bird-brained?

priv. henry from fe13 | black eagles student

[corvusi]

corvus [ latin, noun ] - meaning crow, or friend. you take a particular liking to them; they take a particular liking to you. it's a different story for people, who claim you've lost your humanity long ago. is that truly the case? is there anything left within you? are you content with the isolation you've put yourself in — and if not, what can you even do to build those connections, when you've only ever been seen as a mere animal?

closed rp blog for henry from fe: awakening / fe13. ➥ nav: muse | mun | trackers | affiliation ➥ run by blue (21+, any prns, EST, @stormofembla / @aquaatics)

[carefreemonk]

[ SQUIRM ] "If I turn your limbs into jelly," Henry taps his chin, "do you think it'll make you really good at this game?"

Strange. Azama had not expected chills at such an innocent-sounding suggestion. Was this payback for shooing away Mr. Meow Meow?

... Hm. No.

The lad's cheerful and bright, and clearly possessed of an inquisitive spirit where theory is concerned. As a professor, would Azama not be remiss in losing the chance to encourage such wonder?

"Ha ha ha~! Asking the important questions this fine evening, I see. Hum... It would make you really good, or really bad, I suspect."

Azama taps his own chin where he sits, pensive. He beams at Henry. "Shall we find out?"

[corvusi]

Shall we find out, and Henry pauses, a tickle gracing the base of his skull. He tilts his head; his fingers tap away at his thigh in an unsteady rhythm. This is an oddity. This is really an oddity, but this is a beautiful oddity: someone giving him permission!

He nods, eager, as laughter bubbles out of him. "We should!" A raise of his hands as they point at the monk, alight in deep violet. "Are ya ready to become Garreg Mach's best — or worst! — jello?"

[carefreemonk]

Blithe chuckle accompanies laughter, and again, Azama wonders - especially with the magic ensconcing Henry's hands now - just how far the joke is going to go.

Because surely. Surely no one would actually…

He nods, beaming consent at Henry all the more.

"Yessir!" Arms splay wide in welcome, bouquet clasped in his right hand. "Jello me Up!"

[corvusi]

Henry laughs — perhaps cackles — as shadow blasts out of his palm and—

swooOOOOOOSH!

—misses. The beam grazes the top of Azama's hair, right down the center, leaving a strange indent where spiky brown turns to... jelly. The spell itself hits a painting instead, and with its rigid frame now, uh, gelatinized, the painting crashes down to the ground with a boing.

A blink. Two blinks. Whoops!

Anyway, Henry points at Azama's hair with wild laughter, as if his spell had not missed. "Oooh. Do you think that makes it edible now?"

[corvusi]

[ YLISSE ] - The successor of the Archanean minuet, this waltz suits modern Ylissean tastes with easy-to-learn steps, a faster pace, and a closeness to your partner that continues to scandalize the older generations in Ylisse.

"Nobody ever taught me this back when I was still living there!" He laughs, extending a hand out toward Eirika as invitation. "Do you reaaaally trust me with this?"

Her answer should have been a no. Really. But it's a little too late as Henry takes matters into his own hands, pulling Eirika by the arm onto the ballroom floor. It's clear that Henry certainly knows the dance — it seems that watching the others do it in celebration has helped — but he doesn't... know it, either.

Steps are a little frantic, messy as they (by some miracle) skip around Eirika's shoes. There is no intent with his movement; instead, he flops as if he is made of air, silver hair flying all over the place. Despite it all, though, he laughs — evidently tickled by the whimsy of the faster tempo and the silliness of erratic movement.

As the waltz crawls to a stop, he giggles and takes out an orchid from his pouch. "As thanks!" Deep breath, as his heart is racing and breaths are heavy from the prancing. "Hope I didn't kick ya by accident or something, nya ha!"

[corvusi]

[ CORN ] - A new strain of corn has been bred in Bergliez with a curious trait—it pops when exposed to heat, becoming light and fluffy! Help yourself to a bag; it's a little bland on its own, but you get the feeling you could find something to spice it up.

Next to the bag of corn snacks is a hand pump — seemingly adhered to the table, the only hint of its contents visible through the bright yellow dripping out of its faucet and onto the tray underneath. Positioned just a few steps away from the rest of the beverages, it'd only be natural for someone to think of—

"Hm." Henry smacks his lips, cup of mysterious drink sloshing around. He glances over at Panette, holding the glass up with a grin. "It's really salty — leaves a little bit of a coating in your mouth, too! Not really spicy, but I'm sure we can do something about that. But it's kinda like... oil. But a lot more delicious than drinking only oil!"

