Leon Brandeau

As Tzi stated, it was now apparent there was something out there. Leon wasn't sure it was a ghost, but there was something starting a ruckus with the rest of their group. However, just as Tzi had also observed, there was little they could do without dumping Wagnill and leaving him to his fate in the cold and the wild. They could not in good conscience abandon one comrade to save another, so they could only hope the others would be able to deal with the situation. In due time, their decision to stand by Wagnill was partially vindicated by the encroachment of a pack of wolves on their position. A number of them seemed to have eyes for Wagnill. Leon was now soundly regretting having volunteered his vessel for the stretcher. If only they could have used something else for it, he could have jumped into action more readily. Fortunately, Tzi had a move ready for the wolves moving upon them and Wagnill. They were saved from the initial strike.

It quickly became apparent that the wolves had other methods of attack up their sleeves. Frankly, Leon was surprised that the wolves were cunning enough to fathom the idea of using boulders to attack them. Even if there were no actual ghosts around, Leon was starting to wonder if spirits weren't arraying to empower any and all enemies they had to deal with on this march to Orello. "Hold Wagnill steady!" Leon roared at Tzi. He then tilted his glaive to face the ground and rammed it in. A spiny wall erupted from the ground, which would hopefully offer them shelter from any boulders hurtling towards them. The wolves would find they couldn't leap at them directly either. Of course, it wouldn't help anyone that wasn't standing on the same path as Leon's wall. "We really need to regroup. We're fighting with our hands tied behind our backs here." Leon told Tzi. While they had their tricks, if those wolves were half as determined as they seemed, they couldn't stay here forever. They needed someone to keep the wolves off them, or alternatively, they needed to be able to put Wagnill somewhere safe so they could use their weapons properly.

@Crimmy

@KoL@Mercurial



Holding the entire stretcher and poor Wagnill steady while Leon was moving around the glaive was harder than he'd thought it would be, but Tzi quickly adapted. He took a single step back down on the hill, making sure not to let his feet slip as the whole stretcher wobbled minutely to adjust to the glaive's forward thrust. The moment his fellow did the entire earth shebang, Wagnill would've slipped off if there wasn't anything tilting in the other direction. Or in this case, stepping down so the stab seemed more of a horizontal thrust than a diagonal motion. It was pretty awkward, and Tzi was already feeling the exertion of more weight being placed on him, but hey, at least Wagnill was still stable.

He didn't climb this mountain with a stretcher to let the guy die on him.

No way man. He didn't want to be haunted by the guy's ghost.

"We can't do much either!" replied the tall young man over the howling wind. "S'now way we can fight back properly if we got Wagnill or move freely when one wrong step on this hill's all the way to bonetown!"

For him and Leon, trying not to get hit by wolves while hoping everyone else could lend a hand was really the only thing they could do.

---

Just as Esther thought she would be fighting the three wolves alone, she then heard Gradon's voice shouting for her from the raging snow. "I'm here! I'm here!" she quickly responded, shouting as loud as she could. She didn't care if it might attract even more wolves to her position. With Gradon aiding her, they should be able to handle them easily. She felt her ability was more suited for defense than offense, and Gradon would provide that offensive edge.

"Be careful! There are wolves--" Her warning was too late however as Gradon had tripped on one of them, thanks to how terrible the view distance was in the snowstorm. Luckily, Gradon rolled right towards her position, and after he got up, he nonchalantly greeted her like nothing had happened.

"Yes! We'll defeat them all for sure!" Esther replied, her eyes twinkling with excitement. When the wolves leaped at them, she quickly erected her wind barrier, blocking them all in mid-air once again. As they were momentarily stunned, she used the opportunity to launch a wind blade towards one of them. And this time, her attack actually landed, almost bisecting the creature into two as the wind tore into its stomach.

"One down!" she shouted cheerfully.

