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    1. Adriane 11 yrs ago

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Lora Kadar and Sarah


The girl continued running from Lora so she changed course; she sprinted towards where her spear had stuck in the ground, twisting and ducking to avoid the continuing arrows. She grabbed the shaft and wrenched the weapon from the ground, and then leapt to the ground. Lora rolled out and parallel to Sarah, turning to look at her and knocking an arrow away with her spear.

“How many arrows do you have?” Lora called, turning to the girl with bewildered amusement. They just kept coming. “Is that a magic quiver, by chance?”

"Hey, you're catching on!" Sarah gave a laugh as she briefly came to a stop. She drew another arrow, spinning it quickly in between her fingers before aiming again. "I've had it for a little while! After all if I just ran out of arrows I'd be kind of... useless after a few minutes, wouldn't I? Your spear is pretty normal though, isn't it?"

Lora lingered on the ground when Sarah stopped, taking the pause in their fighting to catch her breath and push down the pain in her arm. She heard the girl’s hesitance and grew more confident in her previous assertion—all she needed to do was reach her and she’d be on top.

She glanced down at her spear and smiled gently, glancing back up again. “As normal as the rest of me,” Lora offered, one of her ears twitching in amusement as she winked at Sarah. And then she jumped up, launching towards the girl.

"Oh well that's good, if there's no tricks I have to worry about then I should be fine oh Divines what are you doing?!" Sarah went from genuinely cheerful to genuinely surprised as she leaped backwards, eyes widened at Lora's sudden assault. Quickly she began unleashing arrows once more, almost at a desperate pace as she realized she was getting closer and closer to the wall of the arena.

"Will you just please be hit by one of these already? I won't aim for anywhere important, I swear!"

Lora pushed against the ground harder, skipping between the arrows and barely making it out unscathed. She could hear the surprise and see the desperation starting to fester, and even more importantly she could see the wall looming close behind Sarah.

She almost laughed at the girl’s plea, but instead narrowly avoided getting stuck in the stomach. “You hit my arm earlier!” she called, moving said arm out of the way of another arrow. “I think it’s your turn to be hit!” Lora offered politely, spinning on her heel to gain momentum and hurling the spear at Sarah’s middle once more.

"Not yet!" Sarah exclaimed, even as she dove to the side. The move was desperate, just to avoid the spear entirely as it stuck into the wall. She rolled, turning back around to jump up and face the rapidly approaching Lora once again, in order to fire off once again. It was only a single arrow, though, as she instead brought both hands to the wood of her bow, as if preparing for something.

Sarah dove without running, and that was the opening she needed. Lora rushed forward at the girl, almost close enough to grab her. But there was just enough space for Sarah to clamor for her bow and send off one arrow—Lora let it plunge into her as she lunged at Sarah, the arrow sinking into her stomach as she made to tackle the girl to the ground.

Sarah yelled out even as she went down, arms flailing up and around. Though the movement seemed to be wild, there was a purpose to it that was yet to be revealed mostly because the two of them hit the ground hard. Sarah's head bounced against the ground heavily as she let out an, "Oof." It may have been looking bad for her, but she wasn't done yet. With her free arms up above her head, she brought her bow down onto Lora heavily, exclaiming, "Let me go!"

The slam of the bow on her head resounded through her stomach, making Lora cry out as the arrow jostled around. She winced and grabbed at Sarah’s wrists, pushing her hands away long enough to straighten and snap the arrow stuck in her stomach. She grunted and took a deep breath, turning back to Sarah and making to snatch the bow from her hands.

Sarah rolled away in order to avoid the grab, along her side. With the movement she jumped back up, in order to swing the weapon with both hands like a club, right at Lora's head once again. "Just stop already, this is ridiculous!"

“By all means,” Lora began, wincing as she deflected the bow with her bad hand and held tight to it. She wrenched it forward to pull Sarah back down to her and let out a growl. “Yield, please. I don’t want to hurt you, really.”

"Ugh!" Sarah groaned loudly, trying to keep a hold of her bow before suddenly letting it go, as if in an attempt to throw Lora off balance from the sudden lack of resistance. She immediately followed it up with a full body shove from herself, though that did very little all things considered.

Lora fell back only slightly when Sarah let go, tossing the bow aside and grabbing Sarah as she made contact and tried to shove her. Lora used the girl’s attempt to pull them both back to the ground, rolling to pin Sarah to the ground.

