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[Other FULL] Fire Emblem: Re-Awakening [IC][T]

Prince Nokam

"I'm coming...Nokam..." Cloff said in response to his call. Suddenly, he was on the attack. Cloff weaved in an out of the bandit formation, throwing fake punches that threw him off balance as he tried to dodge them. then he felt his foot slip, and his body falling through the air. He landed hard, a tree root hitting him in the back as he did so. Then Cloff lunged, dagger poised to strike...

Then he fell to his knees inches from Nokam. "NOKAM!" Cloff yelled. "Stop cutting down the bandits! Leave them to Tarin, in her weakened..." He trailed off, pain in his voice, then continued. "ARGH!...Her weakened...ngh...state...should be able to...AGH..take them. Focus your attention to me! Slay me...and you might get out of this alive!" He seemed to be writhing with an internal pain, even though no one was even hitting him. Then Cloff punched him in the jaw, causing him to stumble back once more.

What is going on?! Nokam wondered furiously. One moment Cloff was punching him, the next he was telling Nokam to kill him? But, before Nokam could come to a conclusion, he saw Lutaro's dragon form ram into Cloff, pushing him away from Nokam.

He fell to the ground, and quickly reverted to his child-like human form. He grabbed the blanket, and called to Cloff. "Wh-What do you think you're doing?! You're on- GAH..." Lutaro fell to the ground as his wounds overcame him. "You're... You're on our side... Why... Why would you fight Lord Ylisse... Aggghh..." He collapsed, holding his stomach.

Cloff rose and spoke to Lutaro. "Now, now, little dragon...you're right. He's on your side. Sadly, I'm not." Cloff smiled before throwing the boy onto the ground. Dust dust rose from the ground where he was thrown. A bandit with an axe approached to finish him off.

"This one's mine!" Cloff shouted at the bandit, who shrugged and charged Nokam. Nokam had risen by this point, and easily dispatched the bandit, utilizing the Falchion's longer reach to dismember his foe before he could strike. Even whilst fighting, he watched the horrid events unfold. Cloff stabbed Lutaro in the chest, then left him for dead after speaking quietly to him. He walked over and speaking to the bandit tactician, who gave him what looked like his Beast Stone.

Then he did something surprising. He walked back to Lutaro's body, picked it up, and applied a Vulnerary to him. He then lay him gently to the side of the clearing before transforming and screaming a battle cry at Nokam. The tactician stared at the noise when Lutaro blindsided him in Dragon form. The tactician didn't stand a chance.

The bandits faltered at the sight of their fallen leader. Some turned and fled, whil others rushed forward to avenge their commander. Nokam had no problem with that, cutting them down as they prioritized him. As his Shepherds stood in the aftermath of the battle, Nokam walked over to Cloff. "Now," Nokam said. "What do I do with you?"
 
With the tactician gone, most of the bandits had fled. Only a few stubborn, or idiotic, ones remained. Nokam cut them down with ease, as did the manakete. The prince approached the taguel.
"Now then, what do I do with you?" he asked. It was a simple question. Cloff wasn't attacking, but more or less observing the nearly empty battlefield. Corpses littered the grass. The taguel evaluated his options, thinking of the best response.

"Um...kill me?" Cloff blurted out, confused at what to say.
"NO! Wait, uh, don't do that. I meant...er..." Cloff stuttered, trying to think of a way to explain his actions...
"...I got hit with a Berserker spell! Haven't you heard of those mages? Funny thing, in the bloodshed involving teh bandits, that one mage was sure difficult to spot! Caught me off-guard, that spell did! Luckily I came back with sheer willpower because I'm a true SHEPHERD!" Cloff said, placing his right hand over the area where he thought his heart was. He smiled sheepishly, hoping the Prince would buy his story.

Cloff thought about Tarin. Would she forgive him? He loved her so much that it ached...but he nearly killed her earlier in the battle. The taguel decided that he'd cross that bridge when he got there. Cloff noticed that the Impulse was being eerily silent. Though Cloff was surrounded by Shepherds and corpses, he couldn't help but feel a bit lonely due to this.
 
Prince Nokam

"Um...kill me?" Cloff blurted out. Nokam started, momentarily shocked by Cloff's reactions.