@TheWindel

---

There it was. With grace the mysterious stranger knocked away the axe and at once Mercy ordered her spirit to charge forth and haunt her. It wouldn't be able to interact with the physical, but it would at least stay bound to her and tell Mercy everything she'd need to know about the stranger. Mercy moved dismount her skeleton taxi. It was then the bright light exploded forth and caused Mercy to loose balance fall flat into the snow. Unfortunate, but there was no time to care. A quick grasp of the situation told her that there was actually more going on than fighting the female bandit. The skeleton marched forth under new orders, arriving at Leon's and Tzi's location. It didn't make much contact with the pair except grab hold of Wagnil's stretcher and look at them both, nodding once it had taken hold. It wouldn't have much defensive help against the wolves with everything it was carrying, but it could easily take the wounded and repel an attacker if nothing else.

Mercy, on the other hand, quickly recovered. Pulling out Thanatos once more and keeping her eyes on the stranger. Again, there wasn't much for her to do without a dead body around; but she didn't let that stop her from keeping a close of a proximity to her as she could. Without getting in Althea's way, Mercy circled around and slashed where she could. Focused more on keeping the bandit too busy to try anything and on personal defense rather than anything that could seriously harm her.

@Mercurial@Crimmy@DracoLunaris@TheWindel

Leblanc held no joy in finding they were set upon by ravenous wolves, as for all her sadistic tendencies it was only the human animal she could find interest in carving up. For hunger or survival she'd have cleaved their throats open without a second thought but the allure of such a dexterous adversary embattled with Althea and and Clean drew her eye more then coming to the aid of those guarding a wounded man whose continued encumbrance upon their party had lured these beasts in the first place.

There was a flash of light and sound amidst the struggle between masked victim and Cheshire assailant, a distraction the seaweed haired woman was all too ready to act upon by leaping into the fray with a clawed grab for Neapolitan hair while the other hand moved to stab towards her lower back.

@TheWindel@DracoLunaris

The winds began to build strength as the heavy cloud covering and buffeting snow threatened to plunge the night into pitch black darkness. Even the Captain's voice had a hard time piercing through the impregnable shroud of the merciless northern weather. "Gather up and force your way through the opposition, Cadets!" she shouted as she forced her way through the attacking wolves, defeating a trio before she reached the ones threatening the group with falling boulders.

Right behind them, the leader of the pack lurked. A wolf almost twice as large as the others with scars covering all of its body. Certainly, that was a beast that had seen more than it's fair share of battles during its life. A cunning and brutal hunter who knew no remorse or hesitation.

"Degraff, Brandeau, Ti'Amtum! We are going to take a shortcut, use your abilities to bring Wagnil to the hilltop," The Captain yelled as he readied her weapon, waiting for the dire wolf's charge. "Giltwith, Clemmons, you two support them! The rest of you, hold the rearguard and get ready to retreat as soon as the others sign you." As soon as she finished laying out her orders, the Captain engaged the leader of the pack, leaving the fate of the Cadets in their own hand once more.

@KoL@Mercurial@Er0r



It's not like I'm afraid of zombies or anything. Don't be a moron, Ti'amtum. They're just friendly skeletons. FRIENDLY skeletons.

And besides, the unnatural abomination against all that was good and holy was helping them keep Wagnill alive, which was something he could give it kudos for. Tzi knew that without its help, it would only be more and more difficult to overcome their current situation, so he really didn't have room to complain about them at all. Not that they weren't creepy but he definitely wasn't creeped out. It was just an in-general thing.

Yeah.

"Hey Leon, can ya use that earth thing without needing to move the spear?" he asked as they began to move up the hill once again. "We don't wanna shake Wagnill too much."

He allowed energy to flow through him once more, activating the Vessel that was his trident and firing off another net up at a wolf that was trying to tackle a boulder down at them. The animal was caught mid-leap, and like its fellows from earlier, began to roll down the hill to its doom.

He wasn't letting any more of the beasts take out Wagnill.

Clean was a logical person and pragmatic. The bad pun wasn't just spur of the moment. The words were to remove her direct attention from Althea while he followed up with a clubbing to the ribs, leaving her gasping for breath while the force of the blow knocked her to the ground where she could then be pinned. Instead the swift kick from the girl’s steel boots, with flexibility that was almost inhuman, tore the axe from his grip and into the white powdery snow.

