Zool

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@LoksfjoerHave fun Lok! xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

So true. I don't think I'd be confident enough to really sell the CIA-quality aptitude in a character but AvaP has delivered on that front. xD

@AvaPYou seem to have a wide knowledge base when it comes to history, geography, war, government structure and things surrounding these topics. Is this true?

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Aw, you're a sweetie! Thnx @Jay009 xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Clive squeezing past her to get into the room and demand answers broke MacKensie from her stupor. She barely heard Zell's comment about their accents as she looked a little more closely at Barracker's face to realise that he was injured. "Barracker," she gasped, walking over to him and going to one knee so that she could touch his face. Her fingers gently guided the Paladin's jaw line up so that his cheek was in the light.

"It's nothing guys. Barracker and I are just screwing around and it got a bit out of hand."

She shook her head slightly in disbelief as she assessed the damage, concern knitting her eyebrows together. She then looked Barracker in the eye to see if he fought this obvious downplaying by Zell, disappointed to see that he wasn't going to, so she turned to look accusingly at the other frontliner, but her eyes widened to see the blood on Zell's forehead that was previously obscured from her vision because of her position at the door. "Sacre bleu, Zell... Barracker... what on earth have you been doing to eachother?"

She left Barracker to go over to Zell, all of the recent awkwardness put on hold for the minute. She dropped in front of him and took his face in her hands, a tad more roughly than with Barracker she moved his head a little to see his mouth, his lips, bloodied and slightly swollen. Then her hands moved to part his hair and squint to see where the blood was coming from. Fingers moving through his hair as her thumbs located the cut, she found herself wondering what she was even doing right now, as a wave of familiarity hit her. "You are seriously injured," she said aloud in a most uncertain tone, her eyes fixed on his.

"We're fine."

She pulled away, her self-conciousness now trumping all other feelings. She glanced over her shoulder at Clive, then back at Zell. "You are sure?" she stood up and backed away a step so that she could share her gaze with the two swordsmen. "You do not want us to call for James to heal you?" This had suddenly become so disingenuous and it felt awful, considering her friends were hurt.

"Go on," Zell told her and Clive. "We'll be down in a sec."

MacKensie, as much as she wanted to, made sure not to take that as a signal to run out of the room. In fact, she lingered to over-compensate. "If you are sure," she said, looking at Barracker too in order to see his reaction. Then she looked at Clive, a slight shrug of her shoulders and shake of her head. After that she left, glad to be out of the room, a sick feeling in her stomach as her mind replayed and replayed.

"You boys are so silly sometimes," she lectured Clive, who had done absolutely nothing wrong but just so happened to be with her as they descended to the ground floor. "I will never understand what drives you to such stupidity." She realised that she was lecturing the wrong person and smirked at the farmer from Texas to show she was being unserious. "Gorillas."

MacKensie was happy to see everyone gathering and greeted each of them, passing by the bar to place her hand on Fenna's and give her a smile, rubbing James' shoulder and asking Adam how he was doing. They moved two tables together to make one big table that they could all sit down at. Frederick was over, engaging in a little small talk and noting down, on his pad, anyone's order who was ready to give it, but there was no rush. When Alison entered the inn, MacKensie's eyes lit up and she rose from her seat to go over and greet the woman.

"Alison, I'm so glad you came. How are you?" MacKensie told her that everyone was here, then turned to walk with her to the table. "Umm, guys," she said to everyone. "This is Alison. Alison, meet my party, my comrades and most of all... my dear friends."

In spite of wanting it to be a surprise, MacKensie had already blabbed to Fenna, the night before, that Alison was from Earth - she simply couldn't help herself. But for everyone else, now that they had said hello as a group and heard Alison say hi back, MacKensie would now reveal, "If you could not tell by that accent..." she barely contained her giggles. "...Alison is from the United States."

Of course, the right thing to do in such a situation as this would be to introduce Alison individually to each person so that she could put a name to each face, and MacKensie would do so, when and where required, but the reactions of everyone would likely do most of that job for her, so she stayed by Alison's side, her good-natured amiability quietly encouraging a warm welcome.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZapdosI figured I may aswell use him again. Lol bullying the gnome is always a fun read xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

MacKensie's routine was similar to those of her recent mornings since being named a Captain of the garrison. She was up before sunrise so that she had time to go to her favourite spot by the canalside do her usual stretching exercises. Then she would head back and trade a hearty 'Good morning' with Frederick, get a shower, some breakfast and head out to the Military Centre to arrive before her block, The Rabbits. She would help out with the menial tasks around the training yard while making sure to greet all of her soldiers as they rolled in, being sure to test herself on remembering all of their names. Some required a reminder, which was not good manners, but her commitment to the men and women would hopefully mean more than etiquette, airs and graces.

Light exercise would begin while those who had missed breakfast were sent to the mess hall to grab a quick bite to eat. Then - a slight change to schedule - she would start archery practice as a morning training instead of in the afternoon.

