Mike Driver
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
AnasAbdin
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
d e v o n
Discoholic 🪩
Show & Tell
JVL
Keni
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
★
Janaina Medeiros
Xuebing Du
i don't do bad sauce passes
ojovivo
No title available
blake kathryn
No title available
we're not kids anymore.
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@sacaeblade
closed lyn from fire emblem: the blazing blade. golden deer student affiliated with the officer's academy . written by limit (they/them)
notes:
lyn is written post-fe7, taken from her unpaired ending. marquess hausen has since passed away and lyn abdicated caelin to ostia before returning to sacae.
...except now she's at the officer's academy!
mobile links: dossier / stats / headcanons
january activity check
x
status: passed
skill points gained: 2 (34)
january activity check: any +1 | bow c+ > bow c+ 1/2 AO Zaying 2024 Knowledge Gem: any +1 | bow c+ 1/2 > bow b
claims:
tbd
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
I believe you. They were just three simple words on the surface, but in that moment, they were some of the most relieving things he has ever been told in his entire life. A part of him remembers being dismissed at General Eagler's estate...
We've worked so very hard— —and yet you have no proof. Yes, but... Then our talk is finished!
His thoughts return to the past as they so often do on these missions. He had thought he had feared being plagued by the faces he held dear... but to instead see these faceless foes, to have no proof that they exist except for his own testimony...
He knows he's in a precarious position then. He has already been branded a traitor.
(Again.)
His word holds no weight. But even if they don't, what does is the weight of her hand in his. He knows Lyn would not tell him a lie just to comfort his ego either.
She must genuinely believe him then.
To his surprise, it continues. She takes his proposal and makes good on it, using the very medicine he had planned to force upon her if need be. But there need be no force in their relationship.
He need only trust.
“ Alright. I give you my word, Milady. Though you lack weaponry right now, do you not? ” Sol Katti has certainly seen better days. He separates from her grasp at last, moving to scrounge around, and as if the very heavens themselves were on Lyn's side, what he finds is not a weapon that would fit his hands but instead hers.
1D6 ROLL: 5 + 3 = 8, CUMULATIVE 16 1D10 ROLL: 9, ITEM FOUND — STEEL BOW x1 !
With the healing of Lyn's injuries calm returns to the city street once more. Although she cannot deny the twinge of guilt that the medicine might have been put to better use at the infirmary, it is something of a relief to feel the pain begin to ebb. Kent, too, looks far more relaxed (as relaxed as he can get in this situation) to see her in good health, enough to release her hand from his vice grip.
She nods at his offering, "I do have a spare sword I can rely on, but Mulagir is in no condition to be used if anyone tries to attack me at range."
Pulling against the bowstring to test it's tautness, the bow isn't in the best of shape, but a functional bow is better than no bow at all. It's no legendary bow, just a mere mass produced weapon, but she isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Her promise (threat, really) to protect him doesn't mean a thing if she doesn't have a weapon.
roll: d6: 3; lead found!
And so to work they return as Lyn tries to ignore the blood on her hand that has just begun to dry. It's easier, safer, if they put some distance between them, but she stands shoulder to shoulder with Kent.
Digging into one of the crates that had toppled from the pile, Lyn says, "The last few times the quake, no, the mob appeared, it happened out of nowhere with no warning. Now that I know what it is, I can be prepared. The next time it happens, will you point me in the right direction? At the very least I can fire off a few arrows even if I can't tell where they are."
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
“ You... didn't see them? Or hear them? ” Carnelian eyes go wide for other reasons now, struck dumb by this revelation. It does not stop him from helping her up onto her feet however, the motion far more instinctual than anything else.
He need not think. Only do.
“ ...I told you I was attacked earlier, was I not? A mob of people without faces, they came in and rushed me. I presumed them to be people of Lilium, but... they don't not match up with the descriptions of the enemies that Veyle and Sothe told me as well. It could be anybody. ”
Paranoia rushes within him. Despite his attempt earlier to avoid her hand, he squeezes her hand tightly now. He feels no pain of the body, adrenaline rushing him, but he feels a pain of mind, spirit, heart all at once.
Lyn has braved injuries like this times before. He has borne witness to this fact, but—
“ They're getting more extreme each time. Loathe as I am to admit it, even I can do little to stop them. The wounds they incur on me is the proof... But I worry. What if next time they find me, they reach you too? That you are not any worse off this time is a relief, but... Even if you cannot see our enemies, the evidence they leave behind is undeniable. They can strike again, and their attack will be more violent next time too. ”
—but this time, in the wake of his own bleeding (drops that slowly crawl their way down his arm to where their hands join together), seeing her injuries as severe as they still are, makes him impatient and more fearful than before.
“ ...If you insist upon staying with me, I would like your wounds mended before they have another chance, Lyndis. ”
1D6 ROLL: 5 + 3 = 8, LEAD FOUND !
