Sealed Shut City

[Yanahalqah]

Saun 34 Arc 716
City Gates

“Please! Please! Open the gates!” they begged from outside.

“Please! Let them in!” they pleaded from the inside.

But Yana would have none of it. She stood tall, clad in her black and white Squire uniform, the Jocadons on it symbol of the city and her loyalty. Her void eyes seemed to stare into nothingness, her periwinkle face a mask of indifference and neutrality. She and some other fellow squires were guarding the gate leading out of the city, protecting the mechanism that was used to open and close it.

“The gates are closed,” she repeated for the umpteenth time, no more emotion in it than last time she'd said it, which meant none at all. “No-one gets in or out.”

“But there are monsters out there for the seven's sake! Open the gates!” one demanded.
“My husband is out there!” another begged.
“You can't just abandon them!” someone criticized, “aren't you supposed to protect the people?!”

Some of the squires shrunk a little, their faces sad, agreeing with what the people were saying. Shoulders slumped and pained glances were exchanged. But Yana was unaffected. She couldn't care less about the people outside the gates. She couldn't care less about the people inside them either. They had received orders, and Yana was planning on following them to the letter. “We are,” she rebuked, “by keeping the gates shut.” Protest erupted, naturally. “The people outside the city gates,” she continued, unfazed, “are fewer than those inside. Ergo, sacrifice a few for the good of many.” She took a breath, loud yelling and swearing flowing from the mouths of the people, her words having angered them.

“Uh...Saeri?” Hannes spoke, wincing at the names they were being called. “A little more subtlety wouldn't have hurt.”
“Nor would have friendliness and politesse...” another chimed in.

“You did try that already, did you not? And did it work?”

The squires fell silent, knowing fully well that their previous attempts at calming the masses and explaining the situation had failed epically.

“I am sorry for the possible deaths of your loved ones,” Yana went on, raising her voice so she could be heard over the shouting, with about as much tact and sensitivity of a stone wall. “But we have received orders from our superiors not to open the gates. We have a duty to protect the city and its people. It is for your own good.”

“Our own good?!”
“Protect the people? You're just protecting the nobles!”
“You don't give a shit about us!”
“Cowards! Frauds!”
“You dare to call yourselves squires?!”
“Heartless monster! Purple demon!”

“Sirs, ladies. I implore you to go home and board up all windows and doors. It is not safe here.”

“It's not safe here, it's not safe outside the gates! Make up your mind! Which is it?!”
“If it isn't safe here either, just open the gates! Let the others in!”

“We cannot do that. But I assure you that our superiors are patrolling the city and striking down any threat they encounter. So go home.”

“Like we'll just give up! ”
“I'm not going to abandon my husband!”
“Open the damn gates!”
“If it were your own people outside you'd let them in wouldn't you? Hypocrites!”

More pained faces all around her, squires casting their eyes to their feet. “Comrades of ours are locked outside of the city as well, sir. We do not open the gates for anyone.”

“Cowards!”
“You'd even let your comrades die out there?!”
“Booooh! Cowards! Boooh!”

A stone was flung, missing every squire stationed at the gate, but the dull thud with which it hit the wall instigated the others to hurl some rocks as well. Soon enough a storm of them was hailing down on the squires, who sought shelter under their shields. The fierce Jocadon depicted on them was pelted with stones. The booing continued, and the squires formed a wall of shields, desperate on keeping the rocks away from their bodies. They looked downright miserable all the while.

“I strongly recommend you cease your assault and go to your homes!” Yana roared with loud voice, not quite liking the rain of stone coming down. “Continue and we will have to resort to force!”

“We can't do that!” one of the squires argued, “they're the people! They're just desperate, not malevolent!”
“We tried getting them to listen the easy way, they refused. Now we try the hard way.” Not everyone was in disagreement on this, but an agreement would not be easy to reach.

[Aeon]

34th of Saun, arc 716

The city was panicking, people running around, saving themselves and their wives and children, it all gave Aeon a whole new perspective on life in Andaris. He had never heard of such horrifying monsters as these, shadow things. All squires were ordered to hold the gates, not open them under any circumstances, but Aeon surely wasn't going to do that. He hadn't seen Ryqos that day at all, and he just presumed he was having fun somewhere, not realizing the reality of the current threat. The young squire ran towards one of the older Moseke knights, in hopes of getting different, more helpful orders, but he was rejected without words, just a movement of the head, so he went to one of the skyriders, presumably captains, to ask about his own knight.