"What on earth?" was all he could manage at the bizarre scenario that he took part of. Seeing the toothy grin, Clean raised an eyebrow and instead of diving for the axe again pushed up his sleeves and cracked his knuckles, leaving his whole attention on the girl in front of him. Leaning down with one eye shut tight as he was in something akin to a runner’s start, Clean took aim at her waiting for a sign and a gap between slashes from Mercy.

CRACK. FLASH.

Althea set off a blinding light reflected off of the mirror like white snow, closing his blinded eye and opening the closed eye, Clean launched himself at the mismatched girl with arms outstretched, hoping to grapple her to the ground, leaving her incapacitated.

---

---

Despite the mysterious sharktoothed girl's best efforts, the opposition of the Cadets was more firece than she anticipated. Perhaps she should've maintained the surprise element for more time, perhaps she could've brought an ally to back her up. Who knows? It might have worked if she did it in another time, but now it was a failure.

Before she could've been caught by them, she still managed to escape, kicking Althea against Leblanc and using the flurry of snow to mask her retreat back into the darkness. Who knows, maybe she was really a ghost, a collective hallucination that sought to derail the Cadets into the deathly grip of the icy valley bellow.

The only thing that was certain is that the last sight anyone would have of the mysterious girl would be the wicked shine of her shark-like teeth in the last slivers of moonlight before she disappeared in the same darkness from which she came from.

---

---

"And now it's two," Giltwith said as he swatted another wolf that came to attack from their side and immediately moved to cover Esther's back even as the storm seemed to grow more powerful.

"Don't worry, Esther, I won't allow any of these overgrown dogs to get you," he said, scanning the area around them in search for more of the cunning predators. He was just in time to hear the Captain's order to push their way up the hill and go through a shortcut. "Here, let's go this way," Giltwith said as he grabbed Esther's hand and began to pull her on the direction the Captain called from.

Another wolf jumped on them, but was pushed out of the way with a swing of the boy's Vessel. "Are we still counting?" he asked Esther while helping her climb the rugged hillside. It was just a matter of moments before the two of them were reunited with the rest of their group, around the downed Wagnil. "And what do we do now?" Giltwith asked the others. For one reason or another, he seemed to be unaware that he continued to hold Esther's hand up to now.

---

*: Posting for @TheWindel

---

---

The first rays of the morning sun would herald the end of the Cadets' struggle. Despite all the harshness of the previous night, they reached the ancient ruins that marked the entrance of the village of Orello and, beyond it, the fortress. It didn't took long for a patrol to cross the Cadets' way and take them straight to Fort Orello, where they would receive any medical treatment need and have some warm food and a common room with a fireplace waiting for them.Fort Orello wasn't exactly that much of an spacious garrison. For students used to the luxury of the Imperial Academy, a frontier fort, guarding a tight mountain pass certainly wasn't something they would be immediately used to. Regardless of that, Orello could provide the with all they would need for the time being, including adequate medical treatment for Wagnil at the Fortress' main building.

"It seems that Orello has more stationed troops than normal, so you'll only have this building to work with while we stay here, Cadets. I hope that none of you have qualms about shared lodgings," the Captain said as soon as everyone got in their new dormitory. "I'll be on the main building, doing a report on our situation. You have the rest of the day until further orders, you can't leave the fort, though. Also, I know that War stories are a good way to make acquaintances, but remember that everything that happened from yesterday night until now is classified information. You are forbidden to talk about it without permission," the Captain talked like someone that was merely following the protocol, despite trusting the Cadets after their unexpected baptism of fire.

"Enjoy your break, you've earned it," was the last thing the Captain said before requesting Wagnil's journal from Althea and leaving for the Fort's main building.

---

She felt the weight depart from her and immediately scrambled back up to her feet, ears ringing from the point blank detonation. That had perhaps not been the best idea, but it seemed to have worked as the woman was now nowhere to be seen and in her place where Leblanc and Crispin. Perhaps not the best improvement, to replace an assailant with two sociopaths, but she was glad she wasn’t getting assaulted anymore. She gave the two a thumbs up as she would have no idea how loud her voice would be due to the blast and then turned to head back to the troop line.

