SMS

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

Kalisa felt relieved as Jean slowly opened up to her. It's always hard to talk about painful experiences, especially the fresher ones. A small smile forms on her lips as she earnestly listens to Jean's side of the events earlier. "Thanks Jean." She watched as he stood up and made his way around the tent, staring at various objects of his possession and even the walls of the tent. Staying quiet as she let him collect his thoughts.

Eventually he was practically dancing around the tent as he found his spirits lifted up and over the heavens. He looked more alive than she had ever seen him before. Granted there wasn't a whole lot of happy times that she was present, but the girl is glad that he was almost glowing in a positive manner. An epiphany perhaps? Jean stood her up and gently guided her outside.

Right before they reached the exit however, he suddenly turned around and gave her a hug. It was very gentle and sincere, and she couldn't resist not returning the gesture. "I'm just glad you're alright. You really don't have to repay me." Admittedly the female Darcsen was getting a little embarrassed at his words. Compliments like these aren't her thing.

Kalisa was shortly forced outside and left to fend for herself. As she looked back at the other Darcsen wave her off with a smile, she began to think back at his words. That she had been cheating death again and again. "Sometimes I really wish I hadn't." The girl muttered under her breath as she shyly waved back. A ping of guilt hung over her heart, and she figured she should sleep it off before it got stronger as a sense of fatigue slowly washed over her.

Not a lot of time has really passed since she got here, but the amount of work she's had to do over the past week wore her out. Now seemed like a good chance to catch up on some shut eye before the big day.

---

She had a good night's sleep for once, as good as one could be on the front lines that is. Most of the fatigue had disappeared and she felt lighter than usual. She picked up all of her usual gear, making sure everything's in good condition before she set out on another mission. Wouldn't want to make the same mistake she did that one day with the other company. Almost cost someone else a finger.

It seems that she had been assigned to be a part of the assault force on a supposed headquarters that an officer was holding out in. The objective as she remembers was to simply take control and eliminate hostiles in the area. Doesn't sound like a fun time but the Darcsen doesn't really have much of a choice in the matter. "Oh well." With a shrug, she continued walking. While on her way to the meet up point, she had overheard that Jean and a few others were assigned to a different mission somewhere else. She had wanted to see them off but she was already running late and instead wished them luck in her thoughts. "I hope you all make it out safely."

Once there, Kalisa was looking around for the people she was going with. She hadn't remembered everyone's names that was assigned with her, but the girl hopes that seeing them in person here would jog some memories.

@LetMeDoStuff

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

Kalisa stayed silent as Jean slowly found the courage to open up to her. The first few moments were awkward, but she endured. It was clear that what had happened had broken Jean. Even if she couldn't forgive herself for events past, she could at least be here for someone else. Help someone recover and move on from their mistakes, intentionally made or not.

Jean had begun telling the story of what had occurred maybe not too long ago. They were told to scout out somewhere despite the terrible weather, and for their efforts they were caught in a trap that had separated Thomas' leg from his body. The girl kept her gaze low, not really staring at anything in particular as she was imagining the scenario in her head. Paying close attention also to Jean's inflections and tone, prepared to stop him if he could no longer push himself to do so. But he kept going, and so she listened. Kalisa had reciprocated his grasp on her, as if she was wordlessly saying "Everything is gonna be alright", as he continued.

She didn't understand what had shook him up so much, until Jean mentioned names who chased after the one that supposedly lay the trap on them. They didn't listen to his orders, and now a man had died an avoidable death had they just stayed behind. At the same time however, she couldn't deny that them hunting down the sniper right at that moment would have also saved many lives in the long run. It was a hellishly tough situation to be in as a leader, one that Kalisa couldn't imagine herself being in simply because she wasn't there.

"I won't say that you weren't at fault. But I will say that it's not something you need to bear by yourself." She tried to say it gently, but she felt that she also had to say it firmly so that it would have some weight to Jean. "Had you been stricter they wouldn't have gone after the sniper, but they should have also realized that a comrade needed immediate care." She didn't have the full outline of the scenario, so all she could go off of was his word.