"Permission to speak, ma'am."

MacKensie smirked as she watched The Rabbits organise at the range. She knew the voice. "Come now, Sergeant Grimes; you do not require my permission for that. You know this."

"Just teasing, ma'am," he didn't smile nor did his gruff tone indicate humour, but MacKensie understood that this was just his way and so smiled for him as she regarded him sidelong. "Just wonderin' why we're using the range early today."

"I am out for lunch and I'm not sure how long I'll be," she explained, a tinge of excitement making itself known in her heart as Alison's face came to mind. "I would rather be here for archery. I trust you to handle everything else." Her eyes went back to scanning her soldiers. "Robinson has yet to correct his posture on release, and I need to see if Sellers, Grimwold and Zu'bah in particular have taken to the lessons from days past. Others also have a few bad habits that need some extra polish while we still have time." As she looked back at Grimes, she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder briefly. "Don't worry, I've squared our time away with The Bulls. Captain Wulrick is happy to take our afternoon slot, today."

Wulrick, leader of The Silver Arrow - MacKensie had not forgotten their helping hand when Second Chance snuck back into the city. The experience with their party Druid left a lot to be desired, but on the whole, they were good people.

Grimes nodded, satisfied, then folded his arms and watched as the arrows began flying. "Your confidence has grown in leaps since your first day, ma'am. When I first saw you, I figured you were just another hastily promoted officer. Then I realised the consolation that at least you cared and were willing to try and learn. And learn, you have. The Rabbits are in good hands."

"You are too kind, Sergeant. I will endeavour to live up to your praise. You have my word."

MacKensie ended the morning with an alarm drill, blowing the uniquely low-sounding whistle that signalled The Rabbits to stop what they were doing, arm themselves for battle and head to the rendezvous point as quickly as possible. There they formed up and, in a quick and orderly fashion, made their way up to their designated zone on the wall. As soon as the final soldier had a fully drawn bow with an arrow nocked, MacKensie stopped the timer and congratulated The Rabbits on shaving a couple of seconds off their best time.

She left The Rabbits in the capable charge of Grimes, parting ways with her block before they headed back to the Military Centre. Her own destination was The Mended Drum to meet up with her friends and Alison for introductions and she went with a spring in her step, happy to have had a productive morning, received some praise from the experienced Sergeant Grimes and would now get to what would undoubtedly be the best part of her day.

As she got onto the street where sat The Mended Drum, she saw Barracker, but the man was too far away to call after, so she simply continued on, seeing him disappear inside before she eventually got down the street and went in after him. She greeted anyone else who had already arrived, flashing a brilliant smile before going over to Frederick to make sure he was ready for the coming rush of requests for food and drink. It was after this when her keen senses picked up a noise, a thump of sorts coming through the ceiling, as if something had fallen over upstairs. Perhaps it was instinctive that her eyes would search about the tables and note that; among the missing attendees to their lunch date were Barracker and Zell. It brought her mind back to yesterday when Barracker was acting strangely and looking for the other swordsman. And then came the banging noise again.

She did go and sit down, but the nosey side of her grew more and more curious, until she eventually excused herself and went upstairs to see what, if anything, was going on. Walking down the corridor, her ears picked up voices coming from Zell's room and so she approached and knocked on the before letting herself in.

"Is everything alright? I heard... banging..." her voice trailed off as she looked around the room and saw the mess. Worringly evident by their faces, they had been fighting, but what muted and confused her horrified reaction was the fact that they seemed quite calm now. Relaxed, even. There was no hint of animosity or resentment between them, or tension in the air. It was all incredibley strange to the Ranger, who had no experience in such things as fights between friends, so she was simply frozen at the door, half in the room, half out, staring dumbly as she got her response.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

OMG I'm gone for ONE day and Kass and Zell are throwing eachother around the room :O

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

MacKensie placed her knife and fork together on the empty plate and then dabbed her mouth with a napkin. Frederick was an exceptional cook and had likely been so for a long time, but after watching and learning from James who, last week, had treated everyone to Mexican cuisine for lunch one day, Frederick had been experimenting with new combinations of spices and further enchancing the variety of amazing dishes he could produce.

The innkeeper soon spotted that she had finished and came over to take her plate. MacKensie suspected he had been chomping at the bit to ask for her opinion on his new variation. "All done, Miss MacKensie?"

She nodded gratefully. "Yes. Thank you so much, Frederick."

"Aaaand? What do you think?"

"A veritable festival for the senses," she gladly told him. "You have outdone yourself, Monsieur. Truly a delight."

He was quite clearly proud of himself and took her plate away along with another thank you from Mackensie and a shared smile.

