Sorana

Wita touched Kira's arm when Marcel stepped forward, about to hand his pouch over. "Will he be killed?" She asked slowly, real fear shining through her easy words. -Marcel had been nice. She didn't want for him to die, she wanted him to live. To dance with him agian. To ask him about that one step he'd done, she'd never seen before. She watched as the thug grinned satisfied and stepped forward, reached out for the wallet. @Hope Spren ============= Sam was surprised when suddenly a piece of metal flew towards him. Another metalborn. He hadn't expected another - Pain raced through his arm and he yelped, threw himself to the ground. Without thinking about it, he pushed against a streetlamp behind him and sped towards his enemy, carbon knife aiming for the kidney.

Shana sat down next to him, leaned against the cushion and sighed in relief. She waved weakly at Ben and then reached over for the loose pouch, pushed it towards Ben. He deeeded it more than she did. His injury was so grave. Exhausted she closed her eyes and started to drift of, her mind forcing her to calm down, to give in. "Thank you." She smiled weakly at Rob and decided against moving for a while. @Lunamor @Wyndlerunner

Mart nodded and lay down again, this time falling asleep soon. Lena stood up, and busied herself with the kitchen again. Judging the state of the matress, they probably had a lot of cleaning up to do. They. She scrubbed at a plate and recalled her thought. They. She had agreed to stay for a while. Not a long while, but a while. And if it meant Mart had a place to stay. Angrily she set the plate aside and grabbed another one. Cleaning up. She wasn't his servant, or something like that. Next plate. But he'd never asked her to. He'd never asked her to do anything. He'd simply offered a bed for her child. "What is the plan?" She asked bruskely, hated the way he held her in his hand. Hated, that she knew, that he would never act on it, never unless she was about to do something he believed was worth risking a child's life. He'd killed so many with his plan to summon the phoenix. And the phnoenix hadn't changed a thing. Still. Without him, Mart would be with strangers, somewhere in the tunnels or in a car. Or dead. Grudgingly she added a "Thank you." To her question and then attacked the dirt on the next plate. She had agreed to come along, so she could stay for a while. If only because Mart liked him. The rest - she would see about the rest later.

"Are you even within range? Or maybe wait till your shots counts, I don't know." Mike asked and looked at the looming figure. It was away from them, and he had no idea how Wes even planned to hit something that far away. But then he barely hit a target on the other side of the room, so he probably was the wrong one to judge that. Judging distances had never been his strength. "I'm sorry." He whispered, realized he had panic, had allowed for his fear to control him. "I'll get you more ammunition. Do you need anything special?" =============== "I think so. It would at least buy us some time. Or can you think of something, that's against this? Will it interfer with your plans?" She asked Aylitha, then typed down a quick order and then sent the contact to Max, telling the young man to work the details out with him. "I send you the contact of the guy responsible for things like that. He can take care of the explosion as well. It's easier if you communicate directly. As long as we make sure, that we don't cripple us more, than we cripple him, it could work." I grew up in Iri. Her eyes met his profile, wondered when he had started to plan this. She'd never told him, but of course there were documents where the Ghostbloods had recruited her. With some effort he probably had found it out easily. Iri. She'd never planned to return there, but the thought to show him her past, to let him into that chapter of her life. It was a good thought. And maybe she could close it afterwards forever. The leecher bomb will leave me unable to do anything. More than unable. I crossed the border into the unhealthy amount of stormlight a while ago. Sometime when she'd healed all that poison, when she got them out. She would have to protect the metalmind, probably in aluminum. Still she was uncomfortable with the prospect to completely run out. She trusted Max, but he probably had to act afterwards, wasn't there to make sure she was able to move again. Somehow she'd hoped she could get them home and then collapse in their bed. @kenod ================== Zokora took Deteca's hand, shook her head in reply to her apology. "There is nothing to be sorry for. At least nothing, I can remember." Taking the hand was something Althea had recommended. There was no need for a physical touch to elsecall someone. But for those not used to it, it made it easier, if there was some kind of gesture going along with the change. She inhaled, smiled at the storm and then she reached out for Deteca, for Shadesmar. Althea described it as opening a door, just press down the handle and open it gently. Zokora felt more like taking a two-handed hammer and smash it down on the border, then rip everything apart and force them through. Needless to say that Althea was a lot more efficient when it came to elsecalling. Still Zokora managed to move them, although it left her dizzy, sinking to her knees, when the stormlight suddenly vanished. She felt weak, but still she lifted her head, looked over the remains of what had been her terrace. The tiles were broken, her plants thrown around, some missed completely. But it was nothing to the sight to her right, when she turned her head and could look down, several stories down, through the different flats. The one below the roof had been hers, and she blankely stared at the remains of her furniture, at the cloths strewn around, the cables, the water drippling over the concrete where the pipes had been ripped apart. "You can grab a woolen vest." She offered, mostly to fill the silence, pointed at the remains of a drying rack at one side of the terrace. "They were clean when I hung them up this morning." @AonEne @xinoehp512 =============== @RayOfSunshine

