Noctis
Zapdos
Damycles
Izurich
Teyao
Dark Cloud
Lucid Dreaming
xenon
CharybdisYou are due a string of good fortune, @Teyao, if there's any justice in this world.
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Welp... that escalated quickly xD
The explosions above Citadel Hill were... well... they were beautiful.
MacKensie could think of no other word to describe what she was seeing. In spite of the inappropriateness of such an adjective, considering that what she was witnessing was the attempted bombing of civilian buildings, the dynamic array of reds, oranges and yellows... close enough to almost touch... the Ranger was completely enamoured by the visual effects as Second Chance got to the top of Citadel Hill. It was like getting to see a fireworks show from only yards away.
12 yards.
Zell. He was in trouble. She could feel it.
Earlier in the hospital, MacKensie being intrigued by James' description of Zigmund, turned to worry for Zell - The inheritor of their enemy's sword. James was worried. Zell was defensive. The innate chemistry between the trio meant that MacKensie felt it all, even if she did not understand it. And she did not. She didn't know the true depth of meaning of the sword Zell carried, or what James knew about their dead nemesis. She only knew that they were both worried. And that bothered her greatly. All she could do was hope that Zell was strong enough to 'have it under control' whatever it was. And hope that James was capable enough to look after the englishman.
Seeing Lucy again was nice, although the look the guildmaster gave her was odd - Almost like MacKensie was in her bad books. Strange.
The war room meeting was intimidating. The air was tense, in spite of the cordial exchanges and the High Septum's soft approach to managing proceedings. MacKensie stayed quiet, subconciously moving next to Fenna, the woman she always looked to for strength and example. She tilted her head close to the older woman and whispered, "Should we tell them about our gauntlet and spear?"
If Fenna replied affirmatively, then MacKensie would follow her lead and explain to the officials that she entered the world with her magical gauntlet. It was likely of no consequence, but she supposed all and any info could be important.
What she took from proceedings so far was the fact that they could have been 'summoned' to this world. It was a potential fact that seemed so farfetched in the minds of the officials and leaders. But it would make sense that there was a Source Comm message waiting for them, surely? And what was this about their Ascensions being so unbelievably fast? Was it not like that for all adventurers?
Whatever the case, MacKensie stepped forward and touched Barracker's arm, smiling solemnly at him. To hear him put his reputation on the line, to vouch for them, meant a lot. Barracker had become a close friend in the short space of time that she'd known him, and this moment only strengthened their bond.
The stealth part of the journey felt miles and hours longer than it actually was. Stress and anxiety levels ran high, blood ran fast, but under the temporary command of Fenna, along with the support of Second Chance's might, magic and intellect, they made it to the walls of Valhiem. After a nod from the other Ranger, MacKensie fired her grapplehook up to the battlements, then scaled the wall with quiet speed, her feet occasionally touching the stones as she went up. With agility and ease, the popped up onto the walls on her feet and hopped down from the battlements to rendezvous with Silver Arrow.
"Second Chance."
MacKensie nodded in affirmation. "How do you do?"
"I'm Wulrick and we are Silver Arrow. We've been sent by Lucy."
"My team are down by the riverside. How should we proceed?"
"We can lift the water grate," Wulrick answered, then moved to act quickly.
Once regrouped with her friends at street-level, everyone followed Wulrick's lead. MacKensie was walking by Fenna, but also close to one of Silver Arrow's members who wore a hat that reminded the frenchwoman of Lillianna. Perhaps it was this that prompted her to speak to the mage. "Thank you again, for your assistance," MacKensie said, getting the mage's attention.
"A pleasure," she replied warmly. The tall elf introduced herself as Vaella. MacKensie reciprocated and they shared a smile. "You have been busy, that much is clear," she said, looking at the Ranger's torn clothes.
MacKensie combed a hand over head to get her wet hair out of her face. "We were returning from the nearby Temple of Hades after cleansing it of a Greater Wraith. We did not know the city was under attack."
"The Greater Wraith?" Vaella recalled seeing the mission on the Open Jobs List at the Guildhouse. "I thought you were a Bronze Ranked party."
"Yes," MacKensie said, embracing an air of humility. "We had good reason to step above our grade and take on a Gold Mission. It was not easy but worth it, in the end."