"NO! Wait, uh, don't do that. I meant...er..." Cloff stuttered. He paused for a second, a pensive expression on his face. "...I got hit with a Berserker spell! Haven't you heard of those mages? Funny thing, in the bloodshed involving the bandits, that one mage was sure difficult to spot! Caught me off-guard, that spell did! Luckily I came back with sheer willpower because I'm a true SHEPHERD!" Cloff said, placing his right hand over his chest.

Nokam wasn't sure what to make of his explanation. Cloff's exuberance seemed suspicious to Nokam, who prided himself on his ability to read people. His explanation also left something to be desired, though there was the possibility that Nokam had missed something. "A Berserker spell huh? Interesting..."

He turned his back to Cloff. "You're a good fighter, and your power is a welcome thing to the Shepherds. However, in the case that you are lying, I cannot allow such a thing to occur again." He turned to his assembled Shepherds, and addressed them at the same time that he did Cloff. "I will allow you to continue your service for the Shepherds, if one of your companions will vouch for you. However," he said, turning back toward Cloff. "If such a thing happens again, you and your savior's life are forfeit to me."

He hated to do something like this. He believed in teamwork and companionship above all else, and something like this would only serve to break the group's spirit. However, he had no other ideas that would bring him out of this situation.
 
"NOKAM! Stop cutting down the bandits! Leave them to Tarin, in her weakened... ARGH!...Her weakened...ngh...state...should be able to...AGH..take them. Focus your attention to me! Slay me...and you might get out of this alive!" At this point, it sounded like Cloff wanted to get Tarin killed. She could barely kill 3 Bandits in her current state, let alone the small army that surrounded them. But then again, he had just joined up with the Assassin's. Tarin clutched onto her right shoulder, in an attempt to keep her blood inside her body.

"Ok you Bandits," She panted, "Prepare to d-" Before Tarin was able to finish, an Assassin leapt from the treetops onto her back, kicking her onto the ground. Her face was the first thing to smash into the dirt, causing her to close her eyes. A loud shattering noise accompanied the thud of her fall, but she didn't pay much mind to it. 'I've probably lost a tooth or something...' She thought as she tried to recover her body from the shock. But it was much worse than that.

The assassin had turned his back on her, firing a few arrows towards Nokam. She slowly lifted her head off of the ground, just to feel tiny shards of gold slide down her face. Tarin stared at them, watching more and more pieces fall off, until her entire mask was nothing more than a pile of crimson gold scraps. Her jaw dropped as a sickly mixture of anger and sadness encompassed her brain. "...THAT WAS MY LAST ITEM OF VALUE YOU... YOU MONSTER!"

Eyes seeping with rage, Tarin rushed towards the bandit, leaping onto him in the same manner he did to her. Only this time, Tarin made sure that the blow would be a killing one. Her dagger sliced into his neck, ending his life moments before his body crashed into the ground. "WHO ELSE WANT'S TO DIE!" Unfortunately for the assassins, that wasn't a question. She proceeded to go on an anger-powered killing spree, continuing even after they attempted to flee the battle.

Still sweating with anger, Tarin stomped her way over to the main group where she was going to demand compensation for her loss, but got distracted by Cloff's trial before she could say anything. She didn't exactly want to ruin such a fine moment, so instead she sat down in a place where she could get a good shot of his head rolling off."I will allow you to continue your service for the Shepherds, if one of your companions will vouch for you. However, if such a thing happens again, you and your saviour's life are forfeit to me."

Unfortunately, before being able to hear the entire outcome, Tarin's leg started burning much more aggressively. She clutched over the wound tightly before puling on the leg of the closest person to her. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a vulnerary on you, would ya?" She asked, in a softer pained voice.
 
Cloff's mind was working furiously. He wished that he could vouch for himself. The taguel wondered if the Prince even remembered his selfless act. Cloff recalled fighting his way up to the surface, stopping his dagger from piercing Nokam's flesh, and then giving advice as to how the Prince might survive the ordeal. The taguel had honestly hoped that Nokam would understand that Cloff's actions were not his own, as he prepared to die. When he won his body back, this same hope returned. But the Prince seemed oblivious. It seemed to be his nature to focus on the negative side: This is what I saw happen, this is your consequence. That logic was agonizing. Cloff decided that the Prince had taken his would've-been sacrafice into account, or would do so when the shock of the events faded. Instead, the taguel thought of something that perhaps the Prince wouldn't have been aware of, something to add to his credibility...