Once more, Sarah started to struggle, but it was useless. She groaned loudly once again, finally huffing as she went limp, her eye twitching several times. "Fine, fine! I give up! You win!"

Lora grinned, letting go and sitting back on her heels over Sarah. “See?” she offered warmly. “That wasn’t so hard. Good fight,” she nodded, the sharp ache in her stomach and arm starting to surface. “Are you okay?” Lora asked, uncomfortably aware of the steady flow of blood saturating her shirt front. The girl didn’t seem too damaged anywhere, except perhaps in ego.

"Hmph! I'm fine, I'm all fine here now, thank you! How are you?" Very clearly Sarah was extremely disgruntled, crossing her arms even as she continued to lie on the ground, just staring up to the ceiling.

Lora frowned at the girl’s displeasure, before glancing down to face the reality of her body’s condition. “Well, actually—Oh! I think I’m bleeding on you a little, my apologies!” Lora rolled off the girl and sat up gingerly, cradling the half of the arrow still stuck and trying to sop up the dripping blood with her sleeves.

"Just keep it covered." Sarah groaned this as she remained where she was on the ground, just sighing loudly as she placed both of her hands behind her head, remaining on the ground.

Lora did just that, pressing the fabric around it tightly against the wound and scooting back to lean against the wall. “You might be a little happier,” she pointed out, “you did very well for the most of it! I quite enjoyed that.”

"Yeah it was a good fight, just wasn't my match up." Sarah sighed again, still not moving, even if she wasn't injured at all, really. "I'm sure Badain will finish things off, though."

Lora’s frown returned, beginning at the girl’s shift of attitude from pleasant and fun to unpleasantly sour and growing when the girl mentioned what she could only assume to be another fighter. “Badain?” she asked, her tone short for the first time that day. “Who is he fighting?”

"Oh, the blue haired guy?" Briefly, she looked up, and then she dropped back down afterwards. "Yeah, that's him!"

Only briefly did Lora’s eyebrows furrow, until she caught Cyril’s figure fighting another man, and then her eyebrows slanted down in worry. After a moment of watching them, her eyebrows converged once more in defiance.

“If you think Badain will win, you really have no idea who he’s fighting.”
@PetiteAmbivert Patience is a virtue, right?
@The Darklight Project I'll wait as long as it takes.
One day @The Darklight Project is going to unintentionally say a pun and I will be right there ready to write it down, give him a thousand strikes, and never let him forget it.
Lora Kadar and Sarah


Lora spent most of the night rolling around her bed, caught between nerves for the next day and replaying the last hour or so with Cyril. Eventually sleep took her, but it gave her back far too quickly. She was one of the first up and sat quietly when the others talked, trying to keep herself calm in the face of fighting the unknown. Knowing Cyril would be in there with her would be consoling if she wasn’t also worrying that she wouldn’t be able to help if he got hurt. She tried to keep herself calm with the thought that he knew what he was doing—because he did—but it was barely enough.

The Chiefs came to get them and she followed right behind the Prince, focusing on Chief Kisarin’s words. When Yihira asked about the room she stayed silent, watching the exchange with assumed indifference. She heard Ayano’s voice ring out and smiled briefly, bits of her worries turning to enthusiasm at the encouragement; maybe this fight would be fun. Fighting was never particularly fun to Lora, but it could be exciting with the right opponent. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bloodbath but a playful sort of battle.

She psyched herself up with that thought and when the doors opened Lora followed Cyril’s direction into the Arena. The space was relatively familiar, but the angle was new. She looked up and caught the filled audience, and their company off on the left. She spotted the Chiefs, and then looked back down into the arena. She was practically vibrating with nerves and a little bit of excitement, and she kept bouncing from one foot to the other.

The other eight entered and Lora found her opponent easily: she was directly across from her and paying attention only to her. The girl smiled and Lora returned it on impulse, if with a little surprise. The girl’s smile was soft and easy, and Lora relaxed to stand still. The kindness would make it hard to wish any sort of hurt on the other girl, but she found she still preferred it to a mean snarl—perhaps this could be a playful battle. Perhaps the girl would yield before Lora had to go too far…yes, she rather hoped that, actually.

She dragged her eyes away from the girl’s face and she briefly sized her up, taking in the bow and set of arrows, and the deep blues in her clothing. She had chosen for ranged fighting then, which would surely be interesting. Lora had brought in her spear, but had been waiting to decide how much she would actually use it based on her opponent. It was good for one solid long-range, and then she would have to retrieve it. She didn’t see any other weapons on the girl, though—maybe getting close enough to retrieve it would be exactly what she had to do to make her only weapon futile.