"You and I were the only people here during the quake," Lyn reaffirms as Kent helps her to her feet. "I didn't hear or see anything besides you."
In any other situation, those might have been the playful words exchanged between two lovers, but here they represent only dread and the chill that runs down Lyn's spine. Their hands are not clasped together at the simple joy of unity, but rather a desperate ploy for comfort.
Lyn squeezes his hand back, but she isn't sure if he can even feel it anymore.
"I believe you. I may not be able to see them, but I can tell that something attacked you and it isn't like the enemies I fought outside of the city."
Enemies that are invisible to the naked eye and unable to be heard. If they were to come for Lyn instead, she would have no idea they were coming until they had already struck. After all, how can one fight that which does not exist to them? Is it even possible to fight what had felt to her like a force of nature?
But even in the face of this, he tells her to treat herself first. Lyn's own injuries are mostly stable now, unlike Kent's actively bleeding wounds. If it is a question of which of them looks worse, both of them look terrible. Bruised, battered, and covered in a coating of dust and ash, the two of them look three or four steps away from death at most.
"They have not come for me yet, but..."
Lyn unscrews the cap on the medicine that she had opened only minutes prior to inspect. There is no later for the dead.
roll: d10: 6; Lyn 9.5/10HP
"In exchange, you have to use the next bottle of medicine we find. Promise me this. If you don't, then you accept that I will be the one protecting you."
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
“ I cannot say anything about the Upright Man's intention for certain. I am skeptical of them, to be sure, but it is hardly anything I have decisive proof for... But I suspect the monument was never going to come to life. The explosion... it is something able to occur precisely because the monument could not stop it. ”
The crate drops and clatters to the ground with a huge crash, its contents spilling out, but Kent feels a sense of dread looking at it a way he did not the first time. Lyn was agile as ever to dodge its descent, but...
It is not the only thing to fall.
1D6 ROLL: 4 + 3 = 7, LEAD FOUND !
Another box falls, followed by the shifting of all the others as the ground moves against a tremendous force, a cacophonous sound unleashing in threat, and Kent realizes it's yet another stampede— another riot—
(But for Lyn, it is another quake— another tremor—)
“ Death to ██████. Death to ██████. ”
The chant comes in a choir of voices as a faceless mob enters from seemingly nowhere, surrounding him in an instant. The rift between him and Lyn feels so far, growing ever larger as the people (the earth's trembling) push her aside (down) and overwhelm him instead.
“ Death to ██████. Death to ██████. ”
He tries to deflect them as best as he can, but he knows their numbers had done him in last time. Their nails dig into his skin, creating thin lines of scarlet as they seek to suffocate him and drag him down.
Their hands move forward, move to cover his mouth and push him down to the depths of hell—
He screams, fighting his way back up and out only to find himself standing just as he was, but still, he grasps for breath all the same, hands grasping the side of his head. He takes a moment to breathe before he brings his arms back in front of his own eyes.
Across his flesh still show the proof he needs that something had happened to him again.
Lines of blood.
( -1HP ) Kent's HP: 4/10.
He looks back up. “ Lyndis, are you alright?! Did they get you?! ”
He rushes over to her, holding his hand out now in that grand fit of irony, ignoring the way his heartrate remains that dangerously accelerated pace, the way sweat beads down the side of his face, the way his blood drops to the earth below them.
“ They did not lay any further hand on you, did they?! ”
"I'm not sure about th-"
She does not get to finish her thought.
For the second time that day, the edges of her vision begin to dim and the world shakes. It's another quake; nothing that Lyn has not experienced before. The suddenness with which it happens manages to knock her off her feet (and make an iron lance come tumbling out of the debris) and she stays on the ground until the world stops shaking.
roll: d6: 4; cumulative 11 roll: d10: 2; obtained iron lance x1
It should be clear cut: wait out the quake until it stops and then continue doing whatever they had been doing before.
It would be, were it not for the bloodcurdling scream that Kent lets out. He screams as if he is dying, the sound filling Lyn's veins with ice. She should keep her head down, out of the way of any falling debris, but the sheer terror in his voice makes her snap her head up to check on him.
But there is nothing there but the man himself, screaming at phantoms only he can see.
Green eyes watch in horror as she watches him scream and thrash, thin lines of crimson appearing on his skin even though he stands untouched. The world shakes violently (or is Kent the one shaking?), scattering drops of blood here and there on the rubble.
It ends just as quickly as it began. The world stills and falls silent as if nothing had happened. Whoever else had been out scavenging with them is gone now, vanished into the wind, leaving only two pounding hearts as the only sound in this ruined city.
"I am uninjured, but..." She accepts his outstretched hand tentatively. "...Who is 'they', Kent? We're the only people here."