"H-hey! I saved Lu----" Cloff couldn't seem to remember the boy's name, so he just stopped.
"I saved..er...Lu from certain death! You may not know it, but I healed him with a vulnerary for a wound!" the taguel stammered. Suddenly, Cloff remembered that it had been he himself that inflicted the wound in the first place.
"I woke up from the Berserker Spell, healed him, and then we plotted a successful plan to take out the tactician! It was us that took away the only strategy that the bandits had, which gave us a huge upper hand!" the taguel pointed out. Cloff didn't really know where to go from there--he was scared. What if he was kicked out of the Shepherds?! What if Lu didn't vouch for him?! Cloff turned and saw Tarin...and noted her mask was gone. Not that he cared. Now he had a face to imagine in his fantasies of romance with the thief. Would she vouch for him?

Cloff went into full-panic mode. His life rested on his comrades words...he prayed for them to let him see another day with the Shepherds.
 
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It was over. The battle was over at last. Confusing, scary, suspenseful... but over. Lutaro grew silent, hearing the endeavour between Cloff and Nokam. He knew... he needed to put in his two cents.

Closing his eyes, he once again reverted to his human form, his blanket falling smoothly on his arm, and his other arm's hand subconsciously moving where he had been stabbed. It still hurt...
... It still hurt. Lutaro realized in a quick pang he had put too much energy into that final charge... he grew dizzy and his body grew numb. He had more than wasted Cloff's vulernary. His wound trickled a little more as Lutaro quickly fell to his knees. He attempted to speak.

"Lo... Ylisse...", he sputtered, "*cough* Something's wrong... but... *cough* he doesn't want to hurt others... not even me... *hack* I think... he needs to be watched... but... he deserves another chance... He... still... saved me..."

Lutaro's last bit of energy gave out on him, forcing him to fall faceforward onto the battlefield. He was still alive, and somewhat conscious, but no way would he be pulling his own weight for a while.

And can you blame him? He's just a kid, after all.
 
Prince Nokam

Silence permeated the glade where the Shepherds stood. Then Cloff spoke. "H-hey! I saved Lu----" Cloff stuttered and stopped. Perhaps this was a nickname for the boy? Nokam wasn't sure.

Cloff continued. "I saved..er...Lu from certain death! You may not know it, but I healed him with a vulnerary for a wound! I woke up from the Berserker Spell, healed him, and then we plotted a successful plan to take out the tactician! It was us that took away the only strategy that the bandits had, which gave us a huge upper hand!"

Nokam processed Cloff's words. But, before he could speak, Lutaro walked forward. However, this small action seemed to much for his fragile body to handle and he fell to his knees. He spoke in a weak voice. "Lo... Ylisse...", he sputtered, "*cough* Something's wrong... but... *cough* he doesn't want to hurt others... not even me... *hack* I think... he needs to be watched... but... he deserves another chance... He... still... saved me..."

Then Nokam saw blood, and acted without thought. He rushed forward and caught the boy before he could fall any further. Then, using his hunting knife, he cut open Lutaro's shirt and exposed the wound. It was large, and though it showed signs of healing from the vulnerary, it obviously hadn't been enough. Nokam reached into his shirt pocket and brought out his elixer, one of a small, precious stock that had been brought with the other medicines from the capital.

He poured it over the wound, completely covering it in the elixer. The wound closed almost immediately, and Nokam sighed with relief. The boy would be fine. "There now, that should do it," he murmured. Slowly laying the boy on the ground, he spoke to the assembled crowd. "very well. Cloff, due to Lutaro's kind words, you may continue your service. Everyone! Get Lutaro back to the horses, and then we leave this place." He turned and spat on the ground. "We've already spent too much time in this rat's nest."
 
As Lutaro struggled to hold himself up, he was umable to insist otherwise or argue when Nokam grabbed him. He managed to see Nokam grab the shirt he wore. Lutaro mustered the strength to say a word for that. "N-No...!", Lutaro softly sputtered, "Not... her shirt..."

As the Elixir worked its wonders, the cringing pain in Lutaro's abdomen finally subsided. But the exhaustion and bodily shock of taking the blow still held, and Lutaro did not stand up as he was set on the ground.