"It might not be enough to help you sleep, but you don't have to shove it in their faces either. I'm sure they're aware of it and they are reflecting on it now too." Although she had zero basis for the second part, she truly believed that everybody is able to realize when they had made such a critical error. Maybe they wouldn't realize it immediately, but it will eventually come to mind. People cope with mistakes differently, they may not show it but they're reflecting on it inside. Hopefully. "We can't change what happened, but we can prevent it from happening again."

The girl couldn't bring herself to properly respond towards Jean's last few sentences however. She hadn't been with the group long enough to really tell if Jean had been a good leader or not. There is a lot of criteria that can be used to determine if someone's been a good leader, but Kalisa's not in a position to know them. She continued staring at the floor, trying to find something to say. But she couldn't find a fitting response.

@LetMeDoStuff

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

Kalisa kept her eyes on the other Darcsen as he rose from his position. He looked very tired and broken from possibly his previous operation. The moment his gaze met hers though, his expression slowly got brighter by the second. She was taken aback at his sudden motion to hug her but stood her ground to not knock them both over.

"H-hey, yeah it's me." She gingerly hugs back with her free hand to confirm that it is indeed her and that she is with him right now. It has only now dawned on Kalisa that she had been away from the group for a few weeks. "I was told to stay behind and got reassigned to a different company. It sounded like they were short on people. I thought you guys knew, I'm sorry." The day that she was reassigned, she was suddenly transferred without having to confirm with Jean despite him being her superior. It seemed very urgent so she didn't ask questions.

Jean pulled back and returned her gaze before eyeing the scarf that he had given to her some days past. "Yeah, I have. It's been helping me sleep this past week." The girl flinches a little when she remembered the nightmare that she experienced earlier today. Nights have been difficult, and the comfort of the scarf gave her some relief. It didn't completely ward off the nightmares but it helped stave off the worse ones that she had gotten before she joined the army.

In her moment of self-reflection she had missed her fellow Darcsen's attempts at flirting, but managed to catch his calling her of a nickname that she once had. She gives a gentle smile in response to his awkwardness before replying. It seems that he's still pretty unsure around women. "You can call me Kal. My parents used to call me that." Memories of happier days flashed in her mind. Ones of peace and honest hardwork. Days that were no longer here.

Because of her--

Kalisa suddenly shakes her head to reset herself and push the negative thoughts away before returning to the conversation at hand. Now's not the time to wallow in self-pity. "Thank you. It's nice to see you alive and well too." She was genuinely happy to find that Jean was alright, if shaken from the events that happened. "Thomas?" Was he referring to the soldier that she passed by earlier who was missing a leg? His face looked familiar now that she thought about it, as he was a member of the company. But she never got his name so she wasn't sure. "But you're here aren't you?" She knelt down and took his hand after he sat down. Looking quite serious as she did so, but also gentle enough to not scare him away.

"Everything's going to be fi--" The girl stopped herself from continuing that train of thought and took a mental step back. It would be very insensitive of her to casually say that things are going to be alright, when they're not. "What happened at the scouting mission?" Kalisa hesitated as she wasn't sure if asking was the right call, but she wanted to understand and not knowing the details wouldn't make for a good conversation. The Darcsen female stood up before taking a seat next to Jean, patiently waiting for him to possibly open up more about what happened.

@LetMeDoStuff

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

...

"Why did you bring them here?!"

"That's not it-... I-I-"

Sounds of gunfire and explosion rang in the air. The smell of blood and gunpowder clogged the lungs. Soldiers were rounding up civilians and executing them in the middle of the street. Field guns and grenades were being used to quickly destroy structures and take care of the people hiding in them.

"This is all your fault!"

"I... I swear I didn't mean to!"

Piles of dead bodies littered the road, whose heads were all turned towards one person standing at the end of the street. Lifeless and twisted expressions decorated their faces as their eyes fixated on the same point of interest.

