Sorana

Shana gave him a quick kiss and grabbed their jackets. It was getting cold outside.

"Why?" Shana asked astonished and then grabbed her bag. Smiling she offered Ben her arm to help him out to the garage. @Lunamor @Emperor Stick @Wyndlerunner

Mart looked up when the lady walked over to him. He set down the glass and nodded, then shook his head. "Mum told Mr. Ryan, that the guilds are evacuating the city. Will my friends die?" He asked her quietly and took another bite of the taco. Leaning forward he whispered. "I don't like tacos."

Attayl slowly headed over to him, sat down as well. "Thank you." She clinked her glass to his and took a sip. Strong. Grimacing she swallowed and then took another sip. Another grimace, but it warmed her, alsmost immediatly made her head spin around. She looked at him, at his skin, and then shook her head. "You are wrong." she replied. "You did help and you can do a lot more than talking." Without giving him a chance to react she continued: "When I offered to teach you how to dance, I expected you to take advantage on us standing so close, but you didn't. It might be nomal for you, but to me it's so rare, that I can hardly describe how happy I was. When you read that article, you weren't happy, but you weren't completely surprised either. So it happened before, that they blame you for things you never did. In that alley you put yourself between me and Nerin, you faced down thugs for us, and you'd only met us a few hours ago." "What I want to say is, that for me there was only that," she made a gesture, indicated the whole room, "This is how my life looked like, until yesterday. And then you come along and you are polite and kind. And you aren't a noble person, you are someone the normal people despite because of your skin. But you are strong enough to stay polite and calm." Shaking her head in a mixture of appreciation and non-understanding she added. "You showed me, that there was something else. Something better than the world I know. And it means, that maybe, maybe I can change, I can be like you. I can learn, I can read, I can leave it all behind and be someone who would have let that man run, instead of killing him. Maybe I can be that someone. The person who helps, instead of the one who destroys." Lowering her voice, because she didn't want the others to overher her, she grabed her glass and smiled at him. "It's about hope, about a new way. Another possibility, an alternative to the life I led so far. Maybe talking isn't that much worth in your world, but to me, that you talked to me, that you saw me and not my role, my face - it means a lot. More than I can express right now."

"Not neccessarily." Zokora looked at them. "I can take you with me there using my surge, and get you out that way, should something go wrong." She explained a tad impatiently. @Silva @I think I am here.

"Thank you." Lena tried to fill a glass of water for Mart, spilled half of it on the table and then simply pushed the half-filled glass over to him. He was eating in silence, eyed Alask and Eve, but she figured, that was alright, he had never met them before. Reluctantly she pushed her bag over to him. "The brown, small glass box. Smear that one around the cuts and then wait for a few moments. Afterwards use the liquid in the blue bottle to clear the wound as good as possible. Then the needle and the thread, they should be in a little bag made of cloth. Use them to sew it shut. Then the jar with the orange cover. Apply that one above the seam. And finally wrap it with a bandage" She considered to add a pain killer to the list but decided against it. Numbing the skin would have to do. Wincing she shrugged her jacket off. "If possible start with that one. It's deep, but not long. The other one isn't half as deep, but about as lond as your hand.

Lena opened the door and finally set Mart down again. "There is some food on the table." She told him quietly, pushed him towards the meal she had cooked earlier. He stayed at her side and so she walked over herself, sat down at the table and handed him something to eat. Tiredly he leaned sagged against the back of the chair, but started eating and she turned to Alask. He was reading some papers, but she ignored that for the moment. "Let him stay here, please." she asked, no almost begged him. "Seb killed my grandmother and his school is rubble. Nothing more but a night or two until this is over and I've found a place for him to sleep." Explanations. It should help, something in return. Her hands held on to the table, to cover their shivvering, although it didn't really work. "I'll do anything, everything. Clean this place, try to be nice to people, fight whoever you want me to. Just let him sleep here." And so easily, she had put herself at his mercy. Alask didn't like her, feared her, and she had just handed him the one thing she would give her life for. She hated the feeling, the helplessness, how much she depended on him and she knew it would all show on her face, that Alask would know, and Eve as well. So she looked down, searched for a bandage, something to sew her cuts shut, some pointment to help with the pain. Her fingers shook and she probably wasn't able to really care for the wound herself right now, but it was better to do something, than to sit here and wait for his decision, like a criminal standing in front of a judge. @I think I am here. @Silva