The cheering from above cut short suddenly, and while everyone else looked up Lora cut a glance towards Cyril. He pulled his sword and the motion set Lora exactly where she needed to be. She pulled her spear and bent gently, turning her eyes back to the girl.

Yihira yelled and then Cyril cried out, and she ran forward towards her opponent.

Immediately the girl moved, jumping backwards. As she did so she brought her bow up and reached over her shoulder with her free hand to grab an arrow, nocking it into place and releasing it before she even hit the ground. The arrow was meant to slow Lora's advance more than hit her, so it flew towards her legs.

Even as she landed, the young woman prepared another arrow, aimed, and let loose towards Lora's head. "Wow, you're fast! I'm impressed!"

Lora saw the arrow coming and jumped, twisting out of the way and sweeping the end of her spear through the air where she had just been. She knocked the arrow from the air with the end and it fell from the air and skidded harmlessly across the ground. She turned back to her path and saw the next arrow coming, and she dropped to the ground quickly. The arrow caught the air at the end of her hair as she fell, but lodged itself into the ground a while away. Lora rolled out and then made to stand again, looking to the girl with a wide grin.

“You’re not too bad yourself!” she answered, pushing off the ground and racing towards her.

"Hey, thanks! That sure is nice of you!" Even as she said this, the girl kept firing arrows, constantly backing her way towards the curved wall as she did so. Clearly she was intent on keeping the distance from Lora, and didn't feel like she was being back into a corner, so to speak. She kept grinning, as if enjoying herself-

"My name's Sarah! What's yours?"

The girl kept talking but her arrows never relented, and in a very strange sort of way it was quite endearing to Lora. She kept firing and Lora kept dodging—sidestepping, jumping, tumbling, and rolling. With each step forwards the girl took a step backwards, and Lora could see the stalemate they were quickly working themselves into. She would need to change things if she was to get any closer, but it wasn’t quite the time.

After a particularly nice spin away from an arrow, Lora returned Sarah’s smile. “Lora!” she called, dashing forwards and ducking under another arrow. There was barely any pause between each one, and Lora’s running was turning into a series of quick dodging in Sarah’s direction. “I’m pleased to meet you!”

"Same!" Even as she shouted the word towards Lora, Sarah had apparently decided to escalate her efforts a little. Rather than firing a single arrow at once she unleashed two, and then settled into launching three at a time. Typically the middle arrow was the most accurate one actually aimed for her, with the other two being anticipations for the various directions Lora would dodge. Still, it was all really in an effort to slow her. Any slight wound would be a bonus.

The girl fired off two arrows and Lora understood the development, barely dodging both of them before she watched her draw and fire three. The first set she managed to roll under and get slightly closer to Sarah; she was ready for the second set when they came. She pulled her arm back as Sarah did, letting go of her spear as the other girl let go of the arrows. She threw it at the girl’s middle, for the maximum chance of hitting her any which way she moved.

Sarah yelped as the spear came out her. Reacting immediately, she dodged by actually leaping to the side, making sure to use the time to fire off another set of arrows before she hit the ground, rolled, and popped back up afterwards.

Lora rose from kneeling to standing in the throw, and when the arrows came there was only time to shift so that the middle arrow only sliced through her arm. It caught the skin right on the edge and ripped it apart, following clean through and clattering to the ground behind her. The gasp she let out was involuntary, but she managed not to grab her arm, instead clenching her good hand into a fist and sprinting forwards towards Sarah. She couldn’t lick her wounds yet—the hunt was still on.
Lora Kadar and Cyril Serio


Lora was silent through Joachim's apology, only nodding slightly. She didn't speak at all until she was spoken to, shrugging gently and following the Prince from the room. She wanted to piece together the bits of what had just happened, but she was too busy calming her mind back down - the fight was over, everyone was alive, Cyril was safe. She stayed a step behind him and when she realized he couldn't see her nod, she cleared her throat softly. "Of course...Your Majesty. I wasn't about to let you lose it...I-" she winced, her hands fisting together. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, promising herself she wouldn't stutter. "I'm incredibly regretful I failed to use your title earlier and overstepped my place. You have my sincerest apologies, Your Honor, but please feel no obligation to accept them."