The girl takes a step back, hugging herself with her burnt arms trying to keep herself from passing out and hyperventilating. Eyes wide open filled with fear and distraught as she locked gazes with the eyes of the corpses ahead of her, tears also streaming down her bloody and burnt cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm s-sorry."

Her eyes then moved to meet the owner of the one standing beside her. Their eyes and expression filled with rage and contempt. And even as it was covered in blood and bruises, sent shivers down the girl's spine. It belonged to her best friend, Beatrice. The girl flinches under the heavy gaze and stumbles another few steps backwards, away from the figure and away from the piles of corpses. However slowly, the figure starts walking towards her in a menacing manner.

The girl eventually backs herself to a wall. Unable to find the strength to keep moving, she slides down the wall and collapses on her bottom. The pained screams of people shouting for help, being executed, burnt alive and shot were getting louder until it was all she could hear despite the carnage going on. She curls herself into a ball to block out the sound, but it was of no help.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." It was all she could muster as the figure of Beatrice leans down to her, bringing her mouth close to the shivering and crying girl's ear.

...

In a second of clarity, everything else was quiet. And the following words were as clear as day.

"It should have been just you."

---

A violent spasm knocks the Darcsen female off of the makeshift bed before crashing onto the cold and rough uneven floor, with a particular bump on the ground digging into her side that made the fall rather painful. The girl was gasping for air as her eyes tried to readjust to the bright light that was showering her from the open window. She kept one hand on her side to soothe the pain with the other laying on her chest to try and get a grasp on her breathing as her body began curling up in a reactive manner.

It took a few moments before the adrenaline went away and she was able to calm herself down. With deep hasty breaths and the sweat dripping down her face, she took quick glances around the room that she was in.

It was the makeshift tent that she and several other people were put in when they got told to stay because they were being transferred to Edward Company. The bleak empty nearly tent wasn't a comfortable place to sleep, but it's not like they ever got a choice with these.

A head peeks through the opening and looks around the room before setting their gaze on the person on the floor. "Yo Larsen, you're being reassigned to your old company apparently. We're moving out to meet them so get your stuff packed and ready." The head disappears for a few seconds before popping back in with a more concerned look. "You alright?"

After a groan and a deep breath, Kalisa barely manages to reply. "Y-yeah." She forces herself up and sit back on the bed that she fell from. She rests the back of her head on the bed and closes her eyes as she melancholically continued. "I uh... I just had a bad dream."

"Well, if you say so. Be ready in twenty." The other person disappears once more, and the somber silence of the tent came back as the Darcsen let her thoughts wander, desperately trying to not go back to the nightmare she had just experienced.

"I swear, I didn't mean to."

...

BOOM

The ground shook and the sound of a massive explosion made her get up onto her feet in a panic.

"What is that!?" "What happened?"

Kalisa ran out of the tent and joined the other soldiers who were staring at the explosion that was happening pretty far off from where they were. It looked pretty big even at this distance, and she worries that her old companions might have gotten caught in it. She holds hope that they would be fine, even more so now that she'll be rejoining them soon.

A hand taps her on her shoulder and she turns to see the same face from earlier, if a little agitated. "Command says we go now."

---

It's been about a while since they started walking. The entire company was quiet and unsure. It helped Kalisa out to sort out her thoughts, but eventually all she could think about was running ahead to make sure the people she knew were alright.

Her restlessness was showing, as the soldier next to her leaned in and lightly grabbed her hand that kept moving around the trigger guard of her rifle. "Hey, they're gonna be alright, OK?" He gave her a weak smile to try and reassure her that her friends are safe. It was at least enough to stop her hand from flinching, and she took a deep breath before reply with a soft 'thank you'.

"We're here." The voice this time came from the Corporal, and shortly after everybody came to a stop.

The place looked absolutely devastated. Many buildings were destroyed, some barely standing and looked like they would crumble with just a light push. The morale of the soldiers were pretty low. A lot of lives were lost, and some still even panicking over dealing with other wounded. One unfortunate soul had even lost a leg, and from the looks of it died due to blood loss.