"Where's Ryqos, where's the colonel of Andaris?" Aeon basically shouted in the skyrider's ear, even though there weren't as many sounds as some other days, or as much as there were during the war. For some reason, Aeon had worried about the colonel. He knew that Ryqos could take care of himself, even better than Aeon could, but he still worried.

"He's out with the skyriders, gathering survivors outside the city, and fighting off those monsters. I now suggest you return to your post, as you were ordered." The skyrider sounded grim, and dark, but who wouldn't be in these kinds of times. Out?! Out is the most dangerous place one could be at today.. What was the old man thinking.. He's gonna need more help! And Aeon was very much so determined to help him.

By the time the squire arrived at the gates, many people stood against the squires, requesting the gates opened. As much as Aeon wanted to save all those people outside, the gates couldn't be opened unless it was the last resort. This was the last resort, saving Ryqos. At the point when Aeon reached the gate, rocks were thrown in every direction, and squires raised their shields, but Aeon had none. He was lucky he made it to his fellow comrades intact, or so he felt. What Aeon hadn't noticed was the fact his left arm was cut with one of the rocks thrown, and he was bleeding slowly. The adrenaline allowed him to not feel the pain.

"I'm on important Skyrider business, open the gates, I need to get through." He said to one of the Moseke squires pushing the peasants back. The squire laughed at him, and refused to do anything. Aeon wasn't going to let this slide, he wasn't going to leave Ryqos out there. He wasn't going to leave anyone out there.

"The Skyrider Colonel of bloody Andaris City is out there and needs help, now open. The fucking. Gate." He felt anger rushing through him, boiling his blood, and giving him a bigger purpose than hope ever did. He was angry, at the squires, for not helping the ones outside, at the peasants, for rebelling against the military which protected them for centuries, at Ryqos, for not letting Aeon come with. He was just so angry at everything, he wanted to scream. Never did he ever feel this way before. He was going to save them, save them all, no matter how.

His eyes were lit from the new-found fire within, and Aeon looked with rage all over his usually friendly face towards the female squire he hadn't met before. She must've been a Moseke knight.

Narrative format | Aeon speaking | Others speaking | Aeon's thoughts

[Yanahalqah]

Not everyone agreed with the method, but all present squires were unanimous in that they found that the rain of rocks should be stopped. It was apparent that word would not aid in calming the people, but still about half of the squires decided not to go along with the plan to use force. The other half was getting pissed, some having been hit by a stone that had bounced off the wall above. Sure they were aware that violence would not benefit the reputation of the Iron Hand, nor would it douse the fires of anger. It would however drive them away. Or at least they hoped so.

Thus half of the squires marched forward, shield wall intact, while the rest stayed behind, protecting the gates. Yana and her group closed in on the citizens, telling them to back off and go home, but alas, the civilians were stubborn and refused. They'd been given enough chances, Yana found, and she pushed her shield into one of the people in front of her, pushing him away. He stumbled backwards for a couple steps before righting himself and throwing his body against the shield. Yana was stopped in her tracks, forced to withstand the force of the charge. More people threw themselves at the shield wall of the squires, their combined force pushing the Iron Hand initiates back instead of it being the other way around. And still stones rained down on them.

The problem was that the squires were very much powerless, and the people knew. They could not go and draw their sword on the civilians. They could not stab them. They could not cut them down. Perhaps if they'd had some sort of club to knock them out, but they did not have such a weapon at their disposal. The people had the advantage, and they were using it to the fullest. Who were the insensitive monsters here, Yana questioned.

A stone hit her on the shoulder, the padding of her tunic absorbing most of the blow, but the impact was still felt. She cursed, deciding that she had still been too nice. Well, no more of that. Gone was her patience. No more simple pushing, it was time to bash. And that she did, taking a step back, easing the force on her shield, and causing the civilians to stumble. Then she hit them in the head with her shield. Some of her peers had had the same idea and were knocking more people out, the others being driven back now by the threat of head trauma. Still, it did not stop them from hurling pebbles at them. But at least there were no more idiots challenging the shield wall, so that was something. In the meantime another problem had arisen, a young blond man had infiltrated their ranks, demanding to have the gates opened. Yana sighed deeply, rather annoyed. She absolutely hated repeating herself, and today she'd done almost nothing but repeating her words time and time again.