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
So I won't put you in that position. But despite his insistence, despite them both knowing that Lyn would rather not get caught up in a conflict with the people of Lilium, she still reaches for him both literally and figuratively.
The warmth of her hand makes him wish to reach back.
1D6 ROLL: 2 + 3 = 5, LEAD FOUND ! 1D10 ROLL: 10, ITEM FOUND — WHETSTONE x1 !
But he grabs the whetstone from the debris of broken objects and clings to it as an escape route.
“ It is true. I would prefer not to be alone, but... But I would choose so for you. If it means your safety... ” His gaze sharpens with his resolve. “ I would brave anything for your sake. ”
Though he said that, he needed to put it to the test right away. She stares up at him, faces him head on.
He should do the same, no matter what he might be saying here.
“ I don't know, ” he starts. “ But I can tell you I was investigating the Upright Man's monument. I found it odd that it was meant to defend the city yet we had seen a future where that was not true. So I volunteered myself to help test its energy block source. I wished to understand it myself... ”
He can still imagine the feeling of the mysterious cubes in his hands. The way he heard and saw no response from the machine no matter how many times he tried.
“ I allowed Ayra to leave and afterwards it was just me. But I alone had decided that none of the energy blocks were sufficient as a power source to the monument, having been unable to get a single response from any of it. ”
A failed future. A past version of him that proved skeptical of the miracle that was meant to save them from said future.
A self-fulfilling prophecy winds itself and waits for the grains of sand to fall.
“ I very well could have sabotaged it all. I could be the one who destroyed Lilium, Lyndis, in all instances of time... ”
Kent is the one to withdraw first. He gently rebukes both her tacit offer for protection and her hand. Once again, he has ruled her safety as more important than his own life.
Lyn's now empty hand clenches.
She listens to his explanation quietly, taking in every word. She had not physically gone near the monument, but she and Felix had been tasked with gathering parts for it. She will not pretend to understand the how and why of the way the blocks work, having never seen them herself, but if she likens them to the kindling of a fire, then things don't add up. Without suitable kindling, a fire will never start no matter how many times you strike the flint.
"If none of the energy blocks were reacting, then how could have such a large scale explosion have gone off without the necessary power? I would understand if it had been a small explosion, but leveling the whole city..."
As they speak, Lyn had gotten up to take down another crate, but her grip abruptly loosen and the box comes crashing to the ground.
roll: d6: 2, avalanche triggered! roll: d10: 9, dodge
"...You don't think that was the Upright Man's intention all along, do you?"
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
“ Milady...! ” Old habits flare up as he cries out, hearing the things go awry on her end. However, fortunately enough, she has always been quite nimble, and she remains unscathed by such a disturbance, but the following crash and the broken materials are the cost of it.
Their resources for the safety of those they have left. It seemed to be the continuing trend, did it not?
“ Allow me to assist with that, ” he cuts in, kneeling to collect the broken glass with his hands and moving them to an emptied out crate already. He takes out his borrowed sword, cutting an 'X' into the side of the box. “ Should anything else break, let us put it here so we know. ”
And back to work they go, scavenging like rats.
1D6 ROLL: 1 + 3 = 4, LEAD FOUND !
“ I only worry for your safety... ” he responds to her declaration, heartwarming as it was. “ You cannot afford to be attacked again, can you? And you wouldn't want to raise your hand against the people of Lilium, near defenseless as they are, even in retaliation. But... if you are with me, I cannot guarantee they won't go for you as well. They have already for me. ”
He remembers the mob, coming as quickly as they did before they mysteriously vanished. Though they were no longer within his sights, the damage they had incurred still remained as proof of their fury— their anguish.
“ Besides, it is not as if I do not understand how they came to their conclusion... It is very well that this might be my fault, in fact... ”
As much as she would like to, she cannot argue against his words. A broken bow, a near broken sword, and a sword looted from an enemy are all she has to defend herself with at the moment. Even if she were to selfishly take the medicine they had found for herself, a single usable blade could only carry her so far against a mob.
"You're right," Lyn confirms. "I don't want to fight these people if I don't have to. I've seen how much they've suffered. How could I add to their strife when they're already so afraid? How could I turn my sword against people who can't defend themselves?"
Women, children, and now men, too. Just like anyone else, they were desperate to survive. They had put their faith in a miracle and that miracle had failed them. The city, now in ruins, is proof of that. She cannot blame them for lashing out in their grief. In the wake of tragedy, emotions run white hot and wild.
"But even still, I can't abandon you. You know that already, don't you? It's a terrible feeling, to feel as though you're alone in the world."
She is hesitant to touch him, afraid that what she feels will not be him, but nevertheless she reaches out to place her hand over his hand as they both dig in the crate together.