Kalisa took a look around, and couldn't quickly spot any familiar faces in the vicinity. She had inquired about the location of whoever was in charge, and was promptly led to the tent where her fellow Darcsen had apparently been stationed at.

Tact be damned, the girl had quickly entered the tent and found a friend. The panic and distraught on her face was replaced with one of elatedness as she walked over to his side. "Jean?" As she took a closer look though, she had noticed that he wasn't in high spirits. He wasn't panicking like he was the last time she found him like this. Something really bad must have happened.

"...Jean?" The girl reaches out with her hand, if a little hesitant.

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

The slaughter of the Cavaliers had brought Kalisa to a state that she was familiar with once before. The sight of men and women being mercilessly gunned down, their cries of pain and anguish echoing through the battlefield. All of the blood that was pooling and splashing painted the landscape a disturbing red. It looked all too familiar to her. New members of the squad had made small talk with her before and after, but none of it stuck with the Darcsen. The failure of the cavalry charge had left her with dull eyes, as she routinely and blindly followed the rest of the group with her gripping her rifle close to her rather tightly as it gave her what little comfort it could.

She was only brought back to the land of the living when the sounds of a radically different vehicle had gotten everybody panicking. The girl took a moment to reorient herself after she had effectively conked out for some time. It seems that they were now in the streets of Amone, and something dangerous was hunting them down. Jean had ordered everybody to get inside the building, an order she complied with in the confusion and panic. The roar of gunfire almost making her miss the order had it not been for her physical distance to the Lance Corporal. She was one of the last to enter after having provided some covering fire to keep some Imperials out of their hair.

Once inside, she quickly ran into one of the open rooms after Jean finished relaying orders. One of theirs was wounded, and so they now had to try and delay other Imperials from getting to him. The room she found herself in looked to be a master bedroom given the size and space of it. There was a king-sized bed near the middle of the room, but it clearly has seen better days. The bedsheets were dusty and splitting, while the frame was cracking under its age.

Kalisa had noticed that there was also a window on the far wall of the room, where she saw a few Imperials attempting to get in. She quickly ducked under bed frame and moved the bedsheets to hide herself. A second later, the window was shattered and the Imperials made their way in.

"Flush them out, Sturmtruppen! You were lucky to avoid the Gunners outside, now let's use the string of luck to rid this complex of the Federation scum hiding amongst the shadows!"

The girl tried to make as little noise as possible, which proved to be very difficult as the dust she kicked up by moving under quickly was assaulting her face. The Darcsen had covered her face with her free hand to suppress the urge to sneeze, act that would surely end her life if she failed to stop it. If it was only one person she could probably hold them off, but three? That would be a death wish.

It seems that they were in a hurry as one of the Imperials had called that the room was clear after but a few moments of entering. The girl could hear their footsteps slowly making their way out, before a kick broke down the door that led in. Kalisa took a moment to let them get further away before leaving her safe spot, gasping for air as she got out.

Not too long after, an explosion from a few rooms over had rocked the building. The Imperials probably used a bomb to gain access to one of the rooms being occupied by one of her squadmates. She quickly got up and ran as fast as she could outside. Turning the corner, she spotted one of the Imperials with his back to her as he was making his way to the room that was blasted with a bomb.

This was supposed to be an easy shot, as the girl lifted her rifle and aimed at the target. All that's left is to pull the trigger.

Clank

Her rifle had jammed. And the distinct noise made the Imperial quickly turn towards the source and aim his own rifle at her. Quickly realizing that her rifle wasn't shooting after a second pull, she instead rushed forward and adjusted her grip on her weapon. Kalisa was only a few steps away from the Imperial, and so she used the butt of her rifle to push his own aim upwards away from her.