It was getting late and the day had been long. Every day had been long in this tense build-up to the big battle, but this one had left her extra tired. Clive and Barracker had both already returned to the inn, MacKensie letting them know that she wanted to introduce Alison to them and had set a lunch date for tomorrow, asking them to attend and telling them that it was very important. Clive had been his usual steadfast and cheery self, but Barracker had been acting suspiciously odd. The Paladin had been asking after Zell - who was nowhere to be found this evening - and it sounded like the englishman was in trouble. What has that idiot done now? she'd thought. But whatever Zell had done, it must have been serious because Second Chance's two frontliners had struck up a fondness for eachother from the beginning and had seemed fairly close ever since. Barracker was a serious and stoic individual, but there was a different, more intense look in his eyes this time. It was a little worrying, but MacKensie did not pry and hoped that it would work itself out.

She stayed up to see Fenna, James and Adam and let them know about the important lunch date tomorrow. She neglected to tell anyone that Alison was from their world, as she thought it would be fun to give everyone the big surprise when they were all gathered together.

Unfortunately, the encounter with Adam was the last thing on her mind before going to bed. It was awkward for her, although her self-control hopefully stifled it enough that it would not be noticed and rub off on the Druid. She done no crime, but she was full of guilt. She was naturally friendly with everyone, but after developing an attraction to Zell and Adam - and knowing that they both felt something for her too - that natural friendliness had become a weight around her neck and the basis of her self-accusations of being a flirtatious coquette. And now - lying in bed in silence and darkness - her final moments before sleep were spent thinking about the way she'd left things with Zell, the morning after their 'non-date,' and full of admonishments that she could never forgive herself if she tore any kind of rift in the group.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

OMG Cloud! Yay!

Glad you're back, sham xD

You were here when Second Chance snuck back into Valhiem, weren't you? It's only been six days since then. It'll be easy to catch up. I'll let Xenon give you the details, he's kept Clive busy while we waited for your return. Good to see you!

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

"I'm hoping you, me, and the rest of you can figure out why we're here, what we're doing, and how the hell any of this makes sense. It's been a while since I've been to church or brushed up on my theology, but I don't remember anywhere in the bible or otherwise saying the afterlife was anything like this." MacKensie laughed as she agreed. Alison had a commanding presence to her - very naturally authoritative - but when mixed with her quips, there was something about it that tickled MacKensie fiercely. "Let's put our heads together and figure this out. Or, at the very least, survive this siege. Hell of a distraction to put up with while trying to solve this problem." The younger woman nodded and turned about as Alison told her to, "Lead the way."

The walk from the Brass Monkey, across the city, to The Mended Drum gave Alison and MacKensie time to talk and get better acquainted. MacKensie explained how most of the party landed in the village of Hommas and gave an account of a few notable moments that had led to this point, keeping things mostly on the positive side, but she would be remiss if she did not mention the tragic loss Arthur, who died a hero when he saved them all from Aurok the Maneater's dying attack. Clive being killed and recently resurrected also required an explanation, though, had she known how treasonous resurrection actually was, she may have left that detail out. Nevertheless, Alison was somewhat informed of Second Chance's trials and tribulations so far. MacKensie, in turn, listened attentively to whatever Alison was willing to share with her, asking questions where appropriate and having a joke here and there. Alison was an interesting person and MacKensie was taken by her cool charisma. She had already impressed MacKensie from the start, when she so closely pinpointed her city of birth, Lyon, just by hearing her talk for a minute. This suggested that the woman was more than well-travelled and would undoubtedly have some stories to tell. MacKensie was intrigued, to say the least.

"James and Zell are quite the duo and so much fun to be around. Barracker and Adam are darlings. Clive is a character and Fenna is an incredible woman.

MacKensie was glad to have another woman in the group, already decided in her imagination that Alison should and would stay with them, in their group, from now on. She did her best to make a good and welcoming first impression, as was her sociable nature, but also with the notion in mind that she was the sole representative of Second Chance right now...

...And the sole representative she would stay, for this evening. No one was at The Mended Drum when they arrived.

"Zell just left about a half hour ago," Frederick told them. "The others, I've not seen all day."

"Oh," was MacKensie's response, disappointment in her voice. She looked apologetically at Alison, then more positively introduced her to Frederick. "She is from our world," she told the innkeeper. Then to Alison; "Fred has been a perfect host and gentleman to us, since our arrival in Valhiem. He and his staff, have been nothing short of excellent."

Awkwardly, there was nothing else to do but reschedule Alison's meeting with the rest of Second Chance for tomorrow. "I do apologise for wasting your time. I will tell the others about you and - if you are available - perhaps we could all meet here for lunch, tomorrow? Or at The Brass Monkey, if you would prefer."

She would hope that Alison would choose The Drum over The Monkey. MacKensie did not like the latter establishment one bit. But she would offer the option out of courtesy. When it was settled, gave an encouraging smile and resounding nod. They said their goodbyes and before they parted ways, MacKensie gave the woman a short hug. "I am so glad we found you. You no longer have to be alone in this, Alison. We will get through this together."

Once Alison was gone, MacKensie ordered a late dinner and stayed in the taproom to eat while she waited for any of her friends to arrive, so she could give them the amazing news; There was another person from Earth, here in this city.