Kindness is not weakness

Brave soldier girl comes marching home Isola Radiale affiliated Petra Ral Apartment 342 | Dwarf indie-friendly || app at moon icon

[petrapack]

Pop. Pop. Pop. The sounds of popping balloons punctuated the quiet air. Colorful streamers hung about the rooms, with confetti and party hats strewn across the floor. She jumped nimbly, looking for another stray white balloon. Hunting and tracking were never things she trained for. It was only sheer luck that she’d stumbled on this section of the boardwalk. The stores lay abandoned, the shelves still stocked with pretty baubles. It was empty, save for the occasional calloon. Which made it the perfect spot to salvage her frankly embarrassing score. 

A brief flash of white peeked out behind a shelf. Quick as can be, she ran over, swords drawn up high. She turned the corner. Amber eyes widened and her arms remained in mid-air.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I thought you were a calloon!”

@mujunshita

[ofpsychometry-blog]

◜Just follow my lane◞

[petrapack]

ofpsychometry

◜Just follow my lane◞

He was relieved to hear that she wasn’t going to prove any more problematic and insist on staying behind, because if she had Ahn wouldn’t have known what to do. Instead he simply focused on running away for the time being – never much of a strategist he really had no clue what to do from here on out other than simply running away. His middle school self would have frowned at him for being so weak, but Ahn was also pretty sure that his middle school self would have rushed headfirst in and got the biggest point deduction he could ever imagine.

In that sense he supposed he could be proud of himself. He did actually think contrary to what some people might be thinking about him. A smug smile had formed on his face in his moment of internal self-praise, so he didn’t have time to react when the stranger suddenly took a tight hold around his arm and yanked him off.

Struggling to follow suit Ahn only barely caught himself before he tripped over his own feet with the suddenness of the movement. “What are you doing!” he complained with a loud whine, not yet following the logic, but then he let out a gasping “ah!” when he too noticed the white balloon. Within a moment it was popped and Ahn stopped up to catch his breath. “So suddenly… That took me by surprise.” A quick glance was cast around, but it seemed there was no danger in sight for now. “Who are you?” he finally inquired, hands on his knees and upper body bend over as if that would help him breathe easier. “Are you just gonna rush in every time you see one? That doesn’t seem very statistic.” The word he was looking for was strategic but Ahn remained unaware of his own mistake.

A whoop of delight left her lips. It was only the tiniest bit of progress, but progress nonetheless. The cherry on top was that she’d managed to help out another person on the way, even if he wasn’t so thankful at the moment. With a quick apology, she let go of his hand the moment the creature disappeared. 

“Well, isn’t that the point of all this?” she answered after a beat, waving vaguely at the direction of the rapidly disappearing remains of the balloon. “We need to get enough points so that we don’t turn into horrible cat creatures?”  There was logic in her words, but cold logic could only do so much when faced with someone who was suffering. She dug through her pocket and offered him her handkerchief. It was plain and white, but it was clean. 

 She’d been taken surprise by the use of the word statistic. An uncommon word in her world, slightly associated with wizened old men who pored over reports. Perhaps he was one of them in secret? 

“Do you need help standing up?” She asked. “I think that there’s a park nearby where you can rest for a bit,” she offered. Navigating had never been one of her strong points, but she’d been jogging around this part of the city that it had been getting easier to go around. 

[petrapack]

sotouso

It wasn’t usual for Kokichi to encounter such kindness. Even though he tried to tease her a little already with weird nicknames, she still asked if he was in the need of help.

“Nee-heehee, I’m fine! Those balloon thingies have no chance against me. I’m super strong and my counter soon needs another digit, because I surely have the highest score!” Well, she definitely did not seem like someone who would see through his bluff. After all, the true number on his watch was still at zero. But luckily he was almost sure that she’d most likely wouldn’t question his curiosity much either.

“What about you? What’s your score? By the way, you totally should tell me your name, or else I will just call you nurse-chan, y’know!”

“Mmm.” She gazed at the boy, trying to gauge how to act around him. He didn’t seem dangerous, but she couldn’t help but feel wary around him. Perhaps it was his bold claims? It was vaguely reminiscent of someone she didn’t think she’d miss. Still, she didn’t see any harm in answering more of his questions. She had a bit of time to burn.

“Call me Petra,” she answered. “I’m pretty sure actual nurses would get mad if you called me a nurse.” The boy didn’t need to know that nearly all of her “patients” in the battlefield had succumbed to their wounds quickly. She rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. “What do you want me to call you?”