She had succeeded in deflecting his aim away, if only barely as he had managed to pull the trigger and the bullet whizzing past her ear. Running on pure adrenaline at this point, Kalisa then proceeded to hit the Imperial with the butt of her rifle in his unguarded chin. This was enough to drop him to the ground and knock him out. The Darcsen quickly pulls out the bayonet of her rifle from her pocket, and quickly drove it into the helpless heart of the unconscious Imperial. Sweat poured down on her face as the past few seconds had sunk into her. Everything happened so fast and yet she was able to mercilessly drive a knife into a person's heart. Granted that this person was trying to kill her, but it was a merciless kill nonetheless.

Kalisa would now slowly get up and make her way over to the room that the Imperial was headed towards. Taking a peek inside, she would see two more bloody dead bodies of Imperials on one side of the room. One of the bodies had its neck nearly destroyed with a shard of glass impaled into it, which made her unconsciously grab her own neck in response.

Looking past the bodies, she would see Jean tucking himself away in the corner of the room. She had quickly pieced that he was most likely the cause of the deaths of these two and made her way over to him. As she got closer, she noticed that he was crying. "Jean?" Kalisa knelt down in front of him and dropped her rifle, taking note of his state as best as she could. His hands were bleeding and he was shaking. Her hands were awkwardly trying to reach out to him but she was hesitating. Her mouth was also opening and closing, trying to find the right words to way but nothing came out.

@LetMeDoStuff

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

Jean leaned in and wiped off a tear that she missed, a gesture that took her by surprise. She tried to not show it, but she did flinch a little at his sudden gesture. "Thanks, Diana." She turned to the blonde girl after her remark. Kalisa gave her a weak smile.

Her fellow Darcsen had stood up, and without so much of another word, exited the cabin. "Jean?" Outside, she spots a familiar face waiting for Jean and they promptly exchanged words of encouragement, before addressing her once they were done. The guy's named was Isaac it seemed. "People can be petty for the weirdest of things." The girl never quite understood how people can be so harsh on the innocent descendants of the people who committed crimes many millenia ago. It's not like she wanted to be born as one, and the punishment just doesn't seem to be fair even if their crimes were that bad.

Kalisa then nodded at Jean's remark about wandering around the cabin for a while. After disappearing from her sights, she turned her attention to the other occupant present in their cabin. "I'm happy to be here as well." It was the first time that she was surrounded by people that didn't seem to mind that she was a Darcsen. It was an unfamiliar feeling, to be accepted like this so easily and she let a gentle smile creep onto her lips.

"Your rifle?" Ah, that's right. Yesterday was probably the first time that Diana had her rifle dirtied in actual combat. Kalisa took a look at her rifle, which she stood against the far wall when she entered. It was indeed rather dirty, especially the bayonet which she forgot to remove. They could probably wipe out the visible parts of the rifle, but they'd need some special cleaning tools for the insides of the barrel and such.

"I'll show you later how to clean the internal parts. But for now-" She was about to reach out for her rifle when her vision was suddenly covered by something. It took her a moment to recognize the pattern that was on the fabric that was covering her eyes. She gently pulled the fabric off and looked back towards the doorway and found nobody. "Cheeky." There was only one person whom she knew that had a scarf like this, and it seems he tossed it to her for some reason.

Seems like he doesn't know that Kalisa's used to the colder temperatures that the train was now emitting. But she was grateful for the pass. The scarf was still warm, so she quickly wrapped it around her neck to keep the warmth going. The fabric was soft and comfortable, so she understood why Jean might have made his using these materials. She turned to Diana after her comment. "You wanna try it on?" Although she meant it, she wanted to keep the scarf on for a little longer. It wouldn't do good to let go of such comfiness so quickly.

At the corner of her vision, she spotted another familiar face hovering around the doorframe and turned to address him. "Oh, hey Daniel." His face looked super tense, and it seems like he was deliberately avoiding meeting their gaze. Kalisa has an idea on why he's like this, and it might be because of his outburst yesterday.

Diana was quick to let him in, which took her by surprise. After what happened, she was sure that the blonde would just stay away from the guy. She even congratulated him over his promotion. "Congratulations as well. I was surprised to hear your name earlier when Middleton was announcing the people that were promoted. You must have kicked a lot of Imperial butt yesterday." Though, as quickly as she brought it up, Diana suddenly asked about why he was so mad back then. "Ah, so she really was worried about it."