—drinking it.

He laughs, taking another long sip of the drink. "It's delicious, really! You should give it a try, too — nya ha! Aw, can't believe they kept this so far from everything else..."

Siiiiiip...

[corvusi]

"Wait," he pauses his laughter, "that's brilliant! Did I ever tell you that you blue my mind with all of these ideas?"

Hands raised, fingers wiggled, and the poor onlookers of the game watch as the spots turn... purple? Not that it matters — the confusion from the crowd is enough for Henry as he claps his hands together, empty mirth overtaking his expression. A shake of his head for the lily, but he offers an orchid in exchange.

"The ideas weren't mine!" he lilts, holding out the bloom. ( In the background, murmurs from the observing crowd grow in volume. ) "Gotta give credit where it's due, right?"

[verseandrhyme]

The volume of the crowd rises and soon, Mitama worries, it might rise enough that they begin to wonder if they might find those responsible for the little trick they have witnessed.

Not wanting to be a part of it if they do, she takes Henry's flower first and his arm second, steering him away from the group to another part of the ballroom. "Credit appreciated, but let us give them space to enjoy it now, shall we? It will not do to overboil a pot."

She has no intention in attracting attention that might result in faculty discipline either.

end

[carefreemonk]

[ SQUIRM ] "If I turn your limbs into jelly," Henry taps his chin, "do you think it'll make you really good at this game?"

Strange. Azama had not expected chills at such an innocent-sounding suggestion. Was this payback for shooing away Mr. Meow Meow?

... Hm. No.

The lad's cheerful and bright, and clearly possessed of an inquisitive spirit where theory is concerned. As a professor, would Azama not be remiss in losing the chance to encourage such wonder?

"Ha ha ha~! Asking the important questions this fine evening, I see. Hum... It would make you really good, or really bad, I suspect."

Azama taps his own chin where he sits, pensive. He beams at Henry. "Shall we find out?"

[corvusi]

Shall we find out, and Henry pauses, a tickle gracing the base of his skull. He tilts his head; his fingers tap away at his thigh in an unsteady rhythm. This is an oddity. This is really an oddity, but this is a beautiful oddity: someone giving him permission!

He nods, eager, as laughter bubbles out of him. "We should!" A raise of his hands as they point at the monk, alight in deep violet. "Are ya ready to become Garreg Mach's best — or worst! — jello?"

[verseandrhyme]

Mitama nods along as he Henry lays out his ideas. Whatever expression she is making is hidden behind the sleeve she raises, a mystery for the ages to ponder.

Though when one of the contestants struggles into a back bend to reach the blue, you may hear a giggle or two from her.

"Make all the spots blue, but have the spinner continue to land on red." She suggests quietly. In doing so, she slips a lily from her bouquet and holds it out for Henry. A reward in exchange for a momentary amusement.

[corvusi]

"Wait," he pauses his laughter, "that's brilliant! Did I ever tell you that you blue my mind with all of these ideas?"

Hands raised, fingers wiggled, and the poor onlookers of the game watch as the spots turn... purple? Not that it matters — the confusion from the crowd is enough for Henry as he claps his hands together, empty mirth overtaking his expression. A shake of his head for the lily, but he offers an orchid in exchange.

"The ideas weren't mine!" he lilts, holding out the bloom. ( In the background, murmurs from the observing crowd grow in volume. ) "Gotta give credit where it's due, right?"

[verseandrhyme]

[ SQUIRM ] "Mitama, look!" Laughter, as Henry points at the board of colors. "I made it so that it only lands on red. Do you wanna watch them struggle with me?" He breaks into a bout of giggling. "I promise it'll be fun!"

How in the world...Mitama stares blankly at the pair in the distance. It truly did seem as though they were only able to roll red in their game. Which was fine, initially, when all it involved was taking a step, but...

"They are going to give up very quickly once they realize how impossible it will be to claim all the spots without coordinating." Already they seemed to be losing steam at their attempts.

Still, Mitama stands besides Henry and continues to watch for another quiet, thoughtful moment.

"You should make it so every once in a while it rolls a single blue, just to keep them on their toes."

@corvusi

[corvusi]

His eyes glow at the suggestion. "Has anyone ever called you a genius? Aw, that's a fantastic idea!"