"Thank you." Lena set Mart down and pushed the mattress over to the wall, out of the way to the kitchen. Mart was more or less sleeping already, but she still took the time to form a pillow out of her jacket and make sure he was covered by the blanket. He curled up, his bear pressed to his chest and his breaths deepened. Lena stayed next to him, waited for him to fall asleep, but then he suddenly sat upright, stared at Alask. "You will stay?" He asked intensely and Lena felt a stab when she realized, that he was expecting her to be gone. Just as she always was.

Althea cursed then finally the door opened and she stepped inside rushing through the hallway, the situation reminded her of another year, another hideout. Rushing to get more stormlight to face another enemy. Her hands shook and she stopped, listened. Silence. Nobody was here anymore. Tilting her head back she screamed, an ear-piercing feral scream. Lord Ajax, her city, Max. The fire, the poison, the dead boy in Shadesmar, the surgery, the attack in Oasis, Lusk. It all blured together, her days like a neverending nightmare. Staring into a mirror she looked at her face, at the exhaustion etched in there, the blue eyes. Blue. Suddenly she hated them, wished they were red again, knew that it was nothing but exhaustion and desperation and guilt, but for now she hated her face. Her hair, still streaked with blood and dirt, although the rain had helped, had washed a lot of the stuff out. Althea realized she'd started to cry, because it was so much, too much forherto process, to handle. With a sob she - Her device beeped and she looked down. Tels asking for orders. See if you can find something out about his powers, maybe place some more cameras. Only fight if you think you can win. She wrote back, then used the bathroom, grabbed some chocolate. They had these few minutes, they had to have them. Out of balance she helped no one. "You swore to protect them." Brashen hopped on her chocolate and she heaved another sobbing breath. "I'm trying. I don't know what else to do. No matter what I do, some will die." "But he won't rule." "Sacrifice few to save many." Her voice was bland when she finally retrieved the spheres. Inhaling she closed her eyes. "I ... it's wrong no matter what I decide it's wrong. I'm bargaining with their lives as if they weren't important. I know it's about the larger picture. It always is. But still - I can't -" Max voice reached her and it was shaking slightly as well. He was as scared as she was. They all were. There was a time to break down. And it wasn't now. I want to go on vacation. She told him. Just a few days. No dying, no deaths, just you and me and no war. She made sure the door was locked and then took a deep breath. Stay strong, stay calm. No more outbreaks. Wiping the tears of her face she reached for her mask again. She looked even ore awful than earlier, red streaks from crying a great addition to the grime and blood of the sewers. Elsecalling back to Max and Aylitha she replied to his question loudly. "We might have some motivators to conter his hovering. Maybe a Radiant with Gravitation can help as well. I ordered Tels to try and find out something about his powers. I need to contact our quartermaster." Her voice was calm and controlled, her face her usual, carefully crafted mask. @I think I am here. @kenod @Truthless of Shinovar ================== Mike rushed over to Wes, took his arm. "Stop. Just stop Wes. He's too far away. Please. You need to think." He stared at him, at the boy who was declining his friendship again and again. That kept him at a distance. "Wes, please. I don't want to loose you." I want to be your friend, but if I can't be that, then at least let me be your voice of reason.

Anthony lifted his hands when he saw the clover. "You can leave, man. No need to keep you." He gave a nervous laugh, realized he had lifted his hands as if in defeat and lowered them again. Then the pale man spoke again asked him about, "What do you know about, I mean, no idea what you're talking, that's some midern nonsense-" "Just hand over your money." They were dangerous. These mages. Nothing a good gun couldn't solve, but still dangerous. He had to be careful. And where was Sam? He was supposed to trap them. ========= Sam enjoyed himself greatly. No eyes. What a joke. He would push the bullets away without much effort. "I think you opened a barrel that's too large for you to drink." "But I might let you go, with some incentive on your side?" He rubbed his fingers together to indicate money. @I think I am here. @Hope Spren @Dr. Dapper @Eluvianii