@LetMeDoStuff@Landaus Five-One@FalloutJack@Ithradine

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

"Eh?" Ah, it seems like Jean was the cause of how she hit her head yesterday. She a small idea of how it happened, but since everything after the tackle was a blur, there weren't many other options. "Ah... Don't worry about it. You only did it to protect me, right? Thanks." The Darcsen replied gently with a sincere smile.

As Jean opened up about what happened, Kalisa was a little thankful that he was comfortable around herself and Diana for him to talk about it. "I'm sorry for your loss." It's a difficult thing, losing one's family like that.

"Olivia, huh?" Beautiful name, must have been a wonderful sibling as well. "Revive the bloodline?" She looked over at Diana, and thought about how she and Jean would work out. Could be rocky at first, but she can see them working out if the girl would tone down her obsessiveness over the other Darcsen.

Kalisa leaned back on her seat. Something was compelling her to tell her own story, just as Jean had opened up about his own reasons for joining this war. "I lost my parents and sibling too. It's... been almost a year since then, I think. My brother came back in a coffin. He served as an infantryman, I think. He saved a lot of lives, but gave up his own to achieve that. Then a few months after, there was a skirmish between the Federation and the Imperials, and my hometown happened to be in the middle of it." The girl's painful memories slowly came back as she relived the events in her head. She didn't realize that she had been hugging herself with her arms as she told her story.

"My adoptive parents weren't Darcsen, but they treated us like we were their own. They were good people." Tears were beginning to well up and her voice was cracking. "The Federation lost that battle and retreated... while the Imperials started to execut Darcsen left and right. My parents defended them, begging them to stop. All they got were bullets to the head." A deep shaky breath. "I can barely remember how I didn't die that day."

Kalisa rested her head on the head rest, and she tilted her head upwards as she stared at the ceiling. "Sometimes I don't even know what I'm gonna do." Kalisa took a pause to collect her thoughts. "It's not much, but one thing I'm sure of is that I don't want other people to go through what I did." Her voice more firm as she continued.

"Ah-" The girl only now realized how much she had rambled for. "Sorry, I didn't mean to talk so much about myself." She began to wipe the tears off with one of her arms as she had turned red from embarrassment.

@LetMeDoStuff @Landaus Five-One

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

A splitting headache forced Kalisa awake from her slumber. Her head was heavy and her body was aching somewhat. Sweat dripping down her forehead told her that it was the heat that was causing this pain on her. The Darcsen girl wasn't used to the heat, so sleeping in these temperatures was uncomfortable to the say the least.

She was lying on her side, facing the exit of the makeshift tent that she was in. Opening her eyes slightly, she spots Diana exiting the tent. It took her a few blinks before she could properly open her eyes. Wiping away the sweat from her forehead with her free arm, she slowly sat up while rubbing her eyes with her other arm.

"Oh, you're awake." A voice called out to her. Kalisa turned to the owner of the voice, who turned out to be the medic who took her here the day before. It seems she had a mild concussion from before she conked out. It wasn't anything too serious, she was just unable to settle down to remedy it immediately which caused her to pass out.

The previous day certainly left a mark on her. It was her first real taste of war, and it also had her first confirmed kill. She made some acquaintances on the field, though she was wary about calling them friends immediately. While they had some laughs and bonded a little before the retreat back down, they still did barely know each other outside of their names. Jean's a bit of an exception, though that one's more of a Darcsen thing.

The girl was also told to head on over to the train station as soon as she was able. It seems like they were gonna be addressed by Middleton for something.

---

Some speech that was. Although, most of it did just pass by Kalisa's head. While she was paying attention, she found Middleton's speech to be rather wordy and kinda spaced out a few times. She did catch that he himself was promoted to Captain, with Jean to Corporal and Daniel to Lance Corporal. The former didn't sound too appealing for her even if it did make sense, but she made a mental note to congratulate the latter two for their promotions whenever she runs into them on the train.