Lena stayed where she was, when the knife neared her forearm, when he pressed it into her flesh, so deep she grit her teeth. Pain, but less than she should feel, it would come later. A quick slash and then he was done, the knife fell to the ground. Remember him. She took Mart's hand again and followed the street, forced her legs to move, despite the slight shaking of her muscles that made her feel like lying down and do nothing for a while, until her body was working normally again. Mart stumbled over a leg and cried louder, the sound snapped her out of her thoughts, had her bent down and pick him up again. It wasn't far. ==================== Mike nodded and quickly stepped towards the shaft. He changed into Squirrel and climbed up to the next door. It was standing a bit open and he was able to squeeze through it. A laboratory of some sorts. ==================== Zokora watched Wes body heal and then walked over to him. "I can call an evacutation unit to get you out. Otherwise -" she gestured towards the elevator shaft. Then she turned to Seom and Darkness and repeated the gesture. @Ark's Boyfriend @I think I am here. @Vargo Seldon

Lena moved her body between him and Mart again. A scar? A small price for a chance to get Mart into safety. She wasn't sure if her body could take another injury, it depended on how deep he cut, where he hit her. She had lost some blood, her heart and blood circulation already at the border of what they could manage. Taking drugs when injured usually was a bad idea, taking a high dose - her arms shook while she worked to held them in place. It was a risk, but she always took risks. She had taken a risk when she had agreed to meet them, when she had jumped from one airplane to another. When she had stayed with Alask. The shadow of a grin formed on her face. "If you kill me, nobody will tell your story." She reminded him and spread her arms in a silent invitation. Her eyes never left the knife. She would take any blow aimed at Mart herself.

Attayl's eyes widened in surprise, then she smiled. He hadn't planed to hurt the man, it had been nothing but fear and worry. A good man. Her side hurt when she turned to the man, reminded her of the cut she had received earlier and she winced at the sharp pain. Still her hand was steady and calm when she looked at the man Brillin had let go of. "What canal?" She asked and he nodded eagerly. "The large one, between the octants. The Farriers have taken it over, but Willet decided to get it back. He plans on a large offense, as soon as he has enough people. Show everybody who is the boss here." It made sense. Whoever controlled the large canals, controlled the Octant. It was the same with the train station, but as it had been destroyed. "They attacked the Parlor to show off, to gather more support for this attack." She didn't realize she had spoken aloud until the man nodded eagerly. "Yes, exactly. Willet will show them that he is the boss." Attayl looked at Brillin at his crossed arms. He was watching her, waited to see what she would do. A good man. She looked at her hand holding the knife, at the blood on her dress. She had killed two people today, and there was nothing. No regret, no pain. It had been a neccessity. And she knew, she would do it again. A sob escaped her lips when she turned around again, when she realized how weak she was, and how strong he had been. Despite his hardships, despite the way everybody knew him, he had stayed true to himself. But she, she had given in, had hidden her asset out of fear, had become the monster people saw in him. Her eyes stared at the man, who lifted his hands in defense, but she stepped forward anyways, grabbed his hair and pulled him towards her, slipped his neck in under the base of his skull. Quick and mostly painless. He sagged against her and she screamed in pain, when he hit her side, pushed the corpse away. Her knife dropped to the ground, hit the floor with a sound that was almost too loud, and she pressed a hand against the wound in her side in an attempt the stop the bleeding. Leaning against a nearby wall she looked through the room, her body claming down, now that the threat was over. Corpses were lying between destroyed tables and blood coloured to floor a dark crimson. Attayl stared at them, at those she had killed herself and then looked down at her bloody hand, pressed against her side. The wound started to throb painfully and she was glad about the wall to support her. "I am the daughter of a whore." She spoke quietly, dragged it all out in the open, because it hurt, the htought alone hurt and she wanted to hurt, to feel anything, than this void. Because she knew she should feel something, something else than joy at being alive and free. Something more. "My nother died protecting me from an angry customer when I was a child, he cut my face open, but I survived. She buyed the time so that I could flee and I did, I left her behind, listened to her screams until they faded when I rounded a corner. I stole food, begged for money until he found me, admired my skills, how fast and quick I was. And so he took me with him, to his gang. We were children, and he was the oldest one of us. Over the time we grew older, some died, some left, but he was always there. One day, I was one of his longest members, and I knew he was starting to fear me. So I started to do what my mother did. Secured my place with body, made sure he knew of my everlasting loyalty. And he used me, started to hand me out to his friend, or to those he wanted to become his friends. And I could do nothing about it. Nothing but to go back to being a thug, and then I would grow into a threat as well." Her voice broke somewhere along the lines, but she continued, her heart sore when she forced herself to remember, but it was better, it was better to break herself, than to let them to do it. "He's dead, everybody I knew for the last years is dead and I am still caught in their net." A step towards a table, grab some cloth, press it on the wound. Her voice grew louder, when she forced herself to face the situation, to leave the past behind for now. She wasn't strong enough to change the past, to change herself. But she was able to go on. She had learned that, just as she had learned how to kill "They killed Jeb, cut him apart. A traitor, because he tried to do what is right, because he was a good man. I covered his body, he's in the kitchen." She sounded tired in the end, ripped apart. Go on, be strong. She had to, she knew how it worked. "There won't be another attack soon. They reached their goal. That they lost some doesn't matter anymore. Not if Willett is aiming for the canal."