---

Once they had arrived at the fort Althea immediately escorted the stretcher all the way to the main building, pausing only to hand over the journal to the captain. There they were greeted by Dr Eirin Clemmons, who took over the care of the unlucky Wagnil. Dr Clemmons ensured he was properly bandaged and given a bed to lay in while he recovered.

“Your stitching could have been better”
“yes Dr”
“And ze wounds should have been bandaged”
“yes Dr”
“Do you have any injuries?”
“no Dr”
“I’m glad. You should thank those two gentlemen for their hard work”
“oh, uh, right”

Althea turned away from her relative and walked back over to where Leon and Tzi had been left after the patient had been unloaded.

“Thank you both for your efforts in carrying Wagnil. I am so sorry I wasn’t there to help with ze wolf and boulder attack ”

She said sheepishly, before adding:

“Shall we go find the others? I don’t know about you but I could do with drying off by the fire after being tackled into ze snow by that shark toothed woman.”

Leon Brandeau

They had finally made it to their destination. Between the enemy ambush, the snow, the wolves, the boulders, and apparently ghosts, Leon was starting to think they would have to face down every threat known to man before they actually finished this patrol. It was all over for now though, and they all finally had the chance to rest. Of course, Leon couldn't just turn himself in before helping to deliver Wagnil to the local doctor. Aside from needing to see through the commitment he had made, he couldn't leave without getting his vessel back from the stretcher. Having Bastion back in his hands was a great relief; it even took his mind off all the fatigue. He remained at the main building to make sure Wagnil was properly secured. It seemed he was in good hands with Althea's relative. It seemed he was not the only one with family stationed at the fort.

When it seemed that Wagnil was seen to fully, Althea came and thanked him and Tzi for their work. "Think nothing of it." Leon replied. There was certainly no way he would have done anything less.

She then asked if they should go find the others. Truth be told, he was inclined to find his brother, but he didn't want to be rude, and he was hoping to check in on the rest of their group. "Sure, let's find them." He told her. He wasn't sure what Tzi would say, but he had few ideas as to why he would decline, aside from the uncanny scenario of him also having some family at this fort.

@DracoLunaris @Crimmy

@DracoLunaris@Mercurial



Tzi, currently in the middle of pulling off his uniform shirt and baring his muscled torso to the world once more, paused for a moment, bringing his shirt down slightly so his companions could better see his face. He didn't have any other real plans beyond cooking up some grub at some point, because after that cold trek he was real hungry, but hey, he was down with checking up if the others were alright. They'd done a pretty cool job in the snow and all, and you gotta congratulate a solid hustle.

"That's down my alley," he said with a grin, before voice was muffled and face obscured as he took off the shirt with one final, smooth motion. "Just gimme a sec and ..."

The tall young man grabbed his mantle, hidden in his pack the entire time, and placed it back on, the piece of clothing now settling over his shoulders.

"Alright, where we gonna start?" he asked, stretching arms out above him. He was looking forward to a bit of resting time after everything. And a fireplace sounded pretty great. Needed to heat up and all.

---

Esther watched as Gradon took out another wolf. As usual, he made it look so easy, she thought. When he reassured her that he wouldn't let any of the wolves get to her, she nodded to him, trusting his ability wholly as a partner, and most importantly, a friend.

She then heard the captain's command to push up the hill. Before she knew it, Gradon already grabbed her hand, guiding her towards the shorcut. She blushed a little at his brazenness. She had never held hands with a boy before. Her grandfather didn't really care for courting her with the other noble kids.

"Are we still counting?" he asked as he slayed another wolf as they climbed up the hillside. "Y-yes, I suppose..." she answered, flustered.

Finally, they rejoined the others with the downed Wagnil. Unfortunately, as Gradon talked with the others, he forgot to release her hand, so Esther had to ask, "Umm, Gradon, c-can you please release my hand?" She felt terribly embarrassed now that the others could see him holding her hand.

After that, they finally managed to go through the storm and arrived at Orello. She was relieved that it hadn't fallen to the enemy yet. See, there was indeed no point in thinking the worst, since most of the time, things wouldn't actually get that bad.

