GreenGoat

Altera: Of the Destitute and the Destined

Ettamri Bellarence

---

It felt like she was burning.

How was it that she, who had trained vigorously, could have felt so tired on this mere march? Twas not a distance of a forced march, nor was it particularly rigorous, but it seemed her body was... different. Even while she plowed easily though the snow, fatigue started to set in, an odd feeling of lethargy.

But at least she was here now, by the fire, upon which a pot of stew was bubbling over. She too had opted to give a few pieces from her rations to the knight, for a bowl of the hot stew which she ate while facing away from the party. The bottle... well, the bottle was left discreetly near the fire to warm it up some.

It was not enough. It was not even her new, larger stature, for she had the feeling it was more her other side. Seeking to stave off that hunger, she took instead a piece of the hard packed and aptly named 'hardtack' from her rations. It was some sort of vile brick that was supposedly edible and could both be kept a long time and fill stomachs up. It felt like stone and tasted like wet paper. What she truly longed for was...

"Ah the sweet smell of meat~" The small red child danced in front of the fire, though it seemed she had grown a head taller since she remembered, the red horns upon her head now clearly visible through her black short hair. "Ah, mother! Ah, father! I am hungry, please bring in the maids with food!"

"Hey~" The child seemed to just appear in front of her. Ettamri had never truly noticed her eyes before, but they were black where the whites were supposed to be, with gold lenses that seemed to bore into her very soul. "You know how you can just fill your stomach right now? All you have to do is reach out and-"

Katya sat beside her just then, sending spikes of electricity running through her body. A low rumble from her stomach, as her arms flexed automatically, reaching towards Katya.

And brushed off the small blob of snow from the top of her head.

"You're late." Ettamri spoke deliberately towards the two who just arrived, as she pulled out the bottle, pouring its now warm content into her bowl. "Report."

𝖤𝖵𝖤𝖱𝖳𝖧𝖮𝖱𝖭𝖲

Miyamae, Nanami

---

The new bike roared, its powerful engine purring excitedly at the speed she was pushing it to go.

A recent 'acquisition', her just dues from one of the richest parts of the city. A small bike like these wouldn't be missed, nor would they even find out who it was, considering all it took for her was to just jump in the flip side, jump out and disable their cameras, then shove the vehicles into her storage space and get out again using the other side of the world. All in all, she had a few more good additions to her growing collection.

Stopping the bike, she dematerialized it, and summoned a familiar old beat up trailer truck, before flipping back to the real world, under a sort of an overpass bridge near the east side, where the construction left a bit of a ledge for a truck to park on under it.There was rarely anyone here, not even the hoboes or homeless, due to the high winds and height of the ledge she was on.

Reaching inside what had been her home for quite a while, she took out a can of sardines, and a slightly dirty spoon. With just a wipe of the spoon on her skirt and carefully removing the gasmask, she dug into the can, and sat down on the back of the truck.

A solidary life, where she would raid the rich to supply herself every month.

She wanted nothing to do with the newer people for the most part. Some of them made her feel sick with contempt, especially those who treat it like a game.

Almost as if summoned by her thoughts, the tell tale bells of several Elegies approaching came.

"Again...."

The truck disappeared, as she pulled out a motorcycle. She munched slowly on her tuna as she waited for the Elegy to come.

Altera: Of the Destitute and the Destined

Ettamri Bellarence

---

Every breath she exhaled seemed to blow out a large puff of smoke in front of her. Ettamri wanted to stop, and just rest right now, but...

"Just a ways more. Camping out in the open is folly." Her voice came, in what hopefully was an encouraging tone.

Only fools dared camp in the open, with no trees to break the wind nor cover from any potential foes; the light from even a small campfire would be seen from far away once the snowstorm clears. Had they stayed near the river, the worst of the wind would carry the cold of the water to them.

As soon as they arrived in the wooded area, she barked out orders for them to set up camp on the double, Katya to look for any fallen wood she can find, Siwon on the fire, Argen on the look out for any danger while assisting Renault and Renault on setting up the actual camp. Hers was a simple and low tent from the cloaks she brought, just enough room to cover her body with perhaps a little more room to lift her hands up. Perhaps they could just bundle up with thick cloth and lay upon the ground, perhaps they may even survive the night just doing that, but that wasn't really agreeable with Ettamri, nor did she fancy their chances doing that. Within this area, the chances of their fire being spotted was lower, but it would also be a more obvious location for their ranger to head to once they caught up.

If they caught up.

Someone being late usually meant they met with trouble and survived it, or they met with trouble and ended their journey then.