Lena tried to consider his words, to get past their obvious meaning. He was angry, that she thought him something to ignore, maybe she could use that. "You are threatening my child." she stated, tried to calm her breath. Her fingers crept into her bag, touched different bottles and boxes, unable to find the one she was looking for. She had two options. Grab Mart's hand and run, or try to talk to him. "I am sorry, for passing through you. You were blocking my way and I have somewhere I need to go." Gently she caressed Mart's hair, tried to calm him. He had started to sob, his face burried in her blood soaked pants. She grabbed his hand and took a step down the street, her eyes staying on the knife. "You are stronger, than I thought you were. I see your power now." A lie, but she'd never cared about telling the truth. "I am sure there are people around that are a much worthier enemy than I am." Another step and another. "I can tell your tale, let people know who you are, how powerful you are. But for that to work, you need to let me go."

The fog parted in front of her and so she took another step and another. Blood was still dripping down her arm and she knew she had to stop, take care of the wound, staunch the bleeding again, maybe finally stich it together. At least she should stop to carry Mart around. Lena turned a corner, finally, she had reached the right street. It was long, seemed endless, but it was the right street. She was about to set Mart down, when the Haunt picked up a knife, circled them. It shook, but a shaking knife was enough to kill a child. Mart slid out of her grip, but she managed to more or less slow his fall, when her arms finally gave up their work. Valium. Lena's fingers touched her bag again. It would help. At least for now it would help. She only needed to find it. "What do you want from me, Haunt?" she asked. "Aren't there better targets around this city?" She tried to sound self confident, but mostly she was tired, her voice slightly slurred. Mart clung to her legs and she felt sweat run over her face and back. More shaking, her heart beating too fast. Dangerous, Lena, dangerous.

