Sifr

Iris Ascendis

Oh, shut up, Hildegunde thinks to herself as the man prattles on, his voice like sandpaper on her skin. The urge to actually do so is one she has to suppress once again. She continues blasting the lights with silent gunshots. As she takes a moment to seek cover and reload, Chunji speaks.

"Upon closer inspection, the Foreteller has its summoner, Gulliver Bronstel, inside the center of its being. Reasons are unknown. Suggestion, destroy the center of the Foreteller and attack the summoner that rests in its 'core.'"

While she has no intentions as of right now to try and attack the core, Hildegunde makes mental note of this, lest she find the need to summon her ethos. This is followed shortly by a knock, one which she has no time to respond to. That was worrisome, and for a moment, it startles her. A bullet flies uselessly into an already extinguished light. She makes a face, gritting her teeth as she regains her old focus, her old efficacy. She vaguely notices the Mannequins coming her way are less numerous now, but doesn't give it much thought. Not when the smell of smoke is once again flooding her nostrils for the second time today.

Her eyes widen, body on extra alert. As she extinguishes the last light, her eyes trail towards the source of the smell and the yelp. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, she makes a mad dash for the rest of the shutters, trying to make up for the loss of time on Ciara's part. Trusting that Iraleth's heroics won't allow further harm to come to the black haired girl.

After all, if she was incapacitated, what good was all her work?

Iris Ascendis

The silver haired boy prattles, and Hildegunde's brain is overwhelmed by a thought that is loud enough to overpower his spiel.

Please, just kill him.

As tempting as the thought is, she pushes it aside. So much for the plan. She supposes she might, if it comes down to it. But while things have gone south, she has not deemed it necessary yet to cut things short for the man.

Hildegunde doesn't really have the time to process why the shutters need to be shut. She gives the black haired woman a cautious glance, before doing as she's told, shutting as many as she can. She was not coming up with her own plan beyond simply killing this guy right then and there, and so she moved under the assumption that the stranger had something in mind that would -hopefully- not bite her in the ass. This more or less meant her location would be revealed, as her silhouette would appear and disappear in front of each window. Curiously, she rarely shoots any approaching mannequins, relying on her speed and nimbleness to outmanouver them. Aiming means focus, and focus on shooting means less attention towards the windows. And time is off the essence. Things were going from bad to worse in seconds, after all.

Only once she is satisfied with the number of windows she's shuttered, when she's sure sure additional support on her part will not sigificantly delay Ciara, does she begin to shift towards a role closer to her original plan. At least, for a moment. While initially she focuses her attention on thinning out the waves of mannequins that approach the others, her brain, now that she's no longer fighting against her damaged body to run, quickly clicks together Ciara's plan. Or at least, what she needs to execute her plan. While not told to do so, she points her rifle towards the ceiling.

"Heads up!" Hildegunde calls out, but only after she has shot at the lights directly above Gulliver. So that he is not warned. Each silent gunshot takes out one light after another.

Iris Ascendis

Sorry that 'bit' took like, ten hours. I got a lot of sudden job stuff on my plate today, followed by some family favours, but!! I am going to Reply Now. I'm so sorry for the wait, and I also apologize if anything is off, 'cause I'm currently fighting off sleep Orz

EDIT: It's up, gonna go pass tf out now. Sorry again for the wait

Iris Ascendis

Give me a bit, haha ^ ^"

Iris Ascendis

Don't give her so much credit, Chunji. She wasn't the only one with guns blazing.

Hildegunde keeps quiet as Iraleth and Chunji speak. If she had any protests or other ideas, she did not share them, instead simply giving a curt nod to Iraleth's final conclusion. She then cranes her neck, trying to meet Chunji's gaze.

"You there, guy. I've watched you for a while; you're more suited to this than I am. If we both go for him at once, you might be in my line of fire. I'll keep any mannequins coming your way down, give you a clean, easy path to the guy. You do your thing. Things go bad, we improvise. Worst case scenario, I back you up with lethal force. Don't you worry about being in my way if it comes to that, but don't learn to rely on it either. I only have so many guaranteed safe shots. 'Kay?"

Of course, a man and a mannequin were two very different beasts. It'll take a lot to make her use her ethos again. She concentrates for a moment, laying down two preparations. The first is a tiny bit of magical manipulation to her belongings.

Silence. Rifle and boots. This was a familiar usage of magic for her, alongside concealment. All handy hunting tools. Sound should not give her position away. The action slows her pounding heart some; it is strangely comforting in its familiarity. The second preparation comes once her feet hit the ground. She reloads; best to go in with a fresh mag.

After doing so, she keeps low. Her eyes are alert, her hood is up, her breathing is shallow. On Iraleth's word, she takes off, away from the Half-Elf, trying to keep out of eyesight and find a good sniping spot; if Chunji had any protests to her proposal, he would have to follow her.

Iris Ascendis

I think that's our fastest round yet. Time to circle Nanaya in T pose.

Iris Ascendis

Whatever doubts Hildegunde had been harbouring earlier scattered along with the rain of embers. Bullet well spent. Hopefully she will do fine without spending another. The parting words were ominous, but they were an issue for later. She spent maybe a singular second admiring the shower of extinguished flames, before deciding she needed to get a move on.

That was, until Chunji approaches Iraleth. She freezes, observing, expecting another fight to break out. As demanding as Chunji was, she is relieved that he is approaching peacefully. While wary of him, and still not super on board with the idea of him as a classmate...well, it'd work to get on his good side. Best to be cooperative - it was maybe the smartest thing Iraleth had done all day, in her opinion. And who is she to turn down help from the woman who saved her earlier?

She points back at herself, as if to ask 'me?', lips curling into an playful smile. False bravado. She is nervous, but it would be hard for someone to pick up on this with how airily she is carrying herself.

"My aim's all I got," she half jokes, approaching the duo. If you're sure I won't weigh you down. I think you've dawdled enough helping others. She holds this back, however, in case the girl actually reconsiders. Not just because Chunji might react poorly, but because, quite frankly, she could use the lift. While she's not so injured that her physical ability is impeded in any way, now that the adrenaline has died down, she can feel her scrapes stinging. She'll need to clean them once her seat is secured. If she even manages that.

Hildegunde will feel bad if carrying her is the reason Iraleth ends up losing her seat, but...well, it was her own decision.

@Psyker Landshark@AThousandCurses

Iris Ascendis

Iris Ascendis

"No disdain! I'm just sayi-!"

The fireball was not an issue. The following explosion, however, would be. Hildegunde yelps as the blast knocks her off her feet, pain searing her side as she slides across the floor, cheek scraped. She grimaces, getting back to her feet as quickly as possible, bashing a mannequin that she had gotten too close to with her rifle. Distance. She needs distance. So preoccupied with her need to make distance and the stress of the engulfing flames that the announcement is white noise to her. She backs away from the crowd, eyes scanning for an exit, before locking onto Iraleth and the mage. Why is she like that.

Mannequins came to intercept the incoming attacks, and some primal part of her brain was screaming to get out of the flames. Would they even fall with the mage? Even if it didn't, she couldn't allow more damage. Never in a million years did she think now of all times is when she'd evoke her ethos. But if the whole place goes down in flames because she didn't, it'll be one more weight on her shoulders.

Besides, she supposes she owes Iraleth. And with her and Chunji so close to the mage, there's no other way for her to make a safe shot without risking blowing off one of their heads instead.

She inhales, briefly wondering if this is a mistake, without giving herself time to dwell on it. Mage. Head.

"Freikugeln."

The cackle of gunfire follows her whisper.

Iris Ascendis

Hi, sorry, life got kinda busy. Working on a post now.