After the Captain gave her closing briefing, they were dismissed, free to have the rest of the day to their own.

Aaah, finally, she could rest at last!

She immediately headed to the assigned dormitory, saw that no one was there, changed to her nightgown, and then threw herself into one of the beds available. The bed wasn't that soft, but she didn't care. She just wanted to rest. And soon after, she fell asleep.

When Natus reached the fort, he did not relax immediately. He went into the shared lodging which he was not comfortable sleeping in, however he had his ways to feel safe while sleeping, most of which seem to be against the military code. He was almost jealous of Esther carefree nature being able to sleep without layers of precaution, however he was a Finis, and carelessness was not a luxury he could afford.

He went into the corner immediately right of the room and took out his journal. He first look at the first page, which had only a few lines of text written on it in a strange text, and began to mumble something to himself. After this, he turned the page to next blank page and started to write quick notes in the same code.

She was glad neither of them resented having to help in the slightest, how fortunate she was that both of the ones who had pole mounted weaponry were also such gentlemen. She could think of a few of the others who might have been much less gracious. She headed out of the medical lab with hase before someone came to bother Tzi about baring his chest in the hospital being unsanitary and/or distracting.

She briefly stopped by the closest kitchen for something to fill her belly with and ended up going with some porridge. Warm and filing if a little bland. Then she made her way to the common room which was surprisingly empty.

“Huh. I wonder where everyone is?”

She briefly poked her head into the dorm, giving Natus a wave. She was confused as to what he was doing but left him too it. She didn’t want her speaking with him to wake Esther.

“Two in there. Not sure about anyone else.”

She settled down by the fire anyway, drying her outside with the comforting flame and her insides with the food.

“If you want to join me I’d appreciate the company, but I imagine you might have things to do or maybe just want some rest like those two”

She indicates to the dorm with its sleeping and writing occupants.

It seemed the next best course of action was to march onwards to Fort Orello. Gradon would continue to hold onto Esther’s hand until she said so otherwise, gently doing so. He had mixed feelings on the situation though; while he was happy that Wagnil had survived and they had the day off, feelings of unease couldn’t be shaken off. Who were those soldiers that wanted to kill them and why did they seek Wagnil’s journal?

A low grumbling sound interrupted his thoughts and he looked down on himself. Well, he couldn’t just continue on an empty stomach. While sleep was essential, food and nourishment were of the utmost importance right now. Besides, he hadn’t been able to finish the stew a few hours earlier before being ambushed. Without much else thought put to it, he headed in the direction of the cafeteria.

A loud crash made him instantly regret the decision. Rather, it was multiple crashes, as if something had been slammed to the floor to shake the entire fort itself. Yells and haughty voices were made known to his ears and a small crowd was blocking the way to the cafeteria; though it wasn’t too big as to impede him from shoving himself through. Apparently a fight had broken out.

Two men, both who looked to be soldiers off duty, were rumbling and tussling with each other on the ground. Tables and dishes had been knocked over but no one seemed to want to stop the brawl. In fact, many if not all of the crowd jeered and cheered these two on. What had started the fight? Gradon didn’t know but whether he should try and stop it was a different matter entirely, the noise of it escalating to reach others in the surrounding area. It would no doubt catch the attention of any wandering Cadets.

Leon Brandeau

Accompanying Althea all the way, Leon acquired some stew from the kitchen. He hadn't gotten to finish his meal before they were ambushed, so it was almost like making up for the loss. When they entered the common room, Leon took a seat while Althea looked for the others. It seemed there weren't that many around. Perhaps they were all making the most of their break elsewhere? As for Leon, while he still wanted to visit his brother eventually, he began to think that it was possible he might start searching for him as well, and if that were the case, they could easily miss each other by poking around the fort by themselves. Leon made up his mind to stay in the common room and wait in hope his brother would come to him. That made it easy for him to respond to Althea.

"No, I'll stay here." Leon replied to her. It wasn't all about enjoying the pleasure of her company at this point, but he wasn't opposed to it. "So...how are you related to that other Doctor Clemmons?" It seemed obvious from the name that they were related in some way, though Leon did not yet know exactly how. He didn't think she would be too closely related, else Leon wondered why she wasn't more inclined to stay and converse with her.