Shana heard them talk about going to buy groceries and offered. "We could come along as well. Then we should be able to deal with almost anything." She looked at Ben. "If you want to, that is. Otherwise we can stay here?" @Lunamor

"To kill the old one." the man spat some blood out, aimed for Brillin's face. His eyes darted around the room frightened. They had been told, that almost nobody would be around, that the visitors had left. Instead they had faced a large party, and all of them ready to fight. Even the half-blood, the one the newspapers talked about was here. "Please, don't kill me. I'm not tasty and I've got a wife she is a fine woman. Willet send us, to make sure Jeb pays for betraying him, to send a message, to those under his protection, that he is strong, that the Farriers are nother more but a nuissance. Willet is planning to make a stand against him, and this was the first step. Something about a canal." He spoke hastily, hoped the words would safe him. "Here my knife, I'll throw it on the ground, and this is my wallet, you can have it as well. I'm only here, because Wilett ordered me to be he, he is the one you have to be angry at, not me." ================================ Attayl kneeled next to Jeb and then stood up, fetched a blanket of some sort and covered his body. They had left his face intact and so she stopped there, rearranged the head until he looked almost peaceful. She'd never been a religious person, her mother hadn't been and in the gangs nobody cared, or at least they pretended to. They al lhad to be strong on their own, without relying on some external force. The weak ones were killed. Always. You always killed the weak ones first. Gingerly she touched his cheek, knew that this was wrong, that such a good person had to pay for a fight, that wasn't his own, that the good ones, those that cared always died on the hands on of those that were stronger, those that used others to achieve their own goals. She sat back on her knees and stared at his face, remembered his earlier words. You can stay here, there is no need to clean. And she had cleaned anyway. Had thrown his kindness away, because it had been something so strange, so unreal to her. She should have accepted it, have thanked him, had she even thanked him? She almost jumped to her feet and ran back into the other room. Good men, good people. Her bronze was still burning and she kept it on, hoped it would warn her in case of another attack. Brillin, holding a man to the wall. Brillin, but he had been hiding. Attayl felt sick when she rushed over, her knife in her hand. This was Brillin? What had happened, when had he started acting like the one they had described in the newspaper. "Leave him Brillin, please." Another good man trapped in this mud, in this conflict. "I can dispatch of him." She offered, and then added so quietly, that she wasn't even sure if anybody could hear her. "Don't become the monster they see in you." @I think I am here.

The Haunt moved, created a scary face and she stepped between him and Mart. It was then that it clicked that she remembered. Something about the face, about the way it moved. "The Haunt." Lena laughed grimly. "I know you. You're the one who loves stories, but you're harmless. Nothing but grasping for every single bit of attention you can get." She wasn't sure about that last part, but he hadn't done anything so far. Large words, scary face, but nothing else. Mart started to cry at the face and she lifted him off the ground again, hoped that it would work. Taking a deep breath she stepped forward, Mart's face safely borrowed in her shoulder. Hastily she continued her way, ignored him for now. If she was wrong, she would have to try to talk to him, bargain with him. But for now, fleeing was a good option as well.

Shana helped Ben up. "Come on, let's help to make lunch?" @Lunamor

Lena saw something slowly float over, blocking her path. Shadowlike, translucent, but there. She stopped, set Mart down and looked around. It was everywhere. She wiped some sweat of her forehead, her hand shaking a bit. Then she walked over to a building, tried to open the door and cursed - it was locked. Mart clung to her leg and she caressed his head, her eyes darting along the street. It was doing nothing, just was there. But it had trapped her, maybe not even knew she was here. Lena tried to figure out what it was, but the best thing she could come up with was a ghost. Slowly she walked over, careful to keep Mart behind her back and reached out with her hand to see if she might be able to pass through. ================== "I'm glad you decided that way. We need every support available." Zokora replied to Silva, then she looked over to Darkness and Mike and gestured towards the shaft. "You can start to climb up. I will wait until the healer is finished." @Darth Woodrack @I think I am here. @Vargo Seldon @Ark's Boyfriend

