"Cedar, get the hell away from that bear! Stritzel is a traitor, and he is her ally! Aiding them is treason against the crown! If you do this, I-!"

...

"Whatever you think you're doing, it's not worth it!"

Cedar looked down at his feet, then out at Ted, rampaging in the room beyond, then back down again.

"No matter what happens Cedar, know that you are a good person."

All at once, he just started bawling.

"... Uh ain't doin' it fer fuckin.. HER..." he sobbed, clutching his sister's tightly and hugging them for all he was worth, shivering and weak. "...It were fer HIM..."

It was at that time that Varya grabbed him, eliciting a repressed, almost instinctual, reaction. Teeth came out, and a fierce snarl, and before he could stop himself, the elf man's hand got bit-- HARD.

"DON' TOUCH ME!" he raged between sniffs, then incomprehensible babble, ending with "... At bitch... Touch'd me 'nuff."

Then looked back out again at Ted.

"....He dun even WAN be saved.... Fine... Kill 'im... It wut ya want... an uh caint stop ya. Take meh home. Dun wanna see no moar... Don wanna feel no moar..."

Varya's attempt to displace his shivering bulk was met with passive resistance. Three bears clutching each other up together was not an easy thing to push, even if they were not making any effort to resist. Not only that, when he tried to push Cedar back, the bear in question snarled and clamped his arm with his jaws.

The bite went shallow, leaving some biting marks on the blue elf's forearm. Even with sheer determination being put out behind that instinctive chomping, Varya had had his muscles buffed up, and Cedar's condition could only allow marginal damage.

The biting was released almost instantly, followed by a harsh warning "DON' TOUCH ME!"

"....He dun even WAN be saved.... Fine... Kill 'im... It wut ya want... an uh caint stop ya. Take meh home. Dun wanna see no moar... Don wanna feel no moar..."

It was sad, and confusing at the same time. Cedar looked beyond the elf's shoulder. At Ted, who had just finished off yet another guard and had the other two running through the front door.

The Gladiator-Bear had started his ascend toward the second floor, attracted by the desperate sound of metals and hands being banged against the door and the voice of an elderly woman coming from one of the rooms on the corridor upstairs. The wooden stairs squeaked under his heavy weight, and blood still occasionally dripped from his muzzle, which was tainted with dried and coagulated blood.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Jazdia could hear all the bawlings, roars, and sobbings, coming from multiple bears and it added to her mounting restlessness.

"Why does it sound like they are abusing those beastly bumpkins? What the hell is going on?! Veronica, if the situation is no longer conducive, you guys must retreat. I repeat! If it's not possible to bring Cedar safely, then your safety must be the top priority!

It was all coming back to her now. That Bear-Fighter was one mean bastard, and now if Veronica described him as a monster, then they would be at a disadvantage trying to wrestle that thing in an enclosed space.

Suddenly two forms of panicked human males rushed out that mansion's front door, running toward the courtyard as if their lives depended on it. Jazdia quickly nocked an arrow on her bow and aimed. While those two idiots came out to the open, right in front of the team.

Mustering every bit of her newly recovered energy, Jazdia shouted. Irises gleamed in a menacing purple hue to intimidate them.

"Stop right there if you value your life and limbs!"

"Let me guess, it all went to shit somehow." They're close by, and Sparky wasn't trying to be discreet. Whatever's going on the other end sounds chaotic, one didn't need to be a genius to reach the conclusion. Clicking her tongue, Yvonne stretched and prepared herself for what comes next.

It's as inevitable as the crack of dawn.

"Whatever they're running from, they fear it more than you." The mercenary remarked, walking past the elf toward the fleeing pair. "Words ain't gonna get through, yeah? Just beat them up."

She'd punch the first man in the guts, and if the other was still close enough trip the bastard as he went past. A bit of abuse should help them see some sense, nothing like pain for wake-up call.

The first thug was welcomed with a punch in the gut, just a moment after he realized that he was just running from a nasty frying pan into an unforgivable fire. As his friend lay shriveled on the grass, the other thug frantically raised his hand and threw away his sword.

"I surren--"

But Alas, Yvonne was in her least merciful moment, and not in the mood to stop her momentum. Shifting from the downed first thug to the second one, she leg-tripped him with her right foot, causing the thug to stumble down like his friend.

"I surrender! Mercy! Oh Gods!" He pleaded, raising both hands to cover his head to anticipate a follow-up beatdown.

Jazdia kept her bow drawn, checking every corner ahead to ensure nobody was getting a drop on them when Yvonne was busy beating the hell out of those two unarmored thugs.

Varya Chandrar

Cedar bit Varya's hand, and he pulled his hand away in pain. This was only momentary though as he immediately goes to grab the bear man's right arm. It was at this point that Varya realized that even with his spell's help, he didn't have the power to restrain him, the best he could do was slow him down or otherwise be an annoyance. Varya's body ached all over, his tendons torn all across his body. Were it not for the Bull's Strength, he would barely be able to walk. Still with what little power he possessed he would use it pull Cedar towards Jazdia. Knowing he lacked the power to stop Cedar on his own, all he could do was plead. "Please Cedar! You are tired, you need to rest! If you want to save the bear, wouldn't it be a good idea to do so from a place of strength rather than desperation? He is strong, he will survive until you can help him. I don't know what he means to you, but I can tell that you love him dearly. Jazdia cares about your well being, and so does your King. We risked much to get you out here, please comfort them by letting them tend to your wounds and knowing you are in one piece." Varya would not abandon his task, no matter how much his body cried for rest or Cedar nibbled at his flesh. Varya can't give up, he won't give up. He looked to Solomon, speaking in a pleading tone."Please help me." He still had his part to play, as little as he could, and he wouldn't stop until he had played it.