He looked over to the pained thief, probably annpyed she had been quite thoroughly ignored. Gently moving an arm toward the group, he muttered, "Um... I think... I think she needs help..." He put his arm down, looking over at her with his weakened look. He hoped she was alright...
 
Cloff took a seat beside Tarin.
"I love you." he blurted out. No impulse. Just a spontaneous thought that had somehow been uttered aloud. He averted his gaze, as he searched for words to make up for his blip...

"I mean, it's just...you're an amazing woman. But it's time we got you a vulnerary or something." Cloff sighed. He looked over and saw a bandit corpse not too far away. There had been a lot of them after all...

"Be right back." the taguel stated, looting the body. More of the darts...more of that hallucinogen. More importantly though was a few medicines, including a vulnerary. He dashed back to Tarin and thought about administering it to her wound. No...Tarin wouldn't like that. Cloff knew better. Instead, he handed her the vulnerary to let her administer it herself.

"You know, maybe in the next battle, we can fight alongside each other or something...just so we have each other's backs?" Cloff suggested, studying her face. Without the mask, her face was beautiful. Everything about Tarin was beautiful. Cloff hoped she felt the same way back.
 
After being promptly ignored by the random shepherd who'll never make a second appearance, Tarin was quite annoyed. Not only was her mask broken, she was injured and slowly becoming delusional. But to top it all off Cloff was merely given a warning for betraying this 'army'. Oh how cruel life was to her, if only Nokam or the kid killed that stupid rabbit when they had the chance. She heard a soft mutter from the centre of the group, and before she knew it Cloff had sat down next to her.

"I love you." Those three words he blurted out made Tarin feel like gagging. "Not him," she thought "Anyone but him. I'd rather the ten year old than this hairy, annoying, over-sized bunny!" Unfortunately, shouting that out would probably result in her not getting herself healed, so she bit onto her lip and remained silent. "I mean, it's just...you're an amazing woman. But it's time we got you a vulnerary or something. Be right back." The awkward situation was quickly ended with Cloff going off to loot a corpse, which just so happened to be the most useful thing the Taguel's ever done. Before he could return, Tarin mouthed the word's "Help me" towards Nokam and Lutaro, hoping that they'd be able to get her out of this situation, or kill her. Either would be fine.

He sprinted back as gracefully as a boar, before (surprisingly) handing her the Vulnerary. She very quickly ripped it out of his grip, pouring it over her major leg wound, and applying small amounts to the rest of her body. She sighed in relief, closing her eyes as a small jolt of energy washed over her body. "You know, maybe in the next battle, we can fight alongside each other or something...just so we have each other's backs?" Cloff suggested. Tarin opened her right eye out of politeness, but was shocked to find the bunny studying her face.

She immediately turned away, rising off of the ground now that her leg was practically as good as new. "We'll see..." Tarin muttered, staring at the others.
 
Chapter Three: The Restless Dead

Nokam was proud of his Shepherds. They had responded well to the attack, although there had been some problems with Cloff... However, the news was good news. New recruits were being sent to the Shepherds, and should meet up with the Shepherds in no time. Still, not forgetting the original reason for traveling so far north, Nokam continued to travel to Regna-Ferox to investigate the assassinations. When the Shepherds approach the Great Gate, which was the main entrance into Regna-Ferox, they find a strange sight awaiting them.....​
Click to expand...

Nokam sounded the general halt as they approached the Great Gate. As he approached the Gate to announce his purposes, he noticed a strange lack of guards. There were none of the typical guardsmen manning the towers and posts along the wall. Most ominously, the Great Gate hung open. They were broken and bent, the wood warped and stained with a red liquid that looked like blood...

Nokam walked inside the door, carefully on the look out for anything unusual. Well, more unusual. The inside of the Wall was silent. Until Nokam heard the sounds of a battle. Nokam rushed towards the sound, drawing his blade as he ran. When he entered a large courtyard he was astounded at what he saw. The soldiers of Regna-Ferox, who he could distinguish by their uniforms, were fighting a horde of horrible looking men.