It feels warm. Alive.
roll: d6: 5; cumulative 9
"Your fault? What happened?" The gaze that had been deliberately avoiding him searches his face for answers. "You didn't cause that big flash of light, did you?"
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
They're both smiling, but the air isn't alright. The way people speak of relationships, they make it sound like a passionate, dreammy affair. The beginning was meant to be the height of euphoria, the pleasant sort of nervousness, the excitement for what life might hold for you next...
If that was so, then he must be quite bad at this lovers business, putting that kind of smile on his beloved's face.
“ My voice... does it sound like my own to you? Or is that unpleasant for you as well? ”
Though he was glad she was still talking to him, that she still wanted him to speak to her, there was an anxiety that ate at him as he asked. Did he want to know that answer? Did he want to hear the person he loved tell him that she couldn't stand anything about him?
“ Ah... nevermind. You don't have to answer that if you don't wish to. ”
No, he was too afraid. He shakes his head and throws himself back into work, bringing crates down and over to Lyn one by one just as he had with Diamant the last time he was here— anything to pretend at normalcy.
1D6 ROLL: 4 + 3 = 7, LEAD FOUND !
“ I think once we are done here, you should limit how much time you spend around me. Surely, you have heard the rumors. ”
"Your voice is easier for me to recognize than your face." A pause, as she thinks. "I think it's less your voice and more the way you speak to me. No bandit would ever speak to me as you do. It's not unpleasant, just... an odd feeling, I suppose."
On the topic of rumors, Lyn's brow furrows. It's hard to ignore them, not when the few remaining people left in the block whisper among themselves and then move away whenever one of them wanders too close. Resentment in their eyes, they all whisper the same phrase.
Death to ██████.
"I am aware of the rumors, but—"
A crate comes tumbling down from the top of the precariously pile, interrupting her thoughts. Lyn steps back quickly, barely managing to avoid the wooden crate before it smashes on the ground, sending its contents everywhere. Whatever might have been of use is gone now, broken beyond repair.
roll: d6: 2, avalanche triggered! roll: d10: 6, dodge
Lyn sighs and sweeps the worst of the broken glass and wooden splinters out of the way with her boot to make room for the next crate. No time to be crying over spilled vulneraries and whatnot.
"Destroying the city? I don't believe you can or would do such a thing." At the sheer scale that things had gone downhill, it's hard to believe only two people were the cause. "Besides, do you really think I would leave you to fend for yourself just because of a few rumors? You stood with me when the world was against me and I will do the same for you, Kent."
but the call of home is loud
With each streak of blood strewn over each of their scathed skin, the line between bravery and selflessness, the kind that killed, became smudged beyond their own recognition. How impossible it felt to tell a leap of faith from a doomed attempt at flight.
It was not fault of her own they could not believe her assurance, with their laboured breaths Arval felt their ends wholly in the hands of fate. Still, she had looked upon their tainted ichor and remained unwavering in a wish to see them breathing. It was that acceptance, however brief if may turn out to be, that led to the curl of their lips that could be read as the support the belief they could not will themself to have.
Deep violet glowed under their feet and the runes seeped into the cracks of the earth, vision still tainted dark from the remnants of their weeping wound but the flash of silver was more the target they needed.
Arval 2/10HP hits ??? C 7/10HP with Halahala. [Roll: 11 - 2 = 9; -2HP] ??? C 5/10HP Poison Strike activates! -1HP ??? C 4/10HP
Arval gasped themself, a delighted, wisp of punctured air, when the spell landed. The monk staggered, metal raised to counter the foe that had wisely stayed well away from those viscous limbs, the self preservation of distance had came at the cost of a risk in relying on talent to make the spell land. They found little pride in the success, only soul deep relief at the dark magic curdling under the cleric's skin.
"The spell landed, this is your chance." Arval near croaked out the call, lungs protesting at the use of oxygen when they had not yet rested. It had been left unsaid but it was far too possible this would be her only chance.
Sleeves were raised to wipe grime from their eyes and attempt to tune their skewed senses, seeing purple seeping into seems was a sight that sent their core stuttering in and age old paranoia, but for the moment they could convince themself it was alright. That the magic they could cast was of more use than the fear of what they were.
@sacaeblade
One spell buys just enough time for Lyn to prepare. Wisps of dark magic have yet to dissipate when Lyn releases the tension she had been holding back and five arrows sail through the air.
"You will fall by my hand!"
Lyn 3.5/10HP heals +1HP from Prayer Ring. Lyn 4.5/10HP Lyn 4.5/10HP hits, hits, hits, hits, and barely hits ??? C 4/10HP with Mulagir. Astra Storm activates! (3>0) [Roll: 4 + 4 = 8, 10 + 4 = 14, 3 + 4 = 7, 2 + 4 = 6, 1 + 4 = 5; -1 , -1 , -1, -1, -0.5 = -4.5HP] ??? C 0/10HP
Four arrows pierce the cleric one after the other, stabbing through cloth to the flesh underneath, the fifth just barely managing to graze their the hand peeking out from under their robes. By all means, it's another messy attack, but the lingering magic slows the enemy's movement. They stumble back one step, then two, before falling to the ground.
