[center][h2][b]Ophelia[/b][/h2][/center]

Something in Ophelia's expression turned at the pallid man's... repugnance? Condescension? She wasn't quite certain what it was, but it had provoked quite the proverbial snarl from the shockingly blue-eyed Farren--and now it threatened to do the same to her. She could feel her other-self's more lucid influence slipping away and the bile in her belly rising up with indignation, and what little lucidity she had left had a choice to make: withdraw and let the fire within reign, or make a push for rationality and reason. It all hinged on what their intentions were: she remembered... very little of this so-called [i]Harrow[/i], beyond that their idea of help was to become or emulate beasts, of all things--as though ailing Loran and fallen Isz's examples weren't enough to know how the scourge of beasts inevitably ended. She hadn't the time to delve deeper into her memories, and she could not reason away the open hostility they'd showed...

Ophelia swallowed the rising heat and took a deep breath in to cool her inflamed mind--she couldn't trust the others to think, to consider the implications that hovered beyond ordinary sight. Torquil... he seemed simple; dim, but gentle and sweet. Something in his dopey smile and the haunted depths of his eyes told her that many might have been unkind to him... and with that axe in his hand, there [i]was[/i] something of the woods about him. She pitied the poor soul, and would try her best to keep him--all of them, really--safe this night. To that end... they were going to be safest if they could get outside; they could make the decision to fight or acquiesce then.

"... Farren, be a dear and help me outside? We... don't want to be hurt, now, do we?" Ophelia asked, her tone whimsical but her eyes, locked on to Farren's as she spoke, gave off an eager flash. She hoped that he'd... well, a part of her hoped he'd pick the fight anyway, and another part hoped they could get outside and assess the situation a little better before they got themselves into trouble.

Still... Ophelia liked their odds; even newly turned as they were, she was confident in their ability to overcome these foes if it turned to that--when it turned to that, most likely. She did not see things remaining peaceful for very long after they got outside, if they did.