Hopefully they did survive, but even then, there was no telling what sort of trouble they would bring.

She unhitched the horses from their harnesses, and brought them closer to the fire, tying them up a bit closer to the group as a whole.

"I'll take first watch when we lay down for the night. Next would be Renault, Siwon, then Argen, on the last watch. Rest and eat for now, for tomorrow we make for lost time." She exhaled, a large billow of smoke once again flying from her helm. Oddly enough, she didn't feel at all that cold. Perhaps it was her sheer size. She turned from the fire, sitting down on a small rock a little bit away from the camp, looking back towards where they came from.

Fate/Glimmering Oasis (F/GO)

Bellorophon

---

@Grey @ItMeGritty @King Cosmos

"Eyes forwards" Bellorophon called out to the people below. "I see what seems to be a boy being chased by some soldiers."

Taking in a deep breath, they stretched out their hands, pulling back on the bow, as the water flowing behind them solidified into the shape of an arrow. For Bellorophon, Wielder of Missiles, this sort of position was the norm; being high up, with no chance for the enemy to retaliate or attack first.

The best position.

One arrow crashed in front of the enemy, a singular shot meant to gauge the distance, before more came, deadly accurate. One, two, four then sixteen, Bellorophon started raining down arrows upon the soldiers without mercy.

Fate/Glimmering Oasis (F/GO)

Bellorophon

---

"Heh~ so they're some sort of thief huh?"

Bellorophon plucked a piece of paper out of the air, before throwing it away with a small laugh. A thief, and a grand phantom at the same time. Grandiose, and full of confidence in their declaration. Certainly not traits Bellorophon despised in certain measure.

"I'm William. Nice to meet'cha both. Sorry I gotta cut this short, but if either one of y'all are Rider or Assassin, it'd be mighty fine if you had a quick looksie around the area."

"Hi! I'll scale up that building there and see whats around us then!" They did not even stop to consider what William actually said, and simply burst upwards, the pipelines beneath them bursting open, shooting up water after Bellorophon as they scaled a building quickly, first jumping on the walls, then using the large glob of water to take them to the top. Without a word, a bow materialized in their hands as they looked around the area. But without a psychic link to that Master....

Hello? Master? Can you hear me?

First Bellorophon tried to contact Rosa through their link, even as their eyes scanned the area visible.

@Grey @ItMeGritty @King Cosmos

Altera: Of the Destitute and the Destined

Ettamri Belarence

---

They were taking too long. Daylight was wasting and she had no idea if they were dead or not. Ettamri had a bad feeling about the entire thing however, as if something big might come.

"Hmm. Daylight's wasting. You, pha.. no, Arsen, was it? And you, mage Rinald." She stopped for a moment, as she turned slightly away, the words catching in her throat. "W.. Well done scouting. Drive the wagon, and lead the way across. We will make proper camp once the last of the day's light disappears from the sky. The ranger is with the blade dancer, they should be able to track us and catch up quickly to the slow wagon."

If they're alive, she thought.

"Oi! Turnip! Get back here, we're moving out." She called towards Katya before turning to Siwon. "You, fiend knight. Help me douse the fire, and gather the dried wood and coal for the next campfire. Make sure they're properly put out. We do not want to burn the wagon."

With that, she spread the firewood apart with another stick, ensuring the fire does not get enough fuel, before using the snow to well and truly make sure no embers survive. Piling what she has onto the back, she repeated the process until every thing was properly stowed. Mercy be onto the fiend knight if he didn't help.

"Check your equipments, we're moving out. We should at least be able to return to the road ahead once we get across the river."

Nechronica ~The Long, Long, Sequel~ (ENDED)

@PaulHaynek Its ok. ;w;

I'm just gonna drop too. Feels weird doing this alone lol.

Altera: Of the Destitute and the Destined

Ettamri, Siwon, & Katya

---

If the fiend knight wasn’t having much luck finding dry driftwood, then she too wasn’t finding much. There was some branches and slightly larger branches, but most of the larger pieces weren’t at all that dry. That was no matter. Even if the larger pieces weren’t at all that dry, it was easy enough to deal with that.

She arranged what she found into that small semi circle, making a sort of a cone where the driest wood were in the middle and the wettest were outside. Others were piled up near it. An easy enough idea, where the dry wood burns and dries the wetter wood slowly, which then serves as fuel for the fire, to slowly grow bigger.

Fortunately, none of these were soaking wet. Even if they didn’t dry all the way through, what was left could be used as fuel for the next fire.
Dusting herself off, Ettamri called out to Siwon. “Hey, fiend knight, lend me your torch for a moment.”