But this result is not without its cost.
SNAP.
The legendary bow's string snaps under the strain of shooting five arrows at once, frayed sinew hanging limp and ineffective. Hanon's bow, once used to slay dragons, is now spent from the task of taking down a single cleric. Without a bowstring, Mulagir is little more than a gilded decoration in her hands; beautiful, but useless.
Lyn begins to limp back towards the other two, but with a violent gasp of air, the cleric convulses. Even embedded with four arrows, they still cling ferociously to life. Although they wince and gasp with even the smallest of movements, they still struggle to their feet, fists raised defensively. They do not make an effort to speak, not when the action would flood their punctured lungs, but it is abundantly clear by now what they would say if they could speak.
The blood that they choke on and the blood that had already been spilled; hadn't that been what they sought this whole time?
Miracle activates! ??? C 0.5/10HP
There is no string left to notch one final arrow and the sword at her waist must be on its last legs as well. She had exhausted almost all of her options and still it hadn't been enough to end this battle. Her entire body aches, rebels against her for continuing to push past what it can reasonably heal back.
The iron taste in her mouth has become so overwhelming that it is almost nauseating now.
Not all is over, though. Even after Lyn and the small mage had made their final stands, there is still one more person here. One more person with the power to finally, truly end this.
She shouts to him: "Diamant, it's up to you now!"
@heriteur
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
“ Yes, Lyndis? ” he responds to the sound of his name, wondering if he should have instead used her title. If she was this upset and on edge around him, he doesn't feel as if he deserves the shape of her name on his tongue, but at the same time, speaking to her as if he were her knight, as if he were still her man, under such a mood.
She lowers her sword and turns away, but he still doesn't quite relax. He knows she is quicker than the wind, and if she wanted him dead, she need only try.
But she doesn't. Instead, her hand shakes even though her blade is practically an extension of herself. It was the twin of the blade that had chosen her above everyone else in this world, comfortable in her hand and no one else's, but still, even with that comfort, it is not enough.
“ I don't quite follow what you mean, but... if you cannot stand to look at me, I will not force you. ” It stings to be deprived of that much, her clear, honest eyes a balm to his soul in troubling times like this, but his emotions on this matter are second to hers.
He wants to be there for her, even if it means in truth not being there at all.
1D6 ROLL: 5 + 3 = 8, LEAD FOUND !
He bites his tongue on commenting on the fine item she has found, the weapon enthusiast within him excited to see it even in these grim circumstances, and he instead continues to focus on his work instead, moving to go grab another crate to help bring over.
Despite that, she does glance over towards him briefly, choosing his company again even if he had been willing to give it up.
“ No. In all the times I have seen your illusory fakes, never once has she deigned to speak to me. Every vision of you has sought to kill me— nothing more. ”
He pauses, wondering if saying what he does next might be too much.
“ That is why I had hope this time. Of all the times you have raised your weapon against me... this is the first time you have spoken to me and given me a chance. ”
Despite the mood, regardless of whether or not she sees it, he pulls a relieved smile on his face.
“ I thank you for that kindness. ”
It truly is Kent. His voice reaches her ears as though muffled through a layer of cotton, but still recognizable underneath it all. Worse yet is that the hint of hurt in his words manages to bleed through. How could he not feel hurt after she had so outwardly distrusted him?
"I'm sorry, it's not your fault, Kent." She rubs her eyes, but it does nothing to reconcile the dissonance and what she knows to be real. "I think being here has done something to my head. I know who you are, but when if I look at you, it's hard to connect who you are to what I'm seeing."
She had been so sure before that this place existed in the realm of dreams, so how had she let herself be so easily tricked?
But even still, Kent does not outwardly blame her for nearly turning on him. Previously, he had told her to her face that he wished to be prepared in case such a situation were to arise again. He told her that he did not intend to fight back and he held true to his word.
Relief colors Kent's smile, but regret colors Lyn's.
"...I see. I'm glad, then."
She falls silent and busies her hands digging for supplies. The spoil of this crate is a bottle of medicine. The outside of the bottle is dusty and caked in grime, but a quick examination reveals the internal contents to be a bit jostled, but otherwise salvageable. She tucks the bottle away for when they regroup with everyone else.
roll d6: 5; cumulative 13 roll d10: 5; obtained medicine x1
"Keep talking to me. It doesn't matter about what, I just want to make sure you're still there."