Kalisa was at the far back of the formation, so she was one of the last to board the train carriages. Eventually it was her turn to get on, and she took her time to look over the other cabins. A few had some familiar faces in them, but most of them were either empty or barely occupied. One of the later doors she opened revealed that Jean and Diana had already been occupying the cabin it led to.

"Oh hey, you two." She gave a small wave to them. "I hope you don't mind me joining you guys." She said as she closed the door behind her. She took one of the seats beside the door opposite Jean as she quickly noticed that her Darcsen fellow didn't seem to be in high spirits at the moment. Although she planned to congratulate Jean, it also dawned on her just what a promotion would entail. Kalisa figured that the sudden increase in responsibility was weighing him down, especially with how many people they lost in their regiment yesterday. She overheard that the madwoman from yesterday got unlucky and died during the retreat back also.

"Jean... you alright?" She quietly addressed the other Darcsen with a concerned look on her face. It wouldn't seem right to bring up the promotion right now, so she hopes that a little prodding will help her understand why he's so aloof. "Didn't get enough sleep?" She was somewhat wishing that he was just... grumpy from not being able to count sheep, something that can be addressed while they're on the train.

@LetMeDoStuff @Landaus Five-One

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

"Jean?" Kalisa noticed that he suddenly went silent after his reply to Daniel. She looked over to where he was and found him walking away from them, seemingly directionless. Her face took a more somber look, as she understood that Daniel's words struck her fellow Darcsen deeply. "You wanna follow him?" Turns out she didn't have to ask, as Diana had begun following the Lance Corporal. Kalisa shrugged and followed behind Diana after picking up her rifle from the wall.

The Darcsen mainly kept to herself as she watched over Diana and Jean as they walked rather aimlessly for some time. She took the chance to take a better look at the piece of Jean's scarf that he put in her pocket. It was a small piece that he cut off that kept the design and made it easy to identify, a gesture that she appreciated wholeheartedly.

Jean turned to them and told them that they shouldn't be bothered by what Daniel said. To Kalisa, that pretty much confirmed that the Lance Corporal was bothered by the red head's statements. She wanted to comfort him, but she wasn't sure how to so she let him be and just kept behind him to give him some space.

Suddenly, Jean staggered. Rather oddly at that. "You OK, Jean?" The girl was too preoccupied with Jean that she didn't notice that something bad was about to happen. Her fellow Darcsen had lunged towards her and Diana and dropped them onto the ground. The action taking Kalisa by complete surprise, as she barely heard him shout out something about artillery. In a more casual setting, she'd be more embarrassed about the situation but they were on the battlefield.

They landed, and the back of her head colliding with the ground had disoriented her. Following that, were explosions. She hadn't recovered from her slight concussion yet, so the consecutive loud noises made it even harder for her to regain her bearings. Jean keeping their heads down was making it harder for her as her body was instinctively trying to move around to orientate herself but she couldn't.

The following few minutes went by a blur to her. The artillery stopped it seems, then they were told to get up and get back down the hill as fast as possible. Jean took her and Diana by the arms and ran. As she hadn't properly recovered yet, Kalisa had been staggering and nearly tripped a few times on the way down. Eventually they stopped it seems, and she dropped onto her knees as she kept herself from passing out by holding a hand up to her head and had the other supporting her on the ground.

The world was spinning, her head was pounding and her entire body felt like it was being stung by needles. She wanted to cry out but the most that she could muster was a small groan. Seconds later, it seems a medic saw her and recognized that she needs medical attention. A quick examination told the medic that she probably had a concussion, and they gently led her to a flat surface and told her to doze off for a while as they looked over the Darcsen. Being on a makeshift bed, Kalisa rather easily found herself asleep in a matter of moments.

@Landaus Five-One @LetMeDoStuff

~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

@Daxam Welcome~

I believe the marksman spot opened up, so it should be free for the taking.