Their way back was difficult. Lena partially carried Mart, regularly saw members of the various guilds fighting, waited until they had cleared a way and then hastened along again. Mart was tired, hadn’t eaten since this had started and while he was frightened, clung to her, he was also slow. Carrying him sucked up her strength even more than running had earlier. Holding him with one arm alone turned incredibly difficult after a while. She swallowed a second pill, counted her pulse. It suppressed her exhaustion, but she knew, she would have to pay the price later. You could only push a body so far. There was no way she would leave Mart behind, or seek shelter in one of the houses here. The forge. If she made it there, maybe Alask could take him, she had some food there, and hopefully more water. It meant that Warden would see him, Eve, but Lena was beyond caring. She needed for him to get to safety, to get out of this mess, but she would never hand him over a stranger. She didn’t trust the guilds, but mostly because trusted nobody. Except for Alask maybe. He would betray her. But when he did, he would regret it, that made him different. And she couldn’t picture him hurt her son. So it was back to the Forge. Easy. A risk, but she would take any risk to make sure Mart was safe. She hoped they were still there. Flee together with them. If the guilds captured them, then maybe Alask would help her. If only by searching for a new place for Mart to stay. Mostly she was tired. And the closest place she figured where they could be safe, was the forge. She couldn’t take him home, all the snakes, frogs, poisons. So she continued to hide in houses, until a monster passed, another few metres, hiding. On and on until she lost track of the time that passed, until she felt her hands start shaking slowly. Too much, two pills had been two much. And she had known, had decided to do it. She had some valium somewhere. Later. Once Mart was safe. Thirsty she drank some water, but gave most of it to her son. After a short break she continued, carrying him again, both of her arms holding him tight. The pain forgotten - for the moment. fresh blood welled out of the wound, coloured her sleeve a bright red.

Zokora gave a curt nod. "Then please see to your squad mate over there." She gestured towards Wes and looked at the rest. "Any other questions?"

Honestly, I used to post in TLT now and then, but ever since the plot began I'm at a loss. A lot of things happen when I'm asleep and I have no easy way to get back in, unless I follow the plot closely.

Zokora nodded curtly. "Let us establish a way to communicate directly. If one of us runs into trouble the others can help." She proposed and turned around. There they were. She stepped away from the group and waved for the Guns n' Ninjas to come over. The Spren-like creature was following them as well. "My name is Zokora An'Inera. I am te Righthand's assistant. We will go up. It is our task to secure the floors upwards. Any questions?" @I think I am here. @Ark's Boyfriend @Vargo Seldon @Grey Knight @xinoehp512

Wolf vanished abruptly, left Mike on the ground. "She's not my girlfriend." he replied tonelessly. Bella, a part of this? Bella commanded them all? He had asked her to come, to follow him, she knew he was fighting them, and she had let him go alone. She hadn't told him, instead she had watched the city burn. She had accepted his betrayal, had told him she didn't care. He knew why. Because she didn't care. She had this large scheme, had her own plans. And she knew he had no chance to make a difference. He had endangered his squad for her and it was for nothing. Because she didn't care. He was just a guy that had adored her, and she had liked it. Mike grabbed a knife, and cut the tattoo off, let the flaming skull fall on the ground. Wordlessly he followed Darkness inside, a hand pressed to the bleeding wound on his arm. "Do you have a plan where to go?" @Vargo Seldon

Thanks And again sorry. I simply typed the wrong name.

Attayl heard the man start screaming and looked over, stared at him aghast when she saw the chalk drawing eat him up, rip him apart. Blazing pain cursed through her body and she screamed. Distraction. Never get distracted. Instinct saved her, had her pull up a knee, up and forward, into the groin of the man and she screamed in fear, in resolution. He recoiled, pain glazing his eyes over and this time she remained focused. Her knife slashed out for his throat and she cut it open, blood running over her hand, her dress. He clawed at his torn skin and she whirled around. One was getting eaten alive, one she had killed. The other two were lying on the ground. Atmose seemed to have the situation well in hand. Concentrating on her bronze she realized, that the pulsing had stopped. “I’ll check on Jeb.” She called and ran towards the kitchen. On her way there she passed one, who was clutching his leg and she bent down, killed him as well. She had forgotten how easy it was. How quickly you could shut some eyes forever. Then she opened the door. Jeb, lying on the ground a gruesome message on the floor next to him. Traitor. Slowly she took a step into the room, stared at his still form. He had been kind to her. Had offered her a place to stay and wanted nothing in return. Attayl slowly kneeled down next to him, closed his eyes. @Emperor Stick @I think I am here. @ZincAboutIt