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
They keep running out of supplies. That any of their weapons came with them through the shifts through Lilium was a miracle, but he knows they need medicine. They need help. But how likely was it to find any of this at all?
Diamant's struggle with the crates despite being of a large stature himself makes Kent disinclined to believe that finding provisions shall be easy, but if he has to sift through it all, he shall find something. Even if he has to do it alone.
But he is not alone. He thinks it's someone who followed him, seeking him dead, but...
1D6 ROLL: 2 + 3 = 5, cumulative 7
(Well, maybe she still does.)
As he opens a crate, he hears Lyn's voice and upon turning, sees her blade, Sol Katti, pointed at him next.
Things begin. They end quicker.
“ I am not here to steal. I can vow to you that much. ”
For all he should be able to put on a brave face, he does tense up, knowing that she would do this. For all the times he has fought alongside her, he rarely ever sees himself on the other end of her blade.
(This again. The dreams and illusions of Fódlan did like to put him in this position, but no matter how many times he goes through it, it never gets any easier.)
“ I would never betray you, Lyndis. I swore this to you, and I have never once wavered from that thought. ”
From the first day he has known her kindness, his everything was hers.
“ If you need a sign of my faith, name it, and I shall give it to you. ”
There are very few people that remain that speak to Lyn in such a way. Fewer still that call her by her full name.
"...Kent?"
If she squints, his face comes into focus, but just as quickly it slips away again. His appearance slips in and out of focus, overlapping and intertwining with the faces that haunt her nightmares. The longer she stares, the more she feels her blood boil, resentment creeping back up from the deepest depths of her heart unbidden.
His face falls and so too does her heart drop.
"...Forgive me, you don't look like yourself right now." She finds it much easier to speak to him if she fixes her gaze elsewhere. Anywhere. Just as long as his face isn't superimposed over that appearance. "You appear like a bandit right now in my eyes, so I..."
Sheathing her sword with shaky hands, Lyn walks over to Kent's side. Fighting off the instinct to put distance between them, she begins to dig in the same crate as him. Rather than the scraps of metal she had turned up before, her hand comes away with a whetstone instead.
roll d6: 5; cumulative 12 roll d10: 10; obtained whetstone x1
"I have no interest in testing your faith, but can you answer one question for me, Kent?" Lyn chances a glance back at him. "Back then, when you saw my double, did she talk back to you?"
If she hadn't, it would be much easier to accept.
wretched weaponry
week three: supply search
A bright flash of light followed by excruciating pain; Lyn awakens once more in the explosion-torn streets. Her body is sore all over and the wounds that had started to close open once more, seeping through the fabric of her clothes. Still, there is work to be done even in the face of great tragedy.
Lyn limps her way back to the building she and Felix had been in before the explosion. Although the building is in ruins now, there is still the chance that supplies lie within, packed under the rubble. Before everything had exploded, there had been a lance in there; more weapons were likely hidden within.
roll d6: 3; lead found!
Crunch.
At the sound of glass being crunched under foot, Lyn spins on her heel.
"Felix?"
But it is not the dark-haired boy standing behind her. Instead, it is a bandit, ready to loot the city. The face is one she recognizes, but cannot quite place. The name is on the tip of her tongue, but whenever she attempts to speak it aloud, the familiarity washes away like rain.
She should kill this bandit. She doesn't want to hurt this person. Conflicting feelings clash within her until ultimately she elects to draw her sword. Injured and alone, a mere hunch that she knows this person is not enough to quiet her wildly pounding heart.
"Come to steal from us?" Lyn points her sword at the 'bandit' warily. "I will give you one chance to tuck your tail and flee if you do not wish to die here. Even injured I am more than capable of taking you down."
@liegebound
we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix
Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies
At the very least, Felix feels reassured that he is not the only one with doubts about this man and his supposed miracle machine. Felix nods and busies his hands helping Lyn sort through the box.
[Roll 1d6+2: 7 (Successful assist!), Roll 1d10: 7 (Scrap Metal x3)]
"I feel the same way," Felix admits quietly, not wanting to be too loud lest there be listening ears somewhere. "You're right, it does seem too easy. There is no such thing as a machine that will be the sole thing responsible for protecting all of these people. It's too damned good to be true. I know better than to put my complete faith in it, just like with anything else."
He huffs and scowls at the box, with its contents only yielding three more pieces of scrap metal similar to the one they found before. Felix adds it to the pile of their findings and shoves the opened box aside. "Still, I'm not sure what can be done about it but wait to see how things play out. I don't like that option either, though."
Another dud. The box joins the others in the pile of useless junk and Lyn drags over the next box. It opens easily; a promising sign or an ill omen that anything useful within had already been picked through? A substantial pile of metal scraps had begun to grow next to them, but none of it was anything they could feasibly use.