Worried Zokora observed her for a moment, made sure she didn't let go of her arm. Deteca seemed dizzy, as if she might tumble to the ground again any time. "Here, maybe drink something?" She offered her her own bottle of water, turned her body slightly, so that she could see the adjacent tunnels. Better to have a wall in her back, easier to judge where an attack came from. Looking back at her device she added a camera view, looked at the roofs. "I could take us to a roof, a safe distance away. So that we can get an impression of the situation, judge better where to send our troops." Whether to send them at all. But that was another question. Give up. The thought crossed her mind, and she paused, pulled up her numbers, their losses. Giving up was no option. Not at all. If they gave up, then the city was lost. Sadly she looked at the destroyed places, that had been her home, sorrow creasing her blow. Blinking a few times to get rid of some tears, she focused the camera on some buildings maybe a hundred feet away from Lord Ajax. One of them was destroyed almost completely. A part of its roof was still standing, facing into the direction Lord Ajax was coming from. It had been grey, with glass. A nice backyard and a good neighbourhood. Windows facing the east, greeting the sun each morning. "We could go there. I know the area well." Zokora had never been like Althea, burrying all emotions below an unbreakable mask, but right now she wished her voice would sound strong and clear, and not small and hurt as it sounded to her ears. @AonEne

Anthony laughed. "I don't care about your opinion." He claimed loudly, but looked around. The girl had knives, that pale man was strange and the third one, was threatening him. And Sam wasn't showing up. Somehow that wasn't how he'd pictured the situation to go. He pictures some money and then they would run and he could have Sam get the corpse out of the way. "Just leave, alright? No need to be so testy." @I think I am here. @Hope Spren @Dr. Dapper ========= Sam just shrugged, unaware of the situation in the Alley. Wordplay. He liked a good wordplay. "Maybe because you want to live. Or because you care about your arm." He grinned. "Or maybe, you just don't want to end up in danger." @Eluvianii ========== Wita nodded, then she got up and walked over to Marcel. Help. The little Fairy wanted to help. She could do that as well maybe? Pondering what she might do, she picked up the purse of the man Marcel had taken a look at earlier. Pictures. She liked pictures. Smiling brightly at the fairy and at Marcel she started to look at them.

Zokora looked at the healer and he smiled at Deteca. "That is only natural. You will need some time to recover, but for now you are good." Turning to Zokora he stood up. "If you need anything else, just contact me. With your permission, I will head back, see who else needs my help." Nodding Zokora thanked him, and he rushed away. Zokora offered Deteca an arm to help her sit up. For a moment she wondered how she ended up here, next to Deteca, the one who had spied on them, had betrayed them, and she was offereing her an arm, then she only smiled at that thought. She liked her. Probably she should never say that loudly, but she liked her. Even with these strange black things she had created. "It's time to die." The voice resonated through the tunnels and Zokora froze, then updated her maps and reports. Wordlessly she showed them to Deteca, all thoughts about asking about the black things forgotten for the moment. "We might have a problem."

But didn't most of us agree on azure by now? I thought the submitted character sheet was a vote itself? At least that's how I interpreted what you posted on sunday. Or honestly, I have no idea what to do, sorry.

"I can smash it to pieces." Jessy stepped completely out of her suit and hastened back into the escape pod. Usually there was something useful, to help after you've landed. If only she knew this design, could read the inscriptions. Quickly she opened whatever drawer she could fine, found a knife, and a strange device she couldn't even start. She kept the knife and continued her search until she found something, that might be some kind of med kit, which she also kept. At the few bandages could be helpful later. the medicine though - they could also throw it away later. With a sigh she left the pod again. "We should go. Hide. See who comes to investigate." She offered both the med kit and the knife to Cheh. "Probably we should search for some kind of settlement. Steal, or maybe trade what we need. Other cloths, blankets, pots..." Shrugging she looked up into the slightly violet sky. "Most likely they won't understand us at all."

"Good." Shana said simply. "Should that ever change tell me. I throw a superb tantrum." She let go of his hands and then continued her way back to the house, her legs shaking slightly. Exhaustion silenced her more effectively than anything else, even the short trip back from the hospital had left her shaking. Forcing herself to take step after step, she moved slowly, felt like a slug, but was too tired to care about it. Her grip on Rob's arm was everything keeping her upright, as she leaned on him more and more. It wasn't far. Only through the courtyard, up to the door.

Baffled Mike looked at him, then shook his head. "I think you confuse us, sir. Wes had the idea with the gun and he managed to blast some holes into the ..." he thought for an adequate expression and then shrugged "things wings." He hadn't drawn a signle drop of blood, instead he had been rescued both by his superiour and then by Bella. And he had vomited on the ground. Mike grimaced slightly. Wes and Seom had at least been useful, he had only endagered all of them. Amateur. There was only one amateur here, that was he himself. He left the thoughts alone when he felt porcupine stir and instead folded his hands behind back, assumed a posture that he hoped would look professional. "What are your orders, sir? I think Seom might need a while with the wounded, but I can go and ask her how much longer she will need." ================ I promise, I won't. Althea looked at him for a short moment, allowed her eyes to grow warm, to show him, how much she loved him, how much she needed him. This was the third, maybe even the fourth time they had that conversation today. Don't die. Please don't die. It all came back to these simple words. Stay with me. A short break, a moment to talk, then they faced danger again. She wished all of it was over, that they could go home, just like he had promised her earlier. The fear in his voice, how he'd held her after the explosion, while her body slowly gave up when that woman poisoned her. I love you, too. She made sure her mask was in place again, before she turned back to Aylitha. Back to business. Feeling into the metalmind, the amount of stormlight she'd left her next decision was made easily. Usually she would say, that she had enough to last her a fight, but this wasn't usually and she wouldn't take any chances. "I will go, fetch some additional supplies. I'd prefer to face that person with a large bag of infused spheres in my hands. I will meet you downstairs, I won't be long." Reaching out for shadesmar she elsecalled away. She would work with the DA, and while she suspected that they probably knew about all their hideouts anyway, there was no need to actually show them. Do you need something? She asked Max while she pressed her hand on the sensor to unlock the hidden door in the wall of an innocent looking building and then headed inside. @kenod

