him alive.
Oh God's above what was he doing? She should report this to the king but her feet were rooted just inside the door as she watched him take the sword out and swing it around. Her mouth was dry as he asked for her name. "uh.. Um Sasha.. Y-your majesty." it was the first time she really stumbled over her words, but she was caught so off guard by the entire thing. There was no way she would speak her mind however, she couldn't, she shouldn't. She felt like she was caught in a rather uncomfortable spot. Before Harry could push however, there was an explosion large enough to shake the castle followed by shouting in the halls.
No it wasn't impossible, but Sasha knew better than to continue arguing with the Prince. Making herself a little smaller she just nodded in submission. "I apologize your majesty. You know I am not worthy of such a task." With that they emerged in the hallway. A few guards milled about and the armoury could be seen at the end of the hall. She didn't understand why they were here still, but she gracefully made her way to the door, stopping and bowing to Harry right beside the thresholds.
She knew that she shouldn't talk, knew it was inappropriate, but still the words slipped from her lips as they walked,her eyes still averted from the prince however. "What happens when the warrior king dies a hero protecting his kingdom with no heir in sight?" She questioned quietly, her shoulders tucking in ever so slightly out of fear of getting in trouble for her words. They were approaching the exit to the servants passage, just up the hall from the armoury. If he were to yell at her she would rather have it over with here than in the hall where anyone could be passing through.
What the prince spoke bordered on blasphemy. Speaking of becoming a warrior and taking the throne, it made Sasha worried what he might do in order to get the throne. It wasn't her place to chide the prince for such talk, but could she really keep quiet? "Perhaps if you married your His Grace would be more inclined to retire and hand the throne over." Harry was of marriageable age after all, actually several years past if you asked many of the nobles. Being the Crown Prince some believed that he should have been looking for a bride since he was eighteen. And as long as Harry remained unmarried there was no chance of having a legitimate heir for the throne, and she knew that the king wouldn't be happy if their family line ended with his son.
Onyx took another long drink of his whiskey before pulling out his phone. "You can bring her up." He said before waiting a moment. "Instead of trying to explain, why don't I show you." He offered in the awkward silence before the elevator dinged and the door opened to reveal Glynda and a young girl, standing with her looking very nervous and shy as Glynda lead her out of the elevator. "Ospin, this is Auburn... Recently her family.... Well grimm attacked... I managed to save her and..." He hesitated for a moment before figuring out how to say everything. "I adopted her." He finally admitted before looking over at Auburn beckoning her over. "I thought that I could both work and raise her, but we work a dangerous job and I realized that I could not risk anything happening to me and leaving her without a family again." He looked in earnest towards Ospin. "If I am ever really needed, you are always allowed to call me friend, but I don't think I should do usual rounds anymore." It was hard he realized. Harder than he expected to give up his life, something he worked hard at and became one of the best, but for the child before him, he could do it.