If they didn't have to surrender their findings for the Upright Man, maybe they at least could toss the metal scraps at the enemy as a distraction.
roll: d6: 6 lead found! progress: 6/10
Lyn nods at Felix's words, although it is not relief that crosses her face, "You think so, too? After seeing the state the city had been, I would feel bad if something had happened to their only means of defending themselves, but what if something happens to it anyway? Even ballistae can only shoot so many times before they wear down." She tosses aside a book that has begun to disintegrate. "All of the metal we're finding could've be used to make weapons to arm these people instead of banking on a miracle."
bittersweet dreams
⤷ week one : paralogue.
“ O-Of course I wouldn't watch that! ” Not that he was angry at Lyn for suggesting so, but he is mortified that it had to be said at all. As if he wasn't overly conscious of this the moment she had brought up where her injuries were...!
“ I just... I was concerned that maybe you wouldn't be comfortable with me doing this in particular. Given everything... ” He speaks vaguely, unwilling to clarify more, though he's certain she can connect the dots on her own.
If she couldn't, the tips of his ears growing redder with every evasive comment he said likely gave him away far more than he would have liked.
(A man of Caelin was a man of passion. In this instance, he is not proud of this fact.)
However, that emotion fades away when he is granted her permission to turn around and at last he sees the extent of her injuries and what of them still remain even now. Bruises and blood do not frighten him, could hardly by this point, but still he does wince to see them on her skin.
(Who had done this to her?)
“ Although I was there for the injuries, you have nothing to worry about. Jakob tended to my wounds earlier. As for you... As you know, it might sting. Please bear with it... ”
Kent uses Recover on Lyn [Roll: 6; +4, Lyn 8.5/10HP]
His hand dips into his jar of salve and slathers it on, touch both fearful and reverent enough to make his fingers tremble ever so slightly despite his attempt to keep a cool head about the matter. It is in seeing that injury, in touching it, that he comes face to face with the mark of what he has allowed to happen to Lyn.
“ ...Does it hurt? ” he asks, voice low. Hands reach for his roll of bandages, and as he moves to begin dressing her wounds, he also asks of her, “ If you would raise your arms, please. ”
Unfortunately for Kent, his ears turning as crimson as his moniker do not go unnoticed in the waning light of day. A smile rises to her weary face seeing his flustered panic.
"Hehe" — Lyn sucks in a pained breath, laughing might've been a mistake — "Hoow ow ow... Is that why you aren't calling me by my name even though it's just us right now, Kent?"
She hadn't realized before, but it seemed he had a habit of calling her by her title when he was nervous. As expected of a former knight, trained habits run deep. Here she is with her underclothes half rolled up to expose her nasty bruise and he still insists on calling her "Milady".
That's Kent for you, she supposes.
She winces as Kent's feather light touch brushes against her bruised skin. The ointment feels as cold as Ilia's winds against the inflamed area and she grits her teeth against the sensation, but does not complain. Earlier, the pain had her ready to collapse at any moment, but now the slight sting keeps her alert and rooted in the present moment. The antiseptic scent of the ointment hangs heavy in the air, making even outside of the medical tent smell like an infirmary.
Quieter, more seriously, Lyn murmurs, "I wouldn't be asking if it weren't you."
Purely and simply, it is trust that allows her to bare her wounds to him. If it were anyone else, she would have been hesitant to be caught so vulnerable. She could have asked one of the medics with their strange gloves or someone who had brought a healing stave along with them through the tear, but she would not have shown them the full extent of the injuries those strange clerics had dealt.
Raising her arms at his request, Lyn shakes her head, "It stings a bit, but it doesn't feel like anything is broken."
we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix
Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies
Felix clicks his tongue against the back of his teeth in displeasure as the contents of the box are revealed to only be some scrap metal. Regardless, resources are resources, and there are plenty of other boxes to search through. More than enough, really. Felix sets the scrap metal box aside and pulls the next one closer.
[Roll 1d6+2: 4, Lead found!]
He examines the outside of the box and some of the labels on it suggest that whatever is inside might be worth looking at. He pulls open the top of the box and slides it closer to Lyn. "Here, look through it. See if there's anything somewhat useful." Something other than scrap metal, maybe. "What do you think of that machine that guy was talking about?" He asks Lyn, wondering if perhaps she, too, has suspicions.
Lyn sighs, "No wonder there are so many boxes here if they're just shoving anything in here. What a waste dedicating so much space to things no one is using."
The next box slides across the floor and Lyn catches it with her hand. Whoever had packed this box had stuffed it to near bursting with all manner of useless junk with no regard to organization of any sort. If they had in the time in the world, she would have liked to at least clean this place up a little bit for the next person to come through.
roll: d6: 1 no progress
"I'm not sure I trust it," Lyn replies after a moment, pushing some of the junk within off to the side. "It all just seems too easy, doesn't it? As much as I don't want these people to suffer any further, the idea of a singular invention ending this war..."