Ted the Bear made it to the second floor and turned to the right corridor, out of everyone's gaze, leaving the group, his enemy, his sympathizer, and bloody carnage behind him. If one would anticipate another destruction on the second floor, they could hear a harsh drawl about an intention to break the door, and then the sound of a wooden door being broken apart.

And then there was a muffled screening...

The main door leading straight to the courtyard was opened.

The entire lobby was an utter mess. Bookshelves being tipped over, destroyed furniture here and there, gore splattering on the carpet and walls, and disfigured bodies scattered about, some were still breathing, but not for long.

One of the dying ones could be seen sitting on one of the corners, trembling there with stomach torn open and crushed leg. Hopeless and powerless, fresh blood seeping out from his wound, and the only thing he could be seen doing was whispering prayers, for he knew that his death was drawing close.

The squire nodded to elven woman and took her piece of clothing to turned it into arm sling of cat woman. She then re-tracked her stuff within the shade of darkness of the current time. Despite of that, her woodsman learnings did guarantee to claimed back her belonging back to rally point, the thug camp.

"Madam Rosenving. That's enough, I would like to ask them questions. I am about to conducting to investigation inside the Manor's. I need a interior information of this infrastructure." Louise spoke up to the noble woman mercenary, the young blonde female squire was on full combat attire again along with musket hip fire aiming toward to beating thug. Shield on her back and a replacement of sword from the dead thug into her scabbard.

A couple welll-placed blows put the two escapee on the ground and knocked some senses back into their noggin. See? Percussive maintenance worked! Yvonne flashed a toothy, feral grin promising further pain as she took half a step back, the promise of further pain hanging like storm cloud over the two. The message was clear enough - comply or get fucked. And to that end, she'll loom over them as much as necessary.

Didn't even need to start breaking something. These two sure learned fast, eh?

"They're all yours." Said the mercenary, gaze falling onto the mansion where someone (or something) was breaking both furniture and people in equal measure judging from the noise. "We'll probably got to go in half blind regardless, but do try squeeze our guests for intel."

It was Louise's turn. She completely reveals herself to the captured guards. Her armor may be recognized by the captured guards as one of the official Rascade faction armor sets, which originated in her home town of Kanterbury. At that point, a young female blonde squire was still in her readiness stance with her musket.

"Gents. I would like to wrap things up nicely. I simply wanted to ask you a few questions.

The interior of the Manor, with an easy path into it.

Are there any protective mechanisms placed within the infrastructure?

Who are the resistance members battling my team's infiltration group?"

She aimed her musket at one of the captured guards, prompting him to speak.

"Khcak! Agh! Don't know!" answered the first thug immediately, and the second thug followed shortly after.

"We know shit about those things, ma'am!"

Pausing between his pained groans, he slowly he rose up. Though there were 'nice' conclusions being promised in the squire's inquiry, the thug's face went pale the moment he looked at Louise, and unconscious Jonas Delving not far from them.

"L-lovely miss, I am just a cook, and my pal there is--was a stablehand." he stammered. "We-we were running from our master's monster pet, that's all! We not know no easy path, no, would already use it otherwise."

"We only saw bears!" his friends interjected, shouting. "Three bears bickering! And some blue dude with knives for the ears stopping one of them bears. The captain's dead! Everyone else's dead. Maybe the missus is dead too. We ain't going back! That's all I know."

Varya Chandrar

Cedar bit Varya's hand causing him to recoil in pain. He was eager to go back to grabbing him when he realized that Cedar was reacting instead of struggling on his own accord. He stepped back and addressed Cedar, realizing that using brute force would be inefficient in bringing him to heel. Varya's mustered as much formality as his strained voice could muster. "Would you please allow your sisters to take you to Jazdia? She is quite concerned about you and I am certain that she will be most relieved to see you alive and in one piece." Varya's patience was wearing thin, his desire to complete his mission far outweighing any considerations for Cedar's emotional being. Nevertheless, the goal was within reach, and Varya just had to push just a little bit further. He would walk in front of Cedar, acting as the vanguard. Varya staggered slowly and painfully as he walked, being propped up by little more than magic, willpower and prayers. He clutched his bow like a lifeline amidst a stormy sea, nervously scanning the area around him for any potential threats. He would hobble to the finish line, but he was dead set on fulfilling his mission.

Cedar was nothing but inconsolable tears and inhuman 'groaning' or 'roaring' combined with deep-seated despair. Acting in his stead, his sisters responded, alternating between scolding the other "rescuers" for their lack of tact with "wounded animal" psychology, and trying to soothe their brother before he really and truly lost his mind.

"Look idiot, He' readeh tuh go ou'side, just stop ya damn grabbin' an' pushin! We's in 'ere tuhs ya know!"

"We lose an eye or summat, all a'cause you folk's cain't grok no' tuh wrestle a des'prate bear, we gunna takes it person'al!-- [Calm daown bruh-- calm daown... sss'ok.. We jus' goin' ou'side...] "

"Ya wan' us tuh get movin, we got our han's full-- Pick a direction-- We usin' da fron' door, or goin' back out da way we came?"

"If we goin' out da fron-- Stop pushin' US-- and push DIS SHIT outta our way astead-- we gots our han's full as-is-- Ya wanna hurry us along? Pick a path, an' clear it! [yo' frien's always dis thick bruddah?]"