“You are not going anywhere,” the Yludih said, her gaze drifting from the boy to the crowd of people who were closing in again. Annoying pests. “If you are here on skyrider business,” she continued, “you should know that the gates are to remain shut until the threat has been dealt with. The way is shut.” Surely the others had said the same thing already. Yes they had, she saw it in their faces. They were growing tired of everyone feeling entitled to having the gates opened for them. Bah. “Your skyrider colonel does not need an airman to babysit him, I would think. Perhaps the other way around, that sounds far more likely.” She locked his burning rage-filled gaze with her cold void eyes, unflinching. “I am positive he can look after himself. He does not need you being there to drag him down. Now move along. Go to the infirmary to have yourself be patched up, and let us do our job. You are a hindrance here too.”

With that out of the way, Yana turned back towards the masses casting stones and cursing them and the Iron Hand both. Now how to deal with them. They would probably just come back even if they managed to make them flee the area for a brief while. “Let us regroup with the others,” she suggested, “trying to chase them off is futile.” Most agreed, and they retreated, shields still raised, falling back into the greater shield wall that protected them better. Perhaps if they waited it out the people would tire of it and go home on their own volition. That would be best. Or maybe the Knights would arrive and disperse the crowd. They had more authority and presence than a squire after all.

[Aeon]

34th of Saun, arc 716

She wasn't seeing what Aeon was seeing. She couldn't, she was too focused on her orders, to see the bigger picture. If someone, even several someones, didn't go and help those soldiers out there, they were all going to die, and who was going to protect the city then? A bunch of squires, or maybe the nobles?

"You don't get it, if those men don't receive help, there won't be anyone to deal with the threat, and we'll be on our own!" He couldn't take it anymore, all of the anger within him was threatening to explode, and it could've easily been seen in Aeon's half-closed eyes. "This isn't any simple mission, he isn't fighting men! Those things aren't men, haven't you heard the screams? Those screams are not from fear caused by men! We all need to do something instead of just standing here like training dummies!"

He wanted to draw his cold blade, drive it right through the woman's heart, and proceed to open the gate, but he knew he shouldn't. She could be reasoned with, sooner or later. Though, the question remained, can the men outside the gates wait until then?

He had just realized that his left sleeve had been nearly covered with blood, and suddenly the pain kicked in. "Shit.." he mumbled, as he held the wound with his right arm. "Your job? Your job is to help people in need, and so is mine, and I intend on doing my job, unlike you! Have you any honor, or are you just going to stand here and listen to the sounds of your comrades, you knights, being brutally slaughtered?!" Aeon was shouting at every squire currently holding the gate, and even though some had heard his point, almost none turned around towards the gates.

"Now, screw orders, and do what's right. Open the gate." With the last bit of belief in the woman's morals, Aeon tried moving forwards, not paying much attention to the pain which was completely disabling his left arm.

Narrative format | Aeon speaking | Others speaking | Aeon's thoughts

[Yanahalqah]

Yana let out a sigh as the Airman ranted. He was obviously angry, spitting out words rapidly, with fire burning in his eyes. He was no different than the people demanding the gates to be opened. He spoke of danger and honor and doing something other than standing there protecting the gates. Yana let him go on for as long as he wanted, cocking her head slightly. In the meantime she gestured at one of the others to take over as de-facto leader while she dealt with the angry airman. No-one moved a muscle to do what he wanted them to do, even not when he’d made his point, when he’d finished his rant. Yana raised an eyebrow at him, but the Airman was not satisfied, pushing past her and once more demanding to be let out of the city.

As he walked past, Yana reached out to grab his wounded arm, consciously attempting to put some pressure on the wound. To have him stop in his tracks by the pain which he had been dismissing the whole time. “Allow me to repeat myself yet again,” Yana bit at him, irritation seeping through her otherwise emotionless voice. “The gates are closed to everyone. No one gets in or out. Not you, not them-” she gestured at the crowd “-not the nobles, and not your commander.” The Yludih paced around the airman, positioning herself between him and the gate, and she would not let him pass.