Bold claims or no, she was curious. She wasn’t competitive by nature, but she still wanted to know just how much she had to climb relatively so that she wouldn’t turn into a cat creature. “What’s the highest score?” she asked, hoping that it came off innocently enough. “I’m at the hundred thousand range now thanks to my friends... but they still said I had a long way to go...”

[petrapack]

atonings

—✕ █ ▌She LISTENS to him like a recruit under his wing or a soldier willing to impress Commander. A grunt of acknowledgement as feet move, standing in spot to cover her back, cover any WEAKNESS may be.

❝No problem. —- Ah?❞ He pauses, as if wondering if she’d like to strike it down instead, but the pause he can’t afford, arrow notched to bow and sent straight into the grotesque balloon. Pop! ❝There. Got it.❞

Eyes scan for another balloon, Loghain shifting his feet so that he finds HIGHER ground, one foot after another upon the creaking stairs of a fire escape.

❝Dead ahead. There’s a lot of them – both white and black!❞

She grinned and followed after him. Eagerness oozed out of her as she bounced with each step. “On it!” came her cry. The narrow passageway posed no difficulty for her in reaching her prey. She grabbed hold of the metal rails and pushed off. She sailed through the air and landed squarely in front of a pair of balloons. If the act merited any disrespect from the other, she was blissfully unaware of it.

She giggled as she reduced one white balloon to nothingness. “Take that!” It was child’s play, but she missed getting into action.

“Thanks for the assist Captain...?” she trailed off. The title had been a force of habit. She bit at her lip. The unease made her pause. “Uh, thank you sir?”

[petrapack]

divinedragontamer

Laughter filled the air. Warm, bubbling laughter. Rider was entirely in her element right now. There were fights to have, people who she had protected, and a little sister type figure to take care of. Even the looming threat above their head wasn’t enough to dampen her sense of well being; moments like this were exactly why she had become a Servant to begin with.

And if anyone she had just saved came to investigate the church due to her interference? That would be so much better. She could have her cake and eat it, too.

“Where might we be going?” she asked as she followed Petra. She had expected to be the one hunting down the balloons herself, but if the other had idea where to go, what was the harm?

As evidenced by the numerous calloons that had crowded outside the doors, the black ones vastly outnumbered the white ones. There were several others in the vicinity, all looking for an elusive white balloon. Things didn’t bode well for her.

She gave a little shrug as she looked through her surroundings. It was a crowded area. “I was thinking that we could head somewhere quiet?” she suggested. “There are barely any white ones left here...”

“Would you know if there are abandoned places here? Places with no people at all?” A month had not been enough to explore the ward completely. Much of it had to do with her sticking close to coffee shops, but the ward was a large enough area to get lost in at times. 

[petrapack]

tokifausa

“We could create a net , but the problem is dividing both black and white since these golems are simply tricksters, it won’t be easy to capture them as well.” he shoots, and one more white goes down. So far its making tidy progress each day making sure that he won’t be turned into a cat monster.

“Let us be thankful they are…not bigger. don’t…jinx it.

“Yeah... and there are more black ones than white so we’d wind up dragging our score down instead.” She jumped, narrowly missing a black balloon that was approaching fast. She was so close to breaking the 6 figure mark. There was no way she’d let her score dip back down. She grabbed hold of the railing of a nearby stall and swung up, landing on the colorful striped canvas cloth.

“Mmm, well about them being bigger... that might not be such a bad thing?” she wondered aloud, much to the probably annoyance of anyone who’d listen. “I mean, if they’re big enough that they wouldn’t fit in alleyways and houses, it might be easier to hunt down the white ones? That way, they wouldn’t have any place to hide.” 

She shrugged. “Well, maybe that’s just my bias.”

[petrapack]

divinedragontamer

Well, Rider obliged on the first request. Namely, she very clearly did not tell Petra that yes, she was planning to do exactly what she thought she was about to do. Being careful, though? That was a little hard to do when she had literally just flung herself into the thick of the calloons, popping them with practiced ease.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

She had been at this battle, both black and white, since the event had started. If nothing else, it had provided grand practice with this sorry excuse for a replacement for her proper staff. Tiny mana bolts were flung through the air, not nearly enough to harm a human but plenty against a balloon. And those cat that saw their chance to dive bomb a high scorer and came running? Well, that staff could still be used for a sharp whack.

Pop.

“That should be about it!” Was it a trick of the echoed popping still ringing in people’s ears, or did she sound entirely too self satisfied?

Language had never been Petra’s strong suit. However, she reasoned that even the best wordsmith in all of existence would be hard-pressed to find the word that could properly encapsulate the frustration, the awe, the worry, and relief she felt on seeing Rider unharmed. She tried her best to shrug off the feeling and walked up to the purple haired woman now surrounded by starstruck onlookers.