Returning his attention to the spinner, it looks like it's already in the midst of its spin. No matter — because Henry can take care of it! A wiggle of his fingers, a huff of air, and the spinner slows, slows, slows—

Left hand, blue!

There's a cheer and sigh of relief from both the players and the audience, but Henry is on the sidelines tickling himself with laughter. "Y'know what would be funny? if we made it all blue now — they'll have absolutely no idea!"

More laughter. More giggling. Henry is running out of air at the mere thought.

[egittae]

[ REVIEW AND REVISE ] "Professor!" he chirps, dragging Lambert by his sleeve. "Mind if I get your opinion on something for the cup? It'll be super, super fast!"

A bit of a walk later, there's a summoning circle on the ground — and Henry points at it with a wide grin. "Juuuuust stand right there — promise it won't kill ya, but it'll make you a really good dancer!" Pause. "Probably!"

Oh noooo.

Oh no it's the guy.

Lambert’s reaction was a clear and suspicious side eye. “Henry…” Last time they met and magic was involved…it included a massive gargoyle-thing (of course it had to be a gargoyle) and a relatively questionable set of spells involving the summoning of creatures that may or may not be under Henry’s control.

The blond smiled cheerfully, perhaps too much so. “We can make a deal. You do your spell, if it works safely and appropriately I shall pay you a drink of your choice. But if anything bizarre happens to me, I will knock you on the head.” Lambert barely knew this guy, chances are he was being used as a guinea pig then and there and he’d probably be sent flying or whatever.

But hey! The conditions were there.

[corvusi]

He hits his own head with the palm of his head, giggling softly. "Sounds good — you can knock me out if this goes wrong or right! Juuuust stand here for me?"

A bit of shuffling later, and Lambert is scooted into the center of the summoning circle. Henry kneels, resting his fingers on the edges, before looking back up at the other man. "If you die," he muses, "can you say 'hi' to Mister Goyle for me, please? Not that you will, but—"

He interrupts himself with his cast, as his curse settles into Lambert.

( A curse that leaves calves irrationally itchy — only alleviated by some form of movement. It may make Lambert a better dancer, Henry thinks, solely because it might be to his benefit to not stop dancing lest the itch comes back. )

Henry wanders over when the light fades and pats Lambert on the shoulder. "Think that worked, but keep your drink to yourself." Laughter, as he rustles through his bag for an orchid. "Take this as thanks, Professor — and waltz your night away, nya ha!" Maybe he can start offering this as the cup approaches, then!

[egittae]

“Haha, you are so funny Henry.” Without even a drop of humor in his voice, Lambert still chose to entertain the magician’s whimsy. If he died from this- at this point? He might as well deserve it for dying to something so stupid, he can imagine that the Goddess would receive him with crossed arms as if saying ‘seriously? I did so much for you only so you could get killed by some nutcase at a party?’. With a deep sigh the professor stood in the middle of the magical circle, closing his eyes in anticipation.

At first, nothing. No extra limbs or pain, anything of the sort. For a brief second he even wondered if perhaps Henry had flubbed something and the casting failed. But then a furious itching took over his legs. It was as if he had shoved his feet inside an anthill up to the knee and the little critters got stuck inside his boot, angrily biting so they could be freed- and as a result, urging him to fidget- lest the itching gets worse.

Lambert stared at Henry.

“Henry?”

He stood in place- visibly trembling from the urge to either itch his legs like a madman or run around in circles for the same purpose. His stare- or rather, glare, remained solid. 

“My turn.”

Lambert had always been absolute shit at Reason magic. Faith was easier to manage, to focus on- he could channel his devotion to the Goddess as well as his faith in himself as a leader without the need to memorize formula after formula. As a result, the king abandoned Reason quite early in his life, leaving it to his retainers as well as his brother to pursue. But he remembered one thing- one spell: Thunder.

In normal circumstances, it would’ve been a relatively innocent zap- a sad little fizzle in the hands of an untrained man with poor magic affinity. But that wasn’t how things rolled within the Blaiddyd bloodline.

A sad little zap, aimed at a spot somewhere behind Henry, instead was amplified beyond control, blowing off a solid amount of wall in the process and charring whoever was nearby in the process- thankfully not many people. The Church wasn’t going to be very happy about thi- but he was just gonna blame Henry. He was gonna blame Henry. 