“I shall put it this way; as long as we are guarding this gate, you will not get through. You won’t pass. Your commander does not need you. Your commander can handle this situation. And if he can’t and does indeed need your help, than he is incompetent and his death will not be a loss.” She stared him right in the face while saying all that, not fearing him at all. An airman was the least of all frightening things out there. He did not even compare to the Nulliem, nor to the shadow beasts, she imagined. “Our job is to protect the city and its people. To keep them safe. For that reason we do not open the gates. Even if there is but a slight chance of more of those things slipping inside, it is not a risk we will take. Yes, there are some people out there. Some knights, some skyriders. Some farmers and merchants. But their numbers are nothing compared to those within the city. Some will die, and that is unfortunate, but at least the majority –those safe within the walls- will live. By opening the gates you mean to strip away that safety from the people. We cannot allow that.”

There was a brief pause as the Yludih took a breath, though her own rant was not over yet. “You should take your own advice. Do what is right. We all have pledged our services to the city. You, me, your commander. We serve the city, we protect the city, and we die for the city.” Though Yana wasn’t planning on doing any of those. She was not an idealist, nor had she any loyalty to Andaris or its people. She had infiltrated the Iron Hand for her own amusement, among other things. “Your commander is no different. He knew when he signed up for this job. He knew what he was getting into when he went out there.”

“I don’t care what kind of selfish and self-righteous reasons you have, you’re not getting through this gate. Many of us have someone outside the walls as well.” She pointed at Hannes. “His uncle is a Knight Captain out on patrol with a couple knights when the order came to have the gates closed. Do you see him being a nuisance and demanding the gates to be opened? No. He has faith in his uncle’s prowess. Others have families living on the farms out there, but they don’t rush out there. They have set aside their own desires for the city. You should to.” The Squire locked her void eyes with the Airman’s rage-filled ones. “I have three options for you.” She showed him three fingers to underline her words, then folded them into a fist, though she did not lover her arm. “One. You give up and fulfill your duty.” One finger had been unfolded while she spoke, and as she began to list the second option, another joined it. “Two, you refuse option one, and try to force your way through. You get beaten down by us. And three-” the last of the three fingers joined the other two. “-you are smart enough to know two is not a valid option. But not too stupid to pick option one. Thus, you give up trying to breach this gate, go steal a Volareon, fly over the gates, and get yourself killed.” There was no smirk on Yana’s face, but there could very well have been one. Although her voice did not display any emotion anymore, her words were obviously mocking him.

And why wouldn’t she be mocking him? He was clearly a moron. Mentally challenged to think that he could make a difference. That he would save his commander instead of getting in his way. He had tried to lecture her on duty and honor and doing the right thing, but failed to see that he was the one who needed to be lectured on the subject. Not that Yana gave a shit about all three mentioned virtues.

[Aeon]

34th of Saun, arc 716

There was something, for some reason, that scared Aeon to the core, regarding the shadow beasts. He wasn't going to let the fear control him, but the fear was present. Whenever he'd think about those beasts, and how they may look, and what they may do to people, he would shiver from pure fear. He had been near death several times during his career as an Airman, but this was more than fear of death. It was an instinct, for some reason.

Yana's words made the fear meaningless next to the rage, though, as her words seemed to ignite Aeon even further. How dare she doubt Ryqos' ability!? He thought, as he stomped the dusty ground without much will to actually say anything out loud. The pain she was causing him in his left arm was nearly unbearable, but he kept his wits together, and kept pushing forward with his arguments. He wasn't going to give up on all of the men and women outside.