“Every single time I meet you, you get more and more amazing,” she teased. A quick glance around the crowd showed more than a few people inching closer. “Come on, let’s get going before your adoring public mobs you for autographs.”

Without waiting for Rider’s reply, she grabbed hold of the woman’s hand and ran past the abandoned glass doors. “Sorry! Borrowing her for the moment!” she shouted at the crowd. “Calloons to pop and points to grab, you know?”

[ofpsychometry-blog]

◜Just follow my lane◞

[petrapack]

ofpsychometry

◜Just follow my lane◞

Eyes locked on the woman and her actions Ahn was bedazzled for a moment, at how incredibly clever a move that was and how incredibly dumb he felt that he hadn’t thought of that. Distraction rather than simple escape. But his impression vanished quickly as she still stood there ready to take it on should choose to lose its focus and return to chasing them. She was certainly smart, but this lady was also a bit of an idiot wasn’t she.

Instead of following her words and running away, leaving her behind, Ahn closed the distance between them, hand reaching out but stopping mid air, shaking, hesitant, wavering. “Ah come on!” he exclaimed, more angry with himself than he was with this stranger for not just being able to drag her along without hesitation. Quickly pulling down his sleeve even further so it was covering his hand, Ahn grabbed the woman’s wrist and started pulling it impatiently.

“I’m not just gonna leave you here! What are you gonna do, distract all of them and cut them down? Come on. It’s not going to be looking away for long I think.”

She stumbled back. Polished boots scuffed against the dusty concrete and she regained her balance. She shot him an annoyed glance, but she understood his point. She hadn’t planned on taking all of them on, just the few who’d wander close enough. Still, there was the fact that it would be difficult to catch up if she charged at all the enemies head on. A diminutive pout graced her lips before she turned around and let herself be dragged away. 

“Fine, you’re right,” she admitted as she ran along. “But I wasn’t going to fight them all you know... Just one or two...”

She glanced down briefly at his hand, noting how the sleeve completely enveloped it. It was still light out, and the mild air in the Golden Ward wasn’t that chilly. Perhaps the world he came from was much warmer than this? 

“Hey, are you co-”

A white ear popped up in a street corner. Petra grabbed hold of the stranger’s arm. “Target sighted!” was all the warning she gave before running full force at the white cat balloon. 

[petrapack]

divinedragontamer

“Tracking isn’t really needed. The white balloons flee to where people aren’t; avoid the crowds and the Lord will provide.”

But… there was no ignoring the squeaking coming from the doors. What was there, twenty balloons crowding around? More? Contact with them alone decreased one’s score; they could immediately do serious damage to the crowd waiting, no matter how fast any of them might run.

Contact was a 100 point loss. A quick pop was also 100 point loss and no further risk, though with that kind of crowd of calloons it would still need someone with quite the score to take care of them all safely.

“We can go in a moment. There is something I need to do first. Pardon.~”

Something about Rider’s voice or the determined set of her shoulders worried her. Her eyes followed after her figure. Her swords still hung by her sides as she hoped she wouldn’t need them before they stepped out of the mall.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to do what I think you’re about to do...”

Though she worried, there was still a part of her that was gladdened by the fact that there were people like Rider. People who weren’t swept up in the generalized panic and chaos enough to step back and help. 

“Open on my count!” bellowed a guard. “3! 2! 1!”

Like cannonballs, the black balloons hurtled in. Five, ten, twenty, thirty... there were far to many for Petra’s eyes to keep track. A few brave individuals broke through a gap among the balloons, though the rapid sound of popping informed her that they weren’t entirely successful. 

“Please be careful!”

[petrapack]

atonings

@petrapack ♥️’d for a starter!

—✕ █ ▌Fast on her feet, girl might make a VALUABLE ally in this madness. Almost like floating, dancing, she’s quick to avoid the steady, annoying, cloying approach of a single black balloon. There’s an urge to rid it, but of course that would mean he’d have to strike down two of it’s opposites to make up for it; not necessarily a bad thing, but luck could turn away from his favour.

❝To your left!❞ He shouts, as ANOTHER pair of black pointed ears peek out over the edge of a balcony and slowly float down towards the girl. ❝Be careful!❞ Hoping to ENDEAR himself to the youth, perhaps? Or is there still heroism left within?

Used to sudden orders on the battlefield, she jumped automatically without question. The voice was unfamiliar, but it was firm and authoritative, akin to a commander’s call. She sent a grateful smile at the armored stranger accompanied by a brief dip of her head.