@DracoLunaris

@Mercurial@DracoLunaris



"She your ma?" asked Tzi, following up on Leon's question. The shirtless young man had a sandwich resting in his hand, two slices of thick brown bread crushing together some ham and white cheese. A sizable chunk had been bitten out of the top-right corner, but fortunately for the two he was pal-ing it up with right now, that chunk had been 100% swallowed before he'd started speaking. It was saltier than he'd expected though, and the ham itself didn't really ooze through, flavour-wise, but it was alright.

He hunched over slightly, barely balanced over the chair he was sitting on. After that entire thing in the snow with protecting Wagnill from the wolves, he was seriously beat. Getting some food to fill up his stomach after the long journey and being able to warm up was a real reward. It wasn't like he was going to want to go through all that again, but dang, he'd love it if every day could end with a nice warm fire and free food.

It did seem to be getting a bit noisy outside, though. He glanced over at the door for a moment, trying to hear the sounds of shouting and voices. Maybe he'd head over and check it out later, but right now he was alright with hanging by the fire.

---

---

The break time at Orello seemed to be far more enjoyable to same of the Cadets than it was to others. Some minds can't be changed even when put under a life or death test. Well, the Cadets couldn't be blamed for this. A frontier fort in the middle of nowhere is a place to dump soldiers to rot. Obviously it couldn't properly accommodate the glamorous Cadenza Cadets.

In fact, it was a discussion over these very matters that sparked a brawl in the mess hall as a duo of overworked soldiers began to discuss over whether the Cadets were welcome on the fort or not. It was up to any nearby Cadets to decide if they would interfere with it or not.
Those who chose to stay at the appointed lodgings or close to it would be able to witness a whole distinct event.

A night patrol had just returned to the fort from the opposite side of the the mountain range. They seemed tired and battered by the inclement weather, all of them except a girl that looked about their age, dressed in the uniform of the Aquarian Royal Guard.

The City of Aquaria: Second only to the Imperial Capital in terms of importance, self-administered City of Aquaria is the trading heart of the Empire, it's no exaggeration to say that all of the Empire's treasures pass through Aquaria before reaching the Capital. The City of Water is also a major hub for enlightened, having the most advanced schools and academies, not to say anything of museums and the Grand Library, which is said to house a countess number of volumes in its maze like chambers. The Aquarian Royal Guard are the stalwart defenders of the city, known for their fierce determination and skill at arms, thought most of them aren't as magically gifted, unlike the Cadenza Knights.

"Stand aside, everyone, we have men who need help here!" The girl said in a demanding voice despite not seemingly being in a commanding position. She stood tall in her toes, puffing her chest, even as a battle-scarred bear of a man wearing a Sergeant's insignia came to her demanding explanations as to why their patrol was so battered. A good eye would be able to see that the half a dozen group were suffering from frostbite and bearing marks that made it seem like they had fought against some kind of wild animal.

"With all due respect, I don't have time to answer your questions, Sir! Those men need help and they need it now. If you ae not going to provide it, then stand aside!" the girl said in a brazen act of defiance.

The situation escalated quickly as the Sergeant heaved his hand back, ready to strike the girl's face with a backhanded blow. "First there's those Cadenza brats demanding a whole lodging just for them. And now we're forced to play bitch to Aquaria as well? I'm going to teach you brats to follow the hierarchy!" The Sergeant howled, leaving a swollen red mark on the girl's face as she stood there with arms extended, shielding her squad.

"Are you done already, Sir? If so, stand aside. They don't have all day to be wait until they can be treated," the girl said, still defiant, despite the very bad bruise in her face.

"You little cur!" the Sergeant yelled, reaching for his sword. "I'll have fun having my way with you in the dungeon, once I'm done here!"

None of the Orello soldiers who were looking at this scene seemed willing to move a muscle to stop this fight as well. Just like the brawl on the kitchen it was up to the nearby Cadets to decide if they would do something regarding it or not.