"There are.. no sacrifices allowed! No matter what the cost, we've sworn to protect the people, all of the people, not just the ones that happened to be lucky enough to be on this side of the gates! Why are you even doing this, if you won't understand that those men and women outside the gates are just as important as these inside? If we don't save them, we fail the city, we fail the ones that survived, and we fail our mission! I will not let innocent die, not even to save others, so if you don't share my opinion, you don't deserve to be called a knight of Rynmere!" Aeon looked at Yana's eyes, and they didn't seem to have that hope, that dream inside them, that any other aspiring squire had. She seemed to not care about any of this, and only proceed to follow her orders blindly, without thinking about the consequences. The rage was now focusing her, with Aeon having to stop himself from thinking of her death. It would've been quick, and painless, by his own longsword, piercing her chest and making her fall down choking on her own dark blood. Why was he affected so much? Those beasts had an irregular effect on him, a really irregular effect on him. He was also sick and tired of letting people die so others can live. There was enough death during the civil war, and Rynmere didn't need any more.

Her options weren't really interesting to Aeon, and though he considered giving into his rage once again, he decided it wouldn't be very smart nor productive, so he just sighed angrily and turned around, now feeling the pain of his cut skin a thousand times stronger. The adrenaline was slowly cooling of as he began walking away into the crowd of people. "It's better to die a hero than live a coward, I hope you don't realize that too late.." He said, at the border of being calm and being filled with rage. He honestly meant that, but he didn't exactly think that the woman might figure it out only because another squire said so.

He walked away. From the argument, from the gates, from the people, but that wasn't the end. He was going to come back, he was going to save them, as many as mortaly possible.

Narrative format | Aeon speaking | Others speaking | Aeon's thoughts

[Rita Fenyo]

The past days had been rough for everyone, more so for the unseen healers of the city. Rita was looking incredibly worse for ware, bags under her eyes skin pale and slightly malnourished. Wearing simple linens with her medical bags and a healer's mark on her arm, her clothes stained with blood though hands meticulously clean. She had just lost another patient, the hospital already pushed passed capacity during the seige and now reports of strange feral beast attacking anyone on site. Wandering without purpose the city passed by unseen by her. The people were desperate with the city pushed to breaking. What broke her out of the dase was the shouts. Slowly approaching the source, making sure to keep out of sight. A small mob of people were trying to get out, from the snippets of sentences that could be heard Rita gathered that they worried for their loved ones. This was a bigger danger than it first appeared, a riot would destroy what little was left of the city and if the gates opened then there would be nothing to stop the beast running rampant. In short Andaris would be destroyed.

The squires were trying all they could to maintain order. This however, was fruitless since most of the mob were beyond listening to nobility and soldiers. The shield wall was effective at pushing them back once rocks were thrown. Amongst the squires was a figure that looked strange, with light purple, jagged, skin. The deep white eyes suggested Eídisi. The woman seemed to be in charge and a little angry. the captain? as she bashed a citizen a little too hard. Whilst not the best method of controlling a crowd it did have the effect of pushing the mob out of bashing range only for them to switch back to throwing rocks.

To add another issue some blond haired man in shiny armour showed up. Rita could probably think of a few colorful words for him. The way he held himself and acted as if he was above those around him. Distracting the captain from the mob and also demanding the gates be opened. Looking closer Rita noted the deep cut on his arm. It looked bad from this distance and might be worse. Something the captain didn’t see was his sword hand drifting ever so slightly, watching closer Rita could see the anger building in the man. He’s going to kill her then force his way to the gates. Readying her stave and preparing herself. Ever so slightly he advanced, tensing up. She could probably cover the gap in enough time to help, even if it was just throwing her weight into this stuck up soldier. He’d beat her up but it’d give the captain enough time to retaliate. He turned on his heel and stormed off, Like a spoilt child yelling as he did.
"It's better to die a hero than live a coward, I hope you don't realize that too late." While his words made sense, given the context of the situation this wasn’t the time no the place. This angered the mob further. She’d had enough of this.



Rita approached, the airman going the other way. Not that she cared to chase him for treatment. The unusual feeling of anger flared in her. Bashing her stave against a pot and yelling at the mob.
“Oi! Listen to me!” Surprisingly this had some effect on the mob with a portion of them stopping their assault.
“My name is Rita, I am a healer from Krome helping out at the hospital. We are already overflown by this stupid war and we don’t need a full blown riot with more people coming in. You want to open the gates, fine do so. Just know that we have received no less than a hundred casualties from these monsters just inside the city. Only one of them is still alive and will more than likely not make it to sunset!” She paused, letting the words sink in.
“From what we know there are only a small portion of the beast inside the walls. That can kill a hundred men, women, children and soldiers in the space of five hours. Outside is a horde of these monsters. Open those gates and yes you will have the ones you love… For an hour. Then those beast will run through those guards overwhelm any and all resistance and Every Single Person will be hunted and torn apart and there is Nothing we will be able to do except Die. “ Adding emphasis to the important words. Letting the silence hang.
“So it would be appreciated if you go home because the alternative is everyone fucking dies.” She picked up her stave and slithered at a slow pace past the mob. Hopefully her words would get through otherwise there would be force and more dead. Standing by the squire's, out of the way enough to not get pulled into a fight but close enough to assert where she would rather be.