"Wow," Vaella was a little stunned. MacKensie understood. It was one hell of a risk. The frenchwoman went on to explain that they were lucky enough to have an experienced and ascended Paladin join their party and that without him, they would not have been successful. "That is still quite the feat."
MacKensie spoke with Vaella a little longer before having her attention drawn by the words, 'Bronze Tier trash.' Her temper flared as she saw the owner of the voice, a gnome, speaking with venom to Adam. There was not even a question in MacKensie's mind that Adam had done anything to deserve such vitriol - it wasn't in his nature to provoke animosity. Of course, it wasn't in his nature to stand up for himself either, as she'd seen back when they were up at the hermit shapeshifter, Gilligan's house. Gilligan was all kinds of awful, but Adam's only response to the hermit's attitude was a calm and measured attempt to defend MacKensie's honour, when Gilligan had shot one of his many barbs at the frenchwoman. And so; the gnome did not get a rise out of Adam, but he'd certainly gotten a rise out of MacKensie, who was about to march ahead and intervene - unable to stop herself from being offended by something so unjust happening in front of her.
Barracker and Zell beat her to it, approaching the situation not with moral outrage - rather; bullying the bully. It was justice, most certainly, but MacKensie was worried about the potential fight about to happen, so when Wulrick demanded a stop to the situation, MacKensie stepped in also with the intention to de-escalate. Fortunately no one was interested in fighting and the matter resolved itself. MacKensie shot a brief glance at Barracker and Zell, a slight smirk on her face, pride in her eyes. She was glad that Second Chance were so defensive of eachother. They'd been through a lot in their short time together, so it was no surprise, but the moment still made her proud to be a part of their family-like party. And Barracker had fit in seamlessly, his values aligning with the rest of them, in spite of not being from another world. She went ahead and checked on Adam as they walked into the hospital, finding him to not be overly bothered by the gnome's words and so all was well.
This was her first experience in Valhiem's hospital, missing out on the first time Second Chance had visited. She and Joji had split off from the party to go and bury Clive's body. And so she was in awe of the technology, the cleanliness and the other similarities to Earth's hospitals. It was similar except the computer systems were laced with magical components, making them seem both more ancient and advanced than anything she'd seen in a hospital before. Her Source Crystal was linked to the computers and her body was healed fully and thoroughly within an extremely short period of time. It felt almost too easy, prompting her surprise and hesitation when she was told that she was done and could go back to the waiting area.
She smiled and nodded at whoever beat her to the waiting room, then greeted each member as they came after her. When Zell entered and gave her a pat on the back, she returned his touch on his lumbar spine. "Good as new," she noted, a pointed glance at his previously injured leg.
While everyone gathered to exit to the hospital, she stayed close to James and Zell, interested in hearing James' answer to Zell's inquiry. Knowing more about Zigmund the ninja had brought about a morbid curiosity. What was he? He seemed humanoid, at least. He was intelligent, that was for sure. Why be evil? All these things, she found herself wondering as she anticipated James' words on the matter.
Hey guys, sorry for the silence, accidently fell on my ankle on the way to work and sprained it so I have been busy handling all the healthcare and work related paperwork
Ouch! Feel better soon, Teyao.
The first thing MacKensie did, when the party stopped at a suitable place to make camp, was speak to Adam. Since the Zigmund fight, Adam and James had been suffering from fatigue a little more than everyone else. (MacKensie suspected it had something to do with their magical reserves being so used up.) But Adam also seemed as though he may also have a concussion. Hospital wasn't far away, but there still might be some action involved between, so once the young man had finished creating a natural camouflage for the camp using his plant-growth magic, MacKensie was quick to accost him.
"Adam, please try to get some sleep," she asked him. "You have looked on the verge of collapse all morning."
After a reassuring smile and rub of the shoulder, she went on to other duties, which for her involved scouting a perimeter around the encampment for any signs of hostile creatures. With the use of her grapplehook and nimble hops and leaps, she traversed the hilly terrain easily, her sharp eyes and ears alert for signs of life. The morning after their very first night in Mytheria (which seemed so long ago now, even though it really wasn't) MacKensie had asked Fenna for some lessons on scouting and tracking - the more seasoned Ranger accepting - but there had been no free time available. However, one random evening in Valhiem, the two women had been chatting over dinner and MacKensie had recieved some good advice about matters of wilderness protocol, animal tracks and other things.