"If you want to, I am a woman and a teenager." Shana grinned at him, treasured the hint of warmth she heard in his voice. It was rare and it meant so much more then her laugh. "I am a master at emotional outbreaks. I can teach you. The painkillers are just a convenient excuse." Turning earnest she took his other hand in his. "You are great, just as you are. If you want to change yourself, if you are uncomfortable, then I will assist in any way I can. But if you are happy, then there is no need to. You are a good person Rob, one of the best I know. If you laugh out loud, or just amuse yourself quietly, I don't care. If everybody were like me, the world would be a weird place."

"You're my best friend." Shana smiled at him, then started to walk towards the house. She moved slowly, glad that Rob was here, that he supported her. Crawling back - no that wasn't an option. She was already on Doc's red list. Or at least she thought she was. They hadn't really talked, ever since that day in the kitchen. Somehow that also meant, that it was fine. If it wasn't, then he would most likely have told her to go away. Which he hadn't. And so she decided, that everything was fine, until he would talk to her again. Looking up, she smiled when she saw the stars and stopped, stood there and simply watched these little bright lights for a moment. "That's why we're here." She pointed at the orion. "Belt and sword, you can even barely see his legs." "At least I tell myself, that this is the reason I am here. If everything was covered in violet, dark light, controlled by them, what would happen to the stars?" Laughing at herself she looked back at Ben and James. "And you guys. I'd do everything to make sure you're safe." For a moment she looked at him again, then laughed some more. "I'm sorry, let's just blame the painkillers for all this emotional stuff."

Sagitta looked at the woman for a moment, then she chook her head, didn't reply. She was right, an yet, there was a chance that she was wrong, that this wasn't an attempt to free them, but instead something else. She followed Price outside, covered him and looked around for anything she might use as a weapon. She felt vulnerable without a weapon, without her armor, knew that she would have to adapt her fighting style. She was used to rely on the armor to ward of lighter blows, without that advantage she would have to focus on speed. Her leg throbbed and reminded her that speed was one of the attributes that wasn't standing high on her list at the moment, but she pushed the thought away. You never knew. Maybe it was just an accident.

Of course! I'll add you tothe pm. That's a cool idea!

Sagitta nodded back to show, that she understood regarding the weapon, then she took a deep breath and positioned herself next to the door. Her eyes rested on the bush and the person she figured that had to hide behind it. Without looking at Price she showed him a thumbs up, when he used his instinct and moved her leg slightly. It hurt, but there was no changing that. She had no clue how good Price' guards were, but she knew, that she was good. Injured or not. She was good, most likely better than the guards. There was no way she would end up captured by another party. @Lunamor

"You can fetch some weapons and then you'd better go and report to Mike." The guard nodded at him a last time, and then left the room.

Gratefull Shana put her hand on his shoulder again, then hugged him. "Thanks." She told him again. He knew, he had to know. But still she felt like telling him again. And she probably would do so more than once. She was a teenager, she was allowed to be a bit sentimental. He'd saved Ben, he'd saved her. She was exhausted, tired and in pain. Still she smiled slightly apologetically at him, unsure if he was uncomfortable with her right now. Loosening her grip she stepped back from him and left her hand on her arm. "Let's go home?"

Impressed Jessy stepped outside, picked up one of the fruits and looked at it. It was violett, slightly hairy. She'd never seen a fruit like that before, but you never knew. Carefully she placed it on the ground again and lifted her hands to her helmet. They had already contaminated the escape pod. So in the end it was easy. Either they could breathe the air, or they were dead. Still the thought to take a breath of air that theoretically could kill her in a few second was intimidating. Another deep breath, then she unlocked the helmet and lifted it of her head. Hesitantly she took a breath and chocked. The air was sweet. So sweet it reminded her of rotten fruit. It took a lot of strength to take another breath. The sweetness made her gag, but apart from that nothing happened. Relieved she lifted the fruit again. "Maybe we can find a knife in the escape pod." She suggested and smelled the fruit. It reminded her of vinegar.