There skin was pale, their eyes lifeless, and their fighting savage. With a start, Nokam recognized them. They were Risen, undead servants of the fell dragon. It was said that they were as strong as men, if not stronger, and never tired. Whatever Regna-ferox's involvement in the assassination was, there was no time to waste. He had to help these soldiers. Raising his voice, he yelled, "Shepherds! Assist thesse soldiers! Drive off the undead creatures and send them back to the abyss!"

OOC: Meet the Risen. They act like normal soldiers, except that they don't bleed and can't speak. They are numerous, but fall quickly if you know what you're doing. For those of you with new characters, introduce them in whatever way you would like. Have them join as the Shepherds are fighting, or have them have already been with the Shepherds for a short while.
 
Tarin Anace: ​

The very literal gateway into Regna-Ferox now stood in front of them. It was suspiciously silent, but Tarin paid the lack of sound no mind, instead opting to try selling a junk sword to a few of the shepherds. Initially, no one thought twice about buying the sword, immediately discovering its terrible quality. She honestly couldn't blame them; Tarin had found it just lying on the side of the path, and it looked to be of a shoddy build. But hey, all hope of selling the thing was not lost. She finally found a sucker whose sword had broken in the last battle, and was in desperate need of a replacement.

He looked it over, determining whether it'd be better to pay the girl's fee or fight bare-handed. Eventually, he gave in, pulling out a small pouch of money and sighing. "How much will it be..?" Tarin had to think the price over quickly, if she asked for too much he may refuse or take it, but never buy from her again. Too low, and she'll make little profit. "Hmm... For anyone else, It'd be 300 gold, but for you... Let's say 210?" Tarin bluffed, hoping the man was too desperate to haggle.

He accepted, holding the 210 gold in the palm of his left hand. Tarin slowly moved both of her hands towards the mercenary, one with the sword and one empty. "Pleasure doing business with you!" She said, happily grabbing onto the small amount of gold. However, as soon as she let go of the piece of junk, something weird happened. The 'sword' immediately became smaller, furrier and louder. The hilt quickly became a tail, while the blade became the body and head of a squirrel. It squealed in anger, shaking itself free and scurrying off.

Tarin was shocked, why did a sword become a squirrel? She pondered this briefly, before noticing that the 'sucker' was very displeased. He immediately snatched his gold back before storming off in the opposite direction. Which just so happened to be into the gates of Regna Ferox. A few minutes later, Nokam called out to his army, "Shepherds! Assist these soldiers! Drive off the undead creatures and send them back to the abyss!"

Undead creatures? Tarin must've heard something wrong. Risen as a certain book (more on that later) called them, haven't been seen in hundred's of years. There's no way they've returned, is there? Tarin bolted through the gates, wanting to see if the monstrosities really have appeared. And there they were. Fighting soullessly and mercilessly, chopping down soldier after soldier. However, Tarin noticed that a small, black haired girl standing nonchalantly in the middle of a ring on risen.

They slowly advanced on the girl, but she didn't react in the slightest. So Tarin did for her. She ran towards the circle of risen, throwing a knife at the risen closest to her, before leaping onto another, stabbing its head as they both went to the ground. The first Risen remained unfazed, while the one she landed on seemed to be dead. Tarin lifted herself off of the ground, preparing to stab the next risen, when a strong gust of purple wind blew her back onto the stony courtyard.

When she finally managed to get back up, Tarin realised that the Risen standing around the girl were either dead or blown away. The girl now had a large grin implanted on her face, looking directly at her. "Hey," She said, "You're the girl who picked up my sword." She laughed, completely ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of a battlefield.


Natalya: ​

Natalya sat in the middle of a bush with bored expression on her face. A couple of day's ago, she had awoken in the middle of nowhere, with no memory of anyone or anything that had happened previously in her life, except her name and the fact that she can use dark magic. She was managing quite well, being able to find food and water rather easily. However, she was incredibly bored. Nothing exciting in the slightest happened while searching for civilisation, groaning as she tried thinking of a way to entertain herself.

Eventually, she thought of something fun for her to do. After finally finding a road to move a long, Natalya scouted for an animal. She set her sights on a small squirrel, reading a page from one of the two tomes she awoke with. Before her very eyes, the squirrel quickly became a rather crappy-looking sword. She placed it in the middle of the path, before hopping into a nearby bush. "And now we wait..."