Siwon looked at the bone in his hand worryingly, before looking back upstream. Weren’t there others from his party that were supposed to scout in that direction? Siwon thought about it for a bit as he made his way back to Ettamri. He held the bone at its cleanest part, holding it between his fingers to avoid getting blood on his cool gloves he was wearing. The smell of entrails is hard to wash out, and it’s too cold for the Fiend Knight to even consider taking that risk at this time…
Making it back to camp, Siwon dropped the bone a few feet in front of Ettamri before pulling out one of the many torches he purchased back at town. It was too cold for Siwon to discard his own lit torch after all. Lighting the second torch with the flames of the first, he handed it to the knightess.

“Who did we send upstream again? I found this going down the river, along with a couple other bloodier bones, too. Either they’re sharing with us their leftovers or there’s something nasty waiting for them up there.” Siwon spoke plainly, without a hint of concern in his voice. Of course, he was very concerned, but he couldn’t show that to Ettamri. If he looked too worried about the group, she might just send him up there to investigate, after all…

"Must be wolves about then." Ettamri took the torch, and shoved it into the pit. It made a small but cozy fire, drying the wood outside slowly even as it ate the drier ones for fuel. "Oi, turnip, there might be wolves about.” She called out to the priest trying her best to get a fish. ”Careful you don't get snatched up. Fire’s here if you manage to get any fish.”

She sat down on one of larger stones around it.

“Phew. Just drop what you find near there, fiend knight. Don’t worry about the scouts. They shouldn’t be dumb enough to fight anything they can’t reasonably kill. Ah, speaking of which, which family are you from?”

“Family?” Siwon tilted his head to the side in bewilderment. “To become a Fiend Knight is to forsake all worldly bindings such as family and friends. It is a solemn path that one dedicates themselves to!”

Of course such ‘dedications’ that Siwon had proclaimed were extreme hyperbole meant to make him sound cool and unique, but the Fiend Knight still thought of the question, and if he has ever even had a family to begin with. Setting the bits of gathered wood and branches to the arrangement of piles Ettamri had set up.

“What’s the pattern here? Based on smell? Darkest to lightest?”

“Driest inside, wettest outside.” She shoved in a relatively dry piece of wood into the set up. She was silent for a moment as she pondered what the fiend knight said.

“No family and obligation, huh?”

It was an odd thought for her, especially considering she was here because of her family in the first place. Could someone really just abandon their families, their obligations, their own birthright just like that?

“Ah… I can’t even imagine that.” Ettamri sat back on the rock, the boulder shifting slightly under her weight. “My family is… after all…”

Almost as if by a sudden flip of a switch, she sat up suddenly, and poked the fire. It was burning well, the heat drying out the outside wood even as it ate the drier parts for fuel.

“Ah, my kingdom for some tea.” She lamented to herself. Ettamri had an idea to warm up her alcohol for drinking, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to share her drink with anyone just yet.

While Ettamri and Siwon were chatting it up, Katya was mastering the rock. Slowly, her movements became more refined, more swift, the small priest developing her own technique as she whipped the stones out like a human sling. Retrospectively, it would have been better if she just made an actual sling herself, but that was irrelevant to her. She was getting GOOD at this. Indeed…

Splish-splish-splish-splish-splesh-splash-splosh!

“YES!” Katya cried out, jumping up twice and looking at the others. “I did it! Look, look, didja see that, Siwang? Fufufu, seven bounces off the river, bet you can’t do that, smelly skinny guy!”

Scratching her head over the turnip's behaviour, Ettamri shrugged and simply poked the fire, having had no expectation the small girl will really catch a fish. Pretty good throwing arm though. Perhaps if she had something to throw she could really help in combat. Not that Ettamri had any idea what to throw.

Keeping her hand on her sword, she simply sat with her back to the fire, looking out for any dangers, but mostly on Katya. Who knows if the turnip got it into her head to dive into the deeper parts of the river or something.

Nechronica ~The Long, Long, Sequel~ (ENDED)

Rosemary

---

She hugged her legs closer to her, as her eyes flitted through the things in the room, coming to rest every so often on the other girl in the room. How long had it been now? Days? Weeks? Years? She had no idea, having only a few feeble memories in her head, and none of them included when she and the other girl was put in here.

Rosemary did not speak, but she did stare intently at the other girl.

What were they to do now? The door had not even moved for quite some time. Either something happened to whoever that was controlling the door, or they had lost all usefulness and was thrown away like trash. She wasn't sure what was worse.

Nechronica ~The Long, Long, Sequel~ (ENDED)

Will do. Ive already resetted the sheet back to the original one.