“Thank you for the save! Heaven knows I can’t afford any more score deductions,” she called out. 

It seemed as if fate was eager for her to repay his goodwill. A white balloon idly floated by before scurrying to a street corner. “Ah! Up ahead!” She pointed at the rapidly disappearing creature. “A white one just passed by!”

[petrapack]

divinedragontamer

Despite her concerns over Petra’s score, the visible joy the other woman had upon seeing her was enough to bring a warm smile to Rider’s face as well. It… had admittedly been a concern to her that she would want nothing to do with her after having seen Rider’s unfiltered side during battle. Apparently, that concern was for naught!

What’s more, there were sweets! Perhaps one couldn’t hurt, though anything more would be pure gluttony when she had little need to eat to begin with. But there was one with a pale pink icing that she couldn’t help but accept.

“There are many, many balloons outside still. Those demonic black ones are growing more common, but I have no idea if that is them learning to hunt, spawning more, or just seeming more common with people hunting down the white ones instead.”

She nodded. It hadn’t been unexpected, but she hoped that the white ones hadn’t been done away with entirely. There was a lot of catching up to be done, if Rider’s reaction had been anything to go by. She placed the paper bag aside for the moment, hoping to offer it again later on when things were more relaxed. 

“I guess we’ve got to do a bit of hunting then,” she muttered. “I grew up in a farming town though so I don’t know how to track... What about you?”

She gazed at the multitude of black balloons floating by the windows. The eerie grins were reminiscent of that of the Titans, an altogether unnerving image. She hoped she’d keep back the urge to slash at them. A few meters away, a large metal bar had been fitted over the main entrance of the mall. The glass doors emitted faint squeaks as the black balloons crowded against them. It was certain that as soon as the guards opened the doors, the creatures would come rushing in. A group of people stood by the sides of the doors, poised to run as soon as the bar was lifted. 

“Here’s to hoping the white ones aren’t too far off. Shall we get going?”

[petrapack]

sotouso

@petrapack  liked x for an event starter

It got kind of worriesome, to see how many people he already met before are around the golden ward at this time. Did all of them live here, or do they actually want to get caught into that kind of trouble here? Of course he didn’t forget the kind woman that fixed up his injury last time though.

“Heeey, you’re the nurse momfriend from before, aren’t ya?” For some reason though, she didn’t look like a real nurse. It was just a guess, but something told the cunning boy that she had experience in fighting. It was nothing but a hunch, but he was once right about guessing that someone is a killer, so it could be a right guess again, right? However… she didn’t seem like a bad person. He’d surely find out once he talked to her some more. First of all, it was important to know her objective here. Was it just to survive, to help others, or to actually play that dumb game and be good at it… “Any business here?”

The relative days of inactivity had taken its toll. The act of exterminating the creatures, if it could be called that, was hardly taxing but she found herself tiring in the second hour. She’d ducked into a small shop to catch her breath, only to find herself cornered by a familiar-looking boy.

Nurse momfriend? Her cheeks were tinged with crimson, flustered at the accusation and the demand for her motives. It was blunt, almost to the point of being impolite, but she supposed it was merited given the situation. She allowed herself a moment to breathe before answering his queries.

“I’m no nurse nor mom... I just try my best to help people when they need it,” she answered. Her reply sounded sheepish even to her own ears. “Why? Do you need any assistance? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Another question lingered at the tip of her tongue. She couldn’t remember who he was, and it was embarrassing to ask for his name. Instead, she busied herself with digging through a small pouch, trying to find spare bandages in case they were needed.

[petrapack]

tokifausa

Its all about timing and making sure you keep track of things, you understand, they should both understand considering that they belong in the army, or what counted as one between their countries. He is all smiles as he sheathes his weapon, the corpses of white balloons…surrounding him. It pays well to listen after all.

 “Be grateful they do not actively attack, and just be public nuisance. “ his view on it is that with all this technology, people are slowly more and easily confused then a less advance society, hence his advantage in keeping calm.

“I suppose,” she admitted, after striking down another 5 white balloons. “It sucks for people who aren’t fond of combat though.”

As easy these were to deal with, the leering grin on their faces made her highly uncomfortable. They seemed to be egging the players on to something, and she could not, for the life of her figure it out. All she knew at this point was that she needed to keep her points climbing up. 

“So, General,” she addressed him, “any ideas on how to make hunting these creatures more efficient?”

[petrapack]

divinedragontamer

[Text: Petra

- I am only a few blocks away. It shouldn’t take me too terribly long to get to you. Stay safe.]