Well, there was an extra flower in his bouquet now. He did hand over one of his own lilies to the mage in camaraderie- toasted camaraderie, while also fidgeting in place before beelining to the training grounds to run laps around it in hopes of making the spell wear off. 

Somehow, he didn’t hate Henry at all.

[corvusi]

The wall exploded — and Henry was left in awe as he stared at the giant hole that was left and faced the dust cloud of Lambert's run. Looking past the hole and to the other end of the wall, he locked eyes with a group of wide-eyed passersby, covered in soot and ash.

A pause. Then, laughter, wild as he doubled over. Aw, too bad the professor took off, because this was awesome! A crater the size of the moon (actually, much smaller than it, but whatever), made entirely with lightning magic? That's... super, super cool!

( Henry was left to his own accord after a little while, lily in hand and the smell of burnt stone finding its hold in his clothes. Some attendees may look through the hole in the wall and see him, still in the middle of his summoning circle, with a wide grin on his face as he stared at the sheer scale of damage caused.

...What a beautiful night, indeed! )

thread completed.

[bibliophiliacs]

   Miriel’s eyes widen when Henry illustrates an impressive display of magic before her. As quickly as the fires began, they are dispersed; and with the impressive visage of a moon to follow suit. She stares in awe, uncertain of how to reply. 

   But once she gathers herself, she turns to face Henry, dusting off her dress in the process. “Henry, what an astounding display of magical prowess.” There is a clear tone of amazement in her otherwise deadpan voice. Weren’t they at the Ball now, Miriel would take Henry by the hand and rush off to her laboratory post-haste. This was something that she needed to study with more intricacy than provided before. 

   Unfortunately, her confines were to that of the Ethereal Ball. She chose to participate, and participate she would. 

   But that wouldn’t stop her from still taking Henry by the hands. “When this night is over, I behoove you, demonstrate to me how you projected such incredible magics.” Her voice is clear with eager desperation for the pursuit of knowledge and science. She had to see and understand just what strength Henry had attained in the time Miriel saw him last, and what other merits such lunar magic could pose within the field of science. Tonight was snuffing out flames from a popped corn incident. Tomorrow could be something even greater. 

   Miriel clears her throat, letting go of Henry’s hand and adjusting herself accordingly. “Please take my request into ample consideration.”

[corvusi]

When his hand is let go, he blinks, and then laughs. "Of course! Really, I'm not the guy to teach ya — I'm just a student!"

Henry pokes his head in closer to Miriel and scans around the ballroom. "That professor," a point, "is the best guy to learn magic from! Did some demon hunting together and almost died! And that student," another point, "senses magic like nobody else you or I know! And that other student," another... point... "has all the control over her fire magic! No matter how much I can show, I'll always be looking up to them aaaand—"

He nudges Miriel. "—you!" Laughter. "But I'll cast everything and anything you want me to cast — just give me a date and time! Anywho... what was I doing?"

A smile, a wave, and Henry whistles song that clashes with that of the ensemble's as he wanders back out onto the floor.

thread completed.

[egittae]

[ REVIEW AND REVISE ] "Professor!" he chirps, dragging Lambert by his sleeve. "Mind if I get your opinion on something for the cup? It'll be super, super fast!"

A bit of a walk later, there's a summoning circle on the ground — and Henry points at it with a wide grin. "Juuuuust stand right there — promise it won't kill ya, but it'll make you a really good dancer!" Pause. "Probably!"

Oh noooo.

Oh no it's the guy.

Lambert’s reaction was a clear and suspicious side eye. “Henry…” Last time they met and magic was involved…it included a massive gargoyle-thing (of course it had to be a gargoyle) and a relatively questionable set of spells involving the summoning of creatures that may or may not be under Henry’s control.

The blond smiled cheerfully, perhaps too much so. “We can make a deal. You do your spell, if it works safely and appropriately I shall pay you a drink of your choice. But if anything bizarre happens to me, I will knock you on the head.” Lambert barely knew this guy, chances are he was being used as a guinea pig then and there and he’d probably be sent flying or whatever.

But hey! The conditions were there.

[corvusi]

He hits his own head with the palm of his head, giggling softly. "Sounds good — you can knock me out if this goes wrong or right! Juuuust stand here for me?"

A bit of shuffling later, and Lambert is scooted into the center of the summoning circle. Henry kneels, resting his fingers on the edges, before looking back up at the other man. "If you die," he muses, "can you say 'hi' to Mister Goyle for me, please? Not that you will, but—"

He interrupts himself with his cast, as his curse settles into Lambert.