MacKensie returned, satisfied that all was well as far as current activity in the area goes. Perhaps Fenna would do a second round later, no-doubt doing a more thorough job than the novice frenchwoman. With that done, she gladly partook in the food laid out by Zell, enjoyed a small meal, then went and took a seat on a bedroll, double-checked the bandages over her injuries and waited it out until it was time for her to leave and go to meet Clive.
Some time later...
"It is time for me to depart," she said to everyone, getting up from her bedroll. "I will return with Clive as soon as possible."
Before she could go, she heard, "Hey:" Zell's voice. She half-turned back to meet his concerned green gaze. "Watch yourself out there, kay. If there's trouble, just disappear. Don't be fighting on your own."
"I won't," was her quick and amiable assurance, appreciating his gesture. They exchanged a nod and then she was gone.
She'd left it a few hours, guessing that Clive's ghostly summoned steed could surely not be there and back faster than this. Now she went back along the same path that Second Chance had taken through the hills. Altough she'd not had the privilege of that one-to-one scout training with Fenna, just that conversation over dinner had been a boon, as she looked for footprints and broken branches to indicate she was on the right track. She saw one or two of the classic signs (and had probably missed a truck-load too) and that was enough, coupled with her good memory, to successfully double-back over the course through the hills.
She found herself on the Main West Road, right back at the point where the flat-bed wagon had turned itself around to retreat and Clive had also left them. Just off the road, she sat in a tree, one leg hanging from a branch as she lounged, dancing an ice-enchanted crossbow bolt back and forth over her knuckles with perfect dexterity, passing the time.
Fortunately there was no trouble in the amount of time it took to first hear, then catch sight of the Texan, coming down the road toward her. She hopped down from the branch and walked out into the road to greet him with a smile.
"How did it go?" she asked, hoping he would fill her in on the details. Once he dismissed his steed back into the non-existance, she would be ready to lead him back through the hills to their camp.
Paladin's gonna Paladin xD
MacKensie had never seen so much fire in her life. The long inferno raged and smoke plumed into the air - A barrier of destruction between them and the tall walls of Valhiem that could be seen behind. High up in the air, even more distant than the west-facing carnage before them, were explosions - projectiles of some kind, hitting a barely-visble forcefield of Source. MacKensie's sharp eyes struggled, but she could saw enough detail to surmise it all. And what's more, there was something else in view, completely alien to MacKensie's mind...
Sacre bleu.
Dinosaurs? Dragons? "What on earth are those things?" she commented. Huge reptilian beasts, fierce and scaley, moving fast in groups, cavalier riders atop their backs. The enemy were not limited in their imagination when it came to constructing military forces. And god help those who would ever have to feel the battering cavalry charge of these monstrosities.
After James had broke the news, on the wagon journey to this point, Zell had said that they needed to see what they were working with before they could decide what to do. Now, he delivered with a solid vision on how to proceed. As James had mentioned before; Zell was smarter than he liked to let on. Adam built on his previous idea of making contact with Lucy or Clarissa, with a great question to Fenna. If Sil really could deliver a letter, that could possibly bring about a much easier entry into the city. MacKensie looked to Fenna for the answer.
Clive however, had other plans. The maverick had shown this side of him on their very first day here. When everyone was heading to meet battle, Clive had split from the group, turning his attention to the helping the village of Hommas evacuate. Now MacKensie was reminded the Texan's somewhat-unreliable nature as he decided to split off on his own again, in the face of potential battle, seeing more value in sending for reinforcements. It wasn't a bad plan, quite the opposite, but she did not like it when Second Chance was not whole. As she turned to him to speak, she glanced over the beautiful horse that had been summoned from thin air, stroking it's ethereal mane. "Be quick and return as soon as you can. Once we find a good place to hide, closer to the city, I will return to this spot to meet you, to bring you to our camp." her brow furrowed slightly in worry for the man who'd been killed once already in this world. "Please... be careful."
And here I was thinking I might post twice this week lmao. I've just been so tired recently. I will try to post tonight, if not then I definitely beat the GM update as I'm not doing anything tomorrow.
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