[Vincent D'Ordyn]

Gray watched from a side alley as the mob chuck stones at the squires. Poor folks Gray thought watching as the citizen's turned on the those only trying to protect them, even if that meant from themselves. He continued to watch as another squire approached and demanded the gates open, but was promptly and steadily refused. Eventually the squire got fed up and left in an uproar.

A few more bits passed and the mob continued to throw rocks at the stalwart squires. Then an familiar face showed up. The ithecal that Gray had met during a mercenary job last cycle, Rita, if he recalled her name right. Stepped right in front of the mob and berated them for their actions. Gray silently applauded her bravado, but had to wonder if she thought her stance out all the way. Without a shield she was as big a target as the mob could hope for.

For now Gray stayed in the shadows of the alley, but if things started to get too out of hand, he felt he might have to step in.

[Yanahalqah]

The Airman did not understand. He did not see the big picture. He was too narrow-minded, like many of his ilk. His mind was set on honor and fame, being the hero of the day. Being part of the Iron Hand was far more than playing hero, or ignoring orders to do what one’s own self-righteous ideals dictated. He would not get anywhere with that attitude. He’d be branded a loose cannon, a danger to his own and his comrades. If he was to do so repeatedly, he’d be labeled a renegade. A rogue. He’d spend his days in jail. This man would lead his troops to their deaths if he ever was put in a position of power and leadership. Men like these were always the first to die.

His rage was obvious, as was his difficulty controlling it. Yana’s void eyes noticed his hand creeping towards the sword at his hip, though as her eye were entirely white, it was quite hard to tell what she was looking at. The Yludih chose to do nothing in response though, knowing fully well she was taking a gamble. However, no one in their right mind would draw a sword at a Squire of the Iron Hand and expect to get away with it, even if the attacker himself were a member. To run a Squire following the orders of a superior through was a crime, no matter the reason. Perhaps knocking said Squire out cold was acceptable, but severely injuring or even killing them? The Airman’s career would be over, and his arse would be dragged off to jail. Yana was sure the man before her realized the implications of straight up murdering her. She was right of course, the man turned his back on her and walked away, his tantrum having been as effective as a toddler’s punch.

“You okay, Saeri?” Hannes called, his face displaying worry in spades. “It looked like it was going to get nasty.” He sighed.
“I had everything under control.”
The male squire frowned. “If you say so… but man, I did not think I’d see such a prick within our ranks! Who does he think he is? Insulting us like that!” The others partaking in the shield wall mumbled in agreement, their faces full of frustration and pent up anger. “Like he knows how much this hurts! Like we’re all spineless bitches too afraid to open the gates! We too have loved ones outside, we too ha-”

The clattering of a pot being hit cut him off, the attention of part of the squires and part of the mob shifting from each other to the Ithecal a bit away. She yelled at the mob, chewing them out for their stupidity. She was brave, no doubt, but even though her words spoke of reason and logic, which would be enough to persuade intelligent creatures, the people of Andaris wanted none of it. Still, they were quiet for a while, staring at the snake woman as she slithered past them, their visage burning with hatred and anger. They could not hurt the squires, but this woman was unarmed and unprotected.

“Hannes,” Yana said with urgent tone, her mind sharp and seeing the outcome of the Ithecal woman’s speech happening a moment or two before it happened. The male squire was no dimwit himself, needing no further words to know what she wanted him to do. “Quickly.”

He nodded, gestured at three other squires to come with, and sped to the slithering snake-woman, just in time to serve as a meat shield for the first stones flung her way. Then his shield was raised and the others were beside him, having formed a small shield wall around the Ithecal woman. Apart from stones though, it also rained insults.