Reprieve, in whatever form we can give it.
An innocuous statement by itself and yet it made Lyn's hair stand on end.
"I worry that the cost will be greater than whatever it is they're imagining. What about you?"
we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix
Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies
@sacaeblade
Felix awakens with a headache that only worsens when the group listens to some man drone on and on about how he's going to be the savior of Lilium. Felix has always hated those who get up on a stage and proclaim themselves to be great, and this man, this Upright Man, kind of pisses Felix off.
What the hell does he know about the real beast behind this all? Felix has an inkling of who the beast (or, should he say boar) behind the tragedy is. Who else, but someone ruthless on the battlefield, eager to see the blood of proclaimed enemies painting the grass and stone? Never mind the innocent bystanders, these helpless citizens of Lilium.
Regardless, Felix knows that there are things to be done. He keeps his brainstorming in his own head for now. No need to alarm anyone when the devastation they'd just seen seems to have been erased. He still can't quite understand how, but he cannot help the relief he feels seeing some faces he'd seen in the infirmary now filled with life.
He joins up in a pair with Lyn, a Golden Deer student, to search the area of Block B's warehouse for supplies. As much as he doesn't like the Upright Man, he seems to have a way to protect Lilium, and he needs parts to make it happen. Upon entering the warehouse and seeing the abundance of boxes to be sorted through, Felix heaves a long sigh.
"Looks like we have our work cut out for us."
[Roll 1d6+2: 6 (Lead found!)]
He goes for the closest box and opens it up, shuffling through it. "Here, come help. I can't figure out what the hell I'm looking for, but this looks right..."
Compared to moving rubble off of bodies while fearfully awaiting the next explosion, digging through boxes is a welcome change. Lyn rifles through the box that Felix opens, pushing aside the useless junk within to search for anything salvageable.
roll: d6: 6 (cumulative total: 10/10) roll: d10: 4 - spare parts x1
She isn't exactly sure what it is she expected, but these assorted metal bits and baubles aren't it. Perhaps she should have tempered her expectations of what they would find hidden in the back of a warehouse
"I'm... not really sure what this is," she admits truthfully. "But we can take it back with us anyway. I'm sure someone else can make use of it. For that Upright Man or whatever they had called it."
The Upright Man. A mechanical contraption, the hope of this city.
Something about the way the man had delivered his speech set a pit of unease in Lyn's stomach. Just yesterday the city had been under siege and now this man had appeared to claim his invention could single-handedly turn the tides of war. No singular weapon Lyn had ever encountered in her life was capable of such a feat and yet this man claimed the impossible. These people were desperate for something, anything, to come save them, but was this truly their salvation?
Lyn stands up, dusting herself off, "This is probably everything useful we're getting from this box. I would have preferred to find something to repair my weapons with, if I'm honest. Let's hope the next one is more fruitful."
bittersweet dreams
⤷ week one : paralogue.
That's all I can ask for. Is it? Could Lyn not ask for the world and Kent seek to lay it at her feet? Was that her kind humility at play or was it his selfish devotion that saw this as not enough? Today has asked of him more often than before, the first time in a long while, just what servitude means to him exactly.
He would ask that every wound Lyn takes be one he takes unto himself in her place. He would ask that she be able to fight without fear of pain, without fear of loss, so that she could shine as the brightest version of herself.
That was her place in the world, but by the state of their bodies, one would never know it. They had both been in the same city block at the same time, but Kent looked as if he had been the one to make it out unscathed.
This was not how it should be.
In the face of this knowledge, Kent's brow furrows even more, at threat of losing himself to such displeasure, when Lyn's voice breaks him out of his thoughts.
...
......
........—!!!
“ R-Right! My apologies, Milady!! ” He swiftly turns around then, trying to give her the privacy she needs but...
The rustling of clothing feels all too loud to his ears suddenly.
“ ...You are truly comfortable with me tending to your wounds in such a state? Not that I would want you to remain as you are, of course. ”
It's Lyn's turn to furrow her brow this time.
She sighs, "Injuries are injuries, but I don't particularly want you to watch me take my top off, you know? I am still a woman, Kent."
Undoing the clasps one after the other, Lyn allows the top half of her tunic to slip off her shoulders and fall to her waist. She rolls up her undershirt, showing off the ghastly bruise underneath. The sickly bluish-purple patch spreads from her waist up to her rib cage. Earlier in the day, before she had the chance to look at the injury herself, it had probably been bright red. Time has allowed the color to settle slightly, although the area is still tender.
"...Alright, you can turn around now. If you have any injuries I can wrap them up for you once we're done. You were around for the explosions too, right?"
At first glance, he looks to be fine, but it's possible that he's just hiding his injuries under his clothes like she had been.