( A curse that leaves calves irrationally itchy — only alleviated by some form of movement. It may make Lambert a better dancer, Henry thinks, solely because it might be to his benefit to not stop dancing lest the itch comes back. )

Henry wanders over when the light fades and pats Lambert on the shoulder. "Think that worked, but keep your drink to yourself." Laughter, as he rustles through his bag for an orchid. "Take this as thanks, Professor — and waltz your night away, nya ha!" Maybe he can start offering this as the cup approaches, then!

[bibliophiliacs]

[ CORN ] Now that's an idea — clutching a cob in each hand, Henry shuts his eyes and casts. His palms erupt with heat and flame as they engulf the corn... aaaaand do nothing. The corn turns to ash. There is no popcorn.

He opens his eyes and pauses, then laughs to himself. "Aw, still smells edible!"

   Her eyes are still focused on the fire, steadily taking her time and effort to extinguish the flames. A voice calls out to her, and it's familiar; familiar enough to drag Miriel from her focus on the flame.

   “Ah, Henry. Salutations.” Miriel’s voice is as deadpan as ever, but even still there is a noticeable lilt when greeting her compatriot and former companion of war. Seeing an old companion still elicits positive reactions even if it had been far long since doing so. Something Miriel would have to research later. 

   She stamps on the flames, and then her gaze narrows onto the now ash of popped corns. There is a sigh, then she shifts her focus back unto Henry. “Would you wish to offer your assistance in this conundrum? Or do you plan to study it, that would be fine too.” Miriel stamps on the ground a few more times, before she continues. “I hope that my hyacinth would be enough of a prize to convince you, but I would be all the more willing to offer proper recourse for your assistance in this most vexatious matter, Henry.”

   It would be a horrible inconvenience, both for Miriel herself, and other Ball-goers, if this flame expanded in far more dangerous a way than it already had begun to.

[corvusi]

Oh, it's— "Miriel!" he chirps. And it's then, too, when he notices the bigger mess of fire — honestly, he really didn't think too much about the heat until she pointed it out as a problem. A blink, and two, and he walks up to the fire to put his face mere inches away from the lick of flames. "Have you tried blowing on it?"

And as if to demonstrate, he takes a biiiiiig inhale, flooding his lungs with smoke and ash. Alongside this, his hands glow gold as they raise upwards to cup his mouth; shadow clusters under his feet and dissipates when he pulls his lips into an 'oh' and sends a thin stream of air at the flames.

That, to no surprise, does little. But Henry laughs regardless as the air around the fire goes dark, pointing upwards at the ceiling.

"Look, the moon!"

And the moon it is, indeed, rising above the flames in the ballroom and suspended in dark smoke. It flickers away into a void shortly thereafter, pulling flame into its gravity before vanishing altogether — and although it doesn't get rid of everything: "Hope that helped! Kinda. You can try it yourself, too! Juuuuust breathe," another inhale to demonstrate, "and let it alllllll go. Easy-peasy!"

[fellsparks]

corvusi asked: [ CRIMEA ] A blur sweeps in as the music picks up, grabbing Nel by her hand. "Heya Professor!" he chirps, spinning them onto the main floor. He grins. "A dance?"

The human-sized hurricane that Nel's come to know as 'Henry' catches her off-guard by tugging her hand along, quick reflexes the only thing keeping her from falling face-first onto the dancefloor. A pivot of her ankle has her free hand coming to rest against his shoulder as she stifles a yelp. When her vision catches up to their movements, though, she blinks down at him. "I believe you gave me no choice in the matter," Nel huffs, albeit playfully. "If you had, however: my answer would have been yes regardless." It takes only a second for her to shift into a better stance, more easily able to able to keep in step with both his and the music's tempo-- a challenge, certainly, but thankfully there's been someone close to heart who's taught her plenty. "I trust you hold more proficiency with dancing than you do lances, no?" @corvusi

[corvusi]

Um. Maybe Henry will be honest here!

"Nooooope!" Loud, resounding, proud. "I'm pretty bad at both. Some would say that I have two left feet, but they'd be wrong — I actually have a left and a right foot!"

A pause, as Henry continues to follow along to the music. Despite what he claims, he actually isn't doing too bad — not stepping on toes, not terribly off-time. When he finally finds the time to take a breath, something dawns on him and prompts laughter. "Actually," he gasps, "I can get myself two left feet. It might be pretty cool, don't ya think?"