At her words the Prince suddenly came to a stop, blinking. He looked over his shoulder towards her, a confused expression on her face as he turned to face her a little more. "The Hell are you talking about, Lora? What does any of that matter?"

She stopped as abruptly as he did, peeking up at him. Her eyebrows came together and her mouth opened, but sound halted as she tried to figure out how best to explain that he was the Prince of Barcea and she had no right to touch him or use his name and really why did she have to explain herself at all? He was the Prince - he of all people should know how others were to act towards him.

Finally she gathered herself, still a bit thrown with his confusion. "It wasn't right - you're the Prince of Barcea," she explained slowly, careful not to overstep herself again. "You're about to lead a fight in the Arena for your country tomorrow, I should think that would matter more than ever now."

As she explained herself, the confusion faded from Cyril's face to instead be replaced by something like disbelief. He just shook his head quickly, clearly displeased with what she had to say. "No, that's nonsense. We're friends, Lora, and besides no one is around who gives a damn. Forget about formality for the time being or I'll actually go insane."

Something warm blossomed inside her and a small smile crept up. "Thank you," she said, pausing before she continued. She still didn't agree, and she was empowered enough to argue back. "But it's still dreadfully disrespectful! You earned your title and you make a wonderful prince and I'm not even near close enough in title to simply ignore that!" she insisted.

He laughed at that, hints of nervousness creeping in from what he had seen moments before. The effect of the battle hadn't faded entirely, but such a simple conversation seemed to be helping the Prince at least a little. "I was born into the Serio family. I didn't earn anything, it was given to me. I'm just Cyril, that's all, and enough about it. You got that?"

Her mouth was already open to argue - he was the most amazing person she had ever had the pleasure of knowing and Gurata wasn't rocky if that wasn't the entire testament itself to how much he deserved his title - but she closed it when he said enough. She would argue for him if he let her, but if he wouldn't she would never disobey him. She caught the tension in his shoulders and gauged how much was just proper enough for her to get away with it. Deciding he needed the laugh, she fought back a smile and raised a hand to salute him. She brought her hand down and nodded. "Yes, Just Cyril, I've got that loud and clear. Any other messages you'd like to share, Just Cyril?"

"Nope, so long as that's understood then we're good." He smirked ever slightly, before it faded as he turned to walk then. "Though... seems like your heroes have plenty of surprises in them."

Lora followed after him, her face furrowing in confusion. "I'm not sure what you mean," she admitted, watching him carefully. "No offending remarks meant but you don't seem that surprising to me - I mean I could only imagine, but it's not too hard to understand...Unless you want to be surprising, in which case I'm shocked!" She offered him a smile.

"What?" Once again he looked to her in confusion, though this time it was just over his shoulder and he didn't stop. He shook his head quickly as he looked back forwards. "No, not me. The Wanderer- er, Joachim, and Chikako. Your 'angels.'"

"Oh!" she nodded, catching up to him. "Yes, my angels, though not quite my heroes - though I suppose technically they are heroes, and they did save me...But yes, they seem quite surprising. He said he was the Phantasm?" she asked, a mixture of uncertainty and confusion.

"Yeah, it's definitely him." Cyril said with a nod. He brought a hand up to his right cheek, lightly tapping it before tracing down a little, allowing his hand to fall away entirely afterwards. "The scar proves as much, nevermind the fact that the Direwolf recognized him. Wonder why he didn't call him on it when we first met up earlier today...?"

Lora watched his hand carefully until it dropped, and then looked away and cleared her throat. She shrugged once he finished speaking. "Maybe he was trying to give the Wanderer time to announce it himself? It's quite a big reveal and he was pretty clearly trying to hide who he really was...perhaps the Direwolf was trying to give him a chance to come out and say it himself? It's quite nice of him, if that's why he did it."

"Uh... I don't think so." Cyril gave a light chuckle. The idea of the Direwolf being nice about it, especially after what the Prince had just seen moments before, didn't seem to quite fit into the situation. "Well... whatever it is, the cat's out of the bag now. Here's to hoping they refrain from trying to kill each other until Kori's had a chance to say something."

Lora just shrugged, unwavered by the previous display and Cyril's lack of confidence. "Maybe not, but if he really didn't like him that much there's no other real reason not to have outed him and declared a battle the moment he saw him." She then nodded, humming in agreement. "They probably will," she offered lightly, "if they stopped now I'm sure they can hold off killing each other long enough for Her Majesty."