Not a single traveller or merchant walked past her in the next hour, making Natalya lose hope for her prank. However, just before she was going to dispel the hex on the squirrel, a small army walked past. Unfortunately, not a single person took a second glance at the sword, just continuing on their way down the path. No one, except a red-haired lady who was trailing behind the rest of them. She stared at the sword for a bit, probably mulling over whether or not it'd be useful, before ultimately deciding to pick it up. Natalya almost cheered out of happiness, but kept her body still until the woman was out of listening range.

She proceeded to chase slowly after them, keeping them at the very edge of her line of sight. Eventually, they all stopped in front of a giant gate, intermingling as a blue-haired guy approached the gate. Her orangey-pink eyes immediately caught onto her victim's location, watching as she attempted to sell the sword. The woman managed to keep one guy's interest for long enough, even succeeding in selling the guy the sword. This was when Natalya struck. Her arm extended in front of her, holding her hand out flat and making it glow. She then closed it, as if she were crushing something in her palm.

Much to Natalya's delight, the sword changed back into a squirrel, which started to squeal a horrible noise. Unfortunately, instead of doing something exciting like biting either of the two, all the squirrel did was squirm until it was let go of. "Well, that was a waste of time." Natalya sighed, disappointed in the outcome. However, she quickly realised that her prank had actually managed to lead her to a civilisation of some sorts.

Natalya immediately ran past the army and straight through the great gate, hoping to find food and shelter inside the walls. Instead, she found a mini war between zombie-like soldiers and regular soldiers. Now this was exciting. Natalya was interested in just watching the entire battle play-out, hoping that neither side would spot her. She stood nonchalantly, staring in awe at both side's abilities. In fact, she was so entranced by the battle that she didn't notice that a small ring of the undead had formed around her.

It was only when they started to close in on her that she realised what was happening. Natalya quickly flicked through Flux, stopping on a page. The page had a diagram of a person in the centre of a whirlwind on it, a long with a few sentences she needed to say. Natalya snapped the book closed, holding a hand up in the air, which then started to glow purple, while muttering a few sentences under her breath. A strong purple wind started to form in her hand as Natalya noticed that the red-haired chick had attacked one of the undead around her, taking both of them onto the ground.

Mere seconds after seeing this, the spell was ready to be completed. Natalya spoke the last word, sending a large wave of purple wind outward. This killed a few of the zombies, and sent the rest of them flying away in different directions. It also knocked the redhead onto the ground, but she seemed to be fine. "Hey," Natalya said, with a huge smile on her face, "You're the girl who picked up my sword." Natalya laughed, ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of a battle.
 

Erika Fugi

​

Erika was nearby, and heard the battle cry. That sounded like Prince Nokam... She thought to herself. Of course, Erika had only heard Nokam's voice twice, but it had been enough to memorize. She ran off, and pressed through the Regna-Ferox gates. There was blood stains, and up ahead she could hear the clash of metal and iron. When she arrived on the scene her senses kicked in immediately. Risen. Their everywhere. She thought. Fun. Erika smirked, and was pleased when two of the Risen charged her. The first one charged with an axe. The second fired an arrow. Erika rotated so she was in the path of the arrow, and frowned when the axeman slid in front of her, the arrow plunged into it's skull. Filling the air with a purple dust as it disintegrated, a second arrow sliced past her cheek, leaving a inch-deep cut. A stream of blood rolled down, and she wiped it away.

Putting the blood on her blade, she sent a silent word of thanks to Naga, and silently charged the Bowman. When she was close enough, she swung the bloodied sword through the Risens' neck line, the blood making it easier to slince through, and stepped forward through the dust. "Pathetic... They have no real strength..." She muttered to herself. She looked around. Where's the girl I came with..? She wondered. Erika pushed through the Risen. A slice here, a hack there. Childs play.. She reminded herself. The brave sword she wielded was a treasure.​
 
Lutaro was very much affected by that last battle a few days ago. For the first time in his life, he had been seriously injured, saved only by the other Shepherds. And to make matters, it had cost him all the years he spent caring for the shirt his old friend had given him, having had it been ripped right open in healing him.
... Granted, he managed to get it fixed up, but it's the principles that hold in Lutaro's heart. Point I'm getting at is that Lutaro is much more hesitant to fight. He also decided to grow more cautious in battle, but I'll get to that later.