As promised, it was perhaps twenty minutes later that the familiar head of violet hair popped into view. Without her siblings here nor a dragon to make sure stayed behaving, she had very few she needed to keep an eye on here. There were the other Riders… but really, they deserved whatever trouble they got themselves into. Iskander and Drake in particular were probably thriving more than her here; why fret over those that were having the time of their lives? And not fretting over something was just outside of her capabilities.

“Petra?”

She started at the mellifluous voice, easily picked out even in the general din of the mall. A smile adorned her face as she ran through the crowd, towards the violet-haired woman. She skidded to a halt in front of her. It was a tad ungraceful, but she hoped her enthusiasm was enough to smooth it over.

“Rider! It’s so nice to see you again.” Her voice was shaky, the sprint and the general excitement made her slightly breathless. “Thank you so much for helping me.”

She brought forth a small paper bag emblazoned with flowers and the logo of a nearby bakery. She had no idea what Rider liked in the way of sweets. Their previous encounter hadn’t exactly given them much time to chat over such things. She’d picked a sampler of cookies, hoping that one would strike Rider’s fancy. “Here! For energy!”

A beat. She looked towards the rest of the crowd. No sign of the creatures inside the mall, but she was certain that there were many milling outside in the streets. “Are there still many of them outside?”

[ofpsychometry-blog]

◜Just follow my lane◞

[petrapack]

ofpsychometry

◜Just follow my lane◞

Listening to the explanation, Ahn had to conclude that it made absolutely no sense. He could only give her a quizzical look that got replaced by sudden realisation as he figured out it was a joke. At least he was pretty certain it was a joke. “Haha, your sister, I see,” he simply offered with an amused grin.

Kindness was well received in a situation like this, but Ahn would rather not have her touch him if it could be helped. He might have stumbled in an attempt to run away and scraped his knee slightly, but it was no big deal, and definitely not enough to warrant a bandage. “I’m not hurt though,” he commented, hand running up to caress the back of his own neck, but his eyes fell on his own counter that reminded him of something.

This lady had attacked so relentlessly and as far as Ahn had understood that wouldn’t do at all. “Ah! You can’t do that by the way! That’s not good!” He pointed to another black balloon making its way towards them already prepared to run away again. “Those there, they’re the bad ones!” Nodding his head towards it for extra emphasis and trying to point at it with his hand covered by the long sleeve, he hoped the lady would be sensible enough to move away.

“Apparently something really bad is going to happen. I just came here to investigate so I’m not sure what’s going on or why I’m suddenly a part of this but– oh my god it’s coming, let’s get out of here!”

She bit back a smile at the lecture. It was unexpected, but it was more than enough to assure her that he was definitely fine. Anxious yes, but that was understandable given the situation they were in. Amber eyes turned to the creature in question. It was approaching fast, but with enough luck, they’d be able to get away without incident. 

“Go on ahead,” she answered, “I’ll keep it back a bit so it doesn’t reach us.”

She grabbed hold of a plastic bottle and flung it at the balloon. It rankled at her to litter like this, but it was all she could come up with that wouldn’t drag either of their points further south. The bottle sailed in the air, but didn’t hit the balloon. However, it made it pause in the air, as if confused. Her head cocked to the left. The way ahead was devoid of enemies for now, but hopefully they’d run into a white balloon soon. 

“Run!”

[petrapack]

divinedragontamer

[Text: Petra

- … higher.

- I have an advantage, so to say, so I do not know if that is a bad score for the average person. I would rather not take the risk with those close to me.]

[✉ Text: Rider

-Okay, I see your point... Sorry for the trouble

-I’m at Mermaid Cove Mall at the moment. I took a quick coffee break but we can meet halfway if that’s more convenient for you? Where are you currently?]

[petrapack]

divinedragontamer

[Text: Petra

- Where are you? I can be there immediately to help with your score.]

A thousand points was near nothing, at least in Rider’s mind. Despite having a couple hiccups, including taking dives to save others, she had been at this for long enough to have a… significantly higher score, to put it mildly. That Petra was still so low was concerning and only proved her fretting to have had due cause.

But perhaps that was a high score for an average human? Maybe. They had never really discussed Rider’s Servant nature last time, so it was a hard question to ask.

She nearly dropped her phone. Okay. Panic mode activated.

[✉ Text: Rider

-Is it that bad? I mean, most of the other people I’ve seen have negative scores so I’m not doing too badly I think?

-What’s your score?]

If Petra was a more competitive person, she might have been offended. For now however, It was only worry running through her veins. Rider didn’t seem like the type to coddle unnecessarily. If Rider was willing to run all the way to help her, it meant that she must not be doing any better than those still in the red...