"Eh... We'll see." The Prince shrugged slightly once more. "Until then, though, we need to get focused on tomorrow. Anything I can do for you before we part ways?"

She nodded resolutely. "Yes. I mean - no. I - no, there isn't anything you can do for me, thank you very much for the offer, and yes, we should get focused on tomorrow. A bit of sleep - or at least an attempt - is probably in order. Is there anything I can do for you?" she offered, her eyebrows raised perhaps a little too high in hope.

At her stuttering he chuckled slightly, bringing up a hand to calm her as he also gave a shake of the head. "No, you've saved my life once tonight, that's probably good enough. Good night, Lora, and rest well. I'll see you tomorrow when it's time."

“Yes,” she smiled, nodding gently and turning to the rooms. “I’ll see you.”
Lora Kadar


Prince Cyril accepted the pirate’s offer as kindly as Lora had suspected he would, and then he turned to her and she saw something odd in his eyes. But it was fleeting and gone when he spoke, and she couldn’t have said what it was even if she watched it for hours. Nothing he would ever feel towards her fit that look quite right. He accepted her offer with a statement that sounded like a question spoke with the wrong inflection, but he moved on afterward so she accepted that was a yes—she could fight for him. Others stepped up and Lora took a step back, making room. She caught Dalious’ gesture towards her and her eyebrows furrowed together for a brief moment; she wondered what in the world a pirate was winking at her for. Then again, he was a pirate. He seemed to experience a brief headache next, and headed off (perhaps to lie down and cure said ailment) once the eight spots were filled.

Lora left when the group disbanded, following Kisarin to the dining halls. She spotted a few familiar faces before she had finished grabbing her food, and sat down where she could greet each one of them. They all clapped each other on the back and the nonhuman from her neighboring pack lowered his head in respect, and then they resumed their usual eating, drinking, and yelling over each other to be heard. Cyril passed by and Lora finally got to share her excitement at travelling with the Prince. Her friends did not disappoint her in their enthusiasm—a few laughing and the others howling as she told them about the saved village and the Prince’s arrival.

A fight broke out next to them and they simply shifted over a little and watched, the conversation continuing as Kisarin grabbed the two by the scruff of their neck and set them apart as one might do to puppies who were playing too roughly. The night wore on in exactly that manner of eating and talking and fighting, and when the moon rose Lora started to feel the impact of the day’s travels. With many excuses, insistences, and a loud but playful growl, she set off towards the rooms Yihira had given them.

Upon reaching an empty one, however, the threat of tomorrow loomed over her. The exhaustion still hung heavy but swirling thoughts of tomorrow wouldn’t calm, and Lora knew there would be no sleep for her right now. She kept on down the hall and stepped her way around her countrymen, their unconscious presence rather comforting. It didn’t take long to find an empty hall, though, and here Lora ambled along.

She had volunteered, naturally, but she wasn’t too much of a fighter. Not like some of the others from the pack—she felt none of their bloodlust, got nothing from the kill. Hunting animals and playing were different from intentionally injuring others, but it was what the Prince and Barcea needed. And it was her way, also, as a Guratan. She didn’t enjoy it but she wasn’t bad at it; she had earned her place as Beta from more than her birthright. And it would take more than a little unease to keep her from fighting for the Prince, she told herself, and she would fight well for him.

It was right as she was convincing herself that the fight tomorrow would go well, when she heard the man from her thoughts down the corridor. Curiosity dawned and Lora stepped up her pace, rounding the corner to find Cyril…and the Wanderer, of all people. The man was standing in front of a door but looking to the Prince, who was speaking with him. Cyril looked as though he had just found the Wanderer—the way Lora had just found both of them. She heard the man squeak out an ambiguous excuse and wondered if she had walked in on something she shouldn’t have. It didn’t seem important, but they were in a deserted corridor and the Prince probably didn’t want an audience for this. Then again, the Prince seemed to have just arrived as well, and what if the strange look the Wanderer had was something that would work against the Prince? Sure, he had come along with them, but Lora had seen his skill first hand. She couldn’t risk him attacking the Prince. But, if that wasn’t the case, she didn’t want to seem rude. Caught between worry and manners, Lora stayed right at the edge of the shadows a little ways behind Cyril.

Good luck!!
@Raijinslayer Hahaha thank you!! Writing her is just as entertaining, I promise; it mostly consists of me stopping mid-post because I'm giggling too hard at what I just decided I'd have her say. (The end of that last post took about five solid minutes of me laughing before I could actually type it out)
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