His next step drops an orchid from his pouch and onto the floor. He spares a glance, but doesn't think much of it — that can be for Professor!

[corvusi]

oh, ball time? sounds like you'll have an absolute ball at ball! everything's kind of a little stiff though — certainly not something you're very used to, but that's all it really is! juuuust a little uncomfortable.

at least the feathers are cool! gotta make use of that feather collection somehow, huh? that's a pretty good use of 'em for you. maybe you can meet a couple of new faces with these fluffy feathers (bird or human)...!

henry has a bouquet of orchids. tracker & notes below.

roses: ike, nel, takumi, laslow, hector, thrasir, eirika orchids: yunaka, nyx lilies: lambert, mitama hyacinths: clair, miriel, sue, innes tulips: rose, leo other: andrei, edain, azama, panette

notes

henry is open for any asks during week 2!

for folks who are sending asks: henry now has innes' shirt! yes, glob of snot and all. you'll likely see this referenced here and there, but feel free to comment (or add?) to it!

[corvusi]

ᯓ serving hunt

anniversary board 2025 | reason +1

[senerist]

“No,” soren replies, and he hates to say it. Not seeing it is the reason they’re in this mess, and with the way the chill sinks into his skin even through his robes, it may be the reason that soren and henry both come to an end themselves.

he thinks, for a second, that perhaps trying to use his vision is part of the problem. his futile sense of sight serves nothing in the midst of this fog, so he tries to call upon another sense. Hearing and scent may work better, and so, too, might be his sensitivity for the spirits.

he focuses on the feeling of the air - cold, heavy. There’s no breeze here, and the wind spirits are crouching in the eaves of trees anxiously for it. The fog itself feels as though it’s a presence of its own. Could it be possible that attacking the fog by itself may be enough?

soren sends another gust of wind through the fog, focusing on its volume rather than the power behind it. A veritable hallway cuts its way through the fog, revealing the area for much longer than before until the fog creeps back into place and obscures that section of forest. 

SOREN 8/10 misses! [Roll 1d6: 1]

No, attacking the fog by itself is not enough. Stupid idea.

The scream that follows is not one of the entity hunting them howling in pain. It is hurting them, again.

ONSEN ONI 13/15HP deals -1HP to SOREN and HENRY!   SOREN 7/10HP

[corvusi]

Aw, no worries! Henry nods in understanding at Soren's no, because really — he can't, either! He pivots on his heel, spinning around in a circle as narrowed lavender attempts to search through the fog. The adrenaline is really there now, heat rushing through his veins with every gentle, slow thump of his heartbeat.

It kinda tickles, he notes. He giggles, ducking to check under a small bush — nope, not there! It certainly feels fun, the way that his limbs all tingle from both the cold and the excitement and the danger—

His hair is sent flying to cover his eyes at the next howl.

HENRY 7/10HP

So it's behind him — but when Henry turns around, he is only greeted by the silhouette of the professor. A pause, then two, but there's no time to waste. "Watch out!" is all he calls, as his spell fires right to the side of Soren, shadow taking aim at the theoretical of where this demon might be.

That's all they have, really — and that'll be good enough, Henry thinks!

HENRY 7/10 misses! [Roll 1d6: 4]

Too bad it hits nothing but a tree, which shakes and sends leaves spiraling down to the ground. Henry's smile holds as he scampers his way back to the professor's side, hands gathering his next spell. "So uh," he giggles, "what do you think will happen if we can't find 'em in time?"

[corvusi]

ᯓ ayce (all-you-can-eliminate)

continued from here

[grxstnnefealltoir]

"Darios." He knows he should add the professor to the front of it ,but now isn't the time to needle about such things. "Well, for the most part the knights are meant to handle such things. Quite a few people get upset at the suggestion of students undertaking such a task but if you have the energy and are supervised, I see little harm in allowing you an outlet or a testing grounds for real world applicability."

That being said, Darios takes hold of Henry's clasped hands - he lets the finger stay free, and then the other as well. "Look at their behaviors and decide for yourself."

In the end, this is all for Henry to learn, to have his outlet.

Darios hums. It has been a while since he had a bit of fun. "I'll watch for now to see what path you take," he says with a soft smile. "Your curses light our way and seal the fates of the ones who block it."