“The nerve!”
“Damn Raskithecal!”
“Filthy snake!”
“Get the fuck out of our city!”
“Go back to yer shitty Empire!”
“Doctor my ass! You’d better do yer job than preaching! ”

Hannes grimaced, quite ashamed of his people. “Apologies, miss. They are a bit… tense is all. They don’t mean any of it, I’m sure.” He sighed deeply, giving a command to his comrades with a small gesture of his free hand. “Let’s get you to safety.” He and his small squad started moving back towards the other squires, shields raised and their pace slow but steady. “I’m Hannes by the way,” he introduced himself, “and these folks are Robert, Julia, and Blake.” The other three gave the Ithecal a curt nod in turn, but did not say anything as they were not as laid-back as Hannes was. Though even the optimistic squire was not quite at ease in this situation.

They reached the others not too long afterwards, the smaller unit being absorbed int he larger shield wall. There wasn't any less tension there though, with most all serious and grim. It was understandable, they were all subjected to a lot of pressure. First there had been the war, and now this situation. Shadow beasts outside ripping people to shreds, gates closed to protect those within its walls. Shadow beasts inside as well, tearing citizens apart with little effort. The knights did their best to kill them off, but the beasts were not the only threat. The people themselves were too, unable to cope, turning violent and unreasonable.

"I am sorry for bringing you here," Yana began, identifying the doctor as the woman she'd met during a mercenary job in her Rayna form -though she would not give the impression of having met the Ithecal before. "However, things are not exactly going our way for the moment." She let out a deep breath. "As it stands, this might be the safest place for you to be until the mob calms down. Though the seven may know when that will be..." The false Eídisi stared at the backs of her comrades for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "I am sure that when our superiors show up the crowd will be driven away," she then stated, not adding that that event too was an uncertainty. It was obvious enough. "Either way, please refrain from leaving our midst until that time. We cannot guarantee your safety if you do."

[Rita Fenyo]

Sighing heavily and lowering her head, stones clanging off the shields of the squires that rushed to aid her. Flinching in pain as a lucky hit got her hand. Holding it up biting away the pain. Desperately she had hopped that they would listen to some sort of reason, having had enough of blank eyed corpses, but alas they were beyond reason. Yelling insults her way as usual mistaking her species. She would gladly go home had the harbor not been shut off.

Looking up at the squire talking beside her, taking a moment to realize that the words were directed at her. With hollow eyes, she gave a weak but meaningful smile to the man as he introduced himself and the cohort to her.
“Rita. What's strange off your people is that I recognize faces of those I have helped and yet they show hatred.” bowing her head in sadness. Her arm felt cold but there was no pain,taking a quick look her hand was swollen and red but relatively uninjured . The group of squires merged into the larger shield wall, Rita keeping low at the back. The captain approached Rita offering an apology, something seemed familiar but there was no energy in her to try and make a connection. Probably just thinking of Aelius she reasoned.
“I'm sorry for causing trouble ma’am. Just had enough of seeing dead children and wanted them to stop before they do something stupid and unleash a horde upon us all. “ If the captain did know Rita from somewhere then the difference in the way the young Ithecal carried herself and looked at the world would have been noticeable.

Rita nodding understand at the captain before finding a spot out the way. Applying what little she had left to her busted hand, nothing broken thankfully. She sat quietly observing, movement to a side alley caught her attention, however it was more than likely a trick of the light as Rita could see nothing but shadows. Calming herself and waiting a few bits till she could flex her hand again.

Dam this war she thought, slaying anyone in it’s path and after making the city turn in on itself . Looting, pillaging and riots. Now they had these shadow beast or whatever to contend with. Rita had yet to see one but knew of the damage it caused first hand. She didn’t even know the kids name. Quietly she sunk her head into her hands trying not to cry. It was so difficult after all she had been through. The glory of war, the colourful banners, all of this was a lie. Slowly she stood composing herself. Again at the edge of her vision something moved but there was nothing there. Perhaps she was breaking with the stress.
“Excuse me Ma’am, are any of your warriors injured? Might as well be of some use while I’m stuck here.” Failing that I could always sing she smiled hiding her fear and sadness.