[corvusi]

He's being told to run free? That his curses... light their way? Oh, wow! That's an opportunity that he'll never get again, so Henry's expression glows as he turns his attention over to the camp. For a moment, he thinks of going straight for what he really wants — to kill — but maybe he should hold himself back for a second. Yeah, he shouldn't get tooooo wild before Mister Darios steps in to stop him, huh?

So, that's exactly what he does. Focus clear in his eyes, he observes from the comfort of their distance. There's a cluster of bandits that carry goods from a road back — goods wrapped in the trademark of the neighboring village, goods with an intended destination that is far from the camp.

"Thievery," Henry remarks, voice quiet. He's familiar with that type of behavior, yessir: a commonplace crime back when he was still with the Plegian army! And the way that mooost people decided to handle their shenanigans was— "We need to steal alllll that back! Doesn't have to be lethal, but if they die, then oops — not my fault they weren't strong enough, nya ha!"

He tilts his head. Right? But before Darios can give an answer, Henry has already abandoned his post to take off down the hill and toward the camp, unable to restrain his excitement back further.

[corvusi]

ᯓ set screw. wood screw. we're screwed!

aphotic | kidnapped student(s)

[nohrslittleflower]

If there was ever a time she wished she actually paid attention in some of the weirder classes her father had ordered of them to take, now would be it. ‘Proper Etiquette For Being Kidnapped And Held For Ransom 101’ would so be coming in handy right now…

But, of course, she didn’t, and it’s not like she’s capable of the magic to pull off going back in time to grab the textbook — especially staff-less as she is now. 

“Hey — watch it! I’M GONNA TELL MY SISTER ON YOU!” Elise yelps as she stumbles on the uneven flooring she’s pushed forward on, throwing out the same threat she’s already tried a thousand times at this point — much to the pirate at her back’s clear annoyance, if the way he keeps muttering something about ‘stupid noble brats’ is any indication. Yet he still doesn’t let up with the pushing! Ugh, as if being kidnapped wasn’t bad enough, she had to be kidnapped by the world’s rudest meanie head.

…Well, at least he’s nice enough not to leave her all alone. Even if the stranger he pushes her into the cell across from seems way too happy to be here. And to talk about killing people. Huh. Maybe he’s from Nohr, too.

“Nah, I don’t think I killed any of ‘em…” She doesn’t know which side of her heart is louder, the girl that still kinda wants to be friends with the pirates despite everything, or the Nohrian that’s real disappointed she didn’t get at least one down for good. “But I think I got one of them in the eye, hehe! Right, Mr. Kidnapper?”Again, the pirate responds with nothing but yet another scoff, silent as he locks her inside a cage of her own and walks off. A scoff! In the face of her widest, most innocentest eyes!

Elise drops to the cell floor in a huff, bringing her knees up to her chest for her to rest her chin upon. If there wasn’t prove these pirates were evil before, there certainly is now.

“…You’re from the Officer’s Academy, too.” The princess notes, tilting her head as she takes in the sight of the equally unfortunate stranger. It’s more of a statement than a question, considering the uniform kinda gives it away way quicker than words ever could. “How’d you end up here? Are they just grabbing all of us at random or something??”

[corvusi]

In the eye? Henry's lips pull into a soft 'oh' as his eyes gleam with admiration and respect. That's AWESOME! He couldn't even get any of them in the eye — although, to be fair, he was aiming for more of a heart, but that's just an excuse. Henry really should have aimed for a couple of heads, and maybe the kills would have been a thousand times better than they actually were.

But anyway — "Yeah, I am!" He nods, pushing his face even harder against the bars — yeah, that'll leave a mark for sure. "But I'm not sure. I kinda just heard that there was an effort to fight some pirates, so I showed up — and did just that!"

Laughter, as the guard in the hallway frowns.

"Got what I wanted, and then, they got what they wanted." His body contorts to show his bound hands, tucked (un)comfortably behind his back. "But now, I think the two of them can kill them all together! Don't ya agree? I think you shooooould — we can make a power escape team!"

And Henry laughs again, maniacal as his head grazes the metal with each chortle. The guard's frown deepens into a scowl, before they eventually take their leave — perhaps finally disquieted by the howl of loud laughter. It is only then that Henry pulls to a stop and stares, eyes widened, at the other student.

"I'm Henry," he finally murmurs. "And when you get your name out and the guard comes back, we should kill 'em!"