Nevertheless, he continued traveling with the Shepherds, not telling a soul about his newfound worries. Last thing he wanted was to be a bother to anyone.

"... Huh?"
The gate they reached was covered in a mysterious red liquid, immediately distinguishable from the smell of rot and death. Lutaro shivered... he had never grown used to the death of people, ironic though that may sound. He looked out and saw a mysterious type of enemy holding the bridge... they looked odd and cold-hearted... were they even human?

"Shepherds! Assist these soldiers! Drive off the undead soldiers and send them back into the abyss!"
... Undead. Guess they really aren't human.

Lutaro held the Dragonstone in his hand... but he briefly hesitated. Did he really want to fight? Last thing he wanted was to find himself near death's gate again. But still, these were his friends... his comrades... his brothers-in-arms. He had to give his support. They had barely scraped by last time.

Grabbing the dragonstone in his hand, he ran toward a group of Risen standing over a group of overtaken guards. Lutaro took the blanket in his hand, and wrapped it around his neck like a scarf (this was his new procedure, more easily keeping it safe), before stopping a fair distance away from the group. Tightly grasping the dragonstone in his hand, he shifted into his natural dragon form. Reacting quickly, he flew into the Risen, flinging them a fair distance away. Unlike before, where he would have rammed them into a wall, he chose to release as soon as they were off of the guards, sending them flying, but unfortunately not killing them at the time. Quickly, Lutaro shot a large blast of ice at the Risen, instantly freezing them to re-death, with the power of the blast tearing them to pieces at the same time.

He dropped to his feet in a perching sort of position, looking around. He saw the guards he had saved struggling to flee. A single risen was headed toward them, and Lutaro immediately responded with a blast of ice. Despite Lutaro's fears, he was having little trouble fighting the Risen now (though that is thanks in part to his new strategy of keeping his distance). He was focusing more on dodging than fighting, though. It kept him safe, but at the same time, it resulted in him paying attention to little outside of the Risen. He didn't even notice the team had unofficial newcomers on their side.
 
Prince Nokam

Most of his soldiers rushed into the fray. He saw Lutaro fight off several of the abominations, using his breath to freeze them where they stood. A young woman that Nokam didn't recognize dueled with some of the fiends with a Brave Edge. Tarin was talking to a young girl that had appeared from nowhere, although Tarin had already dismembered a slew of the beasts. Nokam ran forward into the fray, slashing wildly at the undead on either side of him. He stopped to exchange blows with a Risen who held a sword and was almost hamstringed from behind. Turning quickly, he saw one of the Risen that he thought he had killed, who he had heard stomping toward him from behind. Why didn't he fall? That blow would have killed any man!

Then Nokam realized what they were fighting. They were only killed by removing the head it seemed, or by rendering them unable to move. They didn't seem to feel pain either, which made it much harder to incapacitate them. Magic would have been there best bet, but there weren't any spellcasters among the Shepherds... He glanced around the battlefield, and back to Tarin and the young woman she was talking to. He noticed that she carried a large tome in her hand, which was marked with a glyph from the alphabet mages used. Maybe, if she could help them...

He ran over to where she was standing. "Excuse me," he said. "But can you use that Tome? If you can, you might be able to help us end this battle sooner. Can you help us?"
 

Erika Fugi

​

Erika worked around the field until she was surrounded by corpse, which was actually what the Risen had waited for. About ten Risen of twelve rose once again. Surrounded, any normal person would begin to worry, but Erika was as calm as could be. With a sigh, she looked around her. So it's true. They are undead. She turned to see a swordsman Risen charge. Narrowing her rage filled eyes, Erika blocked a swing with her sword. They dare challenge me to a swordfight? She weilded the brave sword carefully, and caught a glimpse of another charging Risen. Axe. Slow but powerful. She assessed, swinging around to block her back. She axe-wielding Risen pushed her back, and the swordsman made a quick thrust at her side. Twisting her waist the best she could, Erika managed to avoid a deep cut, but that would definitely leave a scar, or render her unconscious from blood loss. Damn.. I don't think I have a Vulenaries with me.. She waited until the last moment to jump out the way, letting the axeman and swordsman hack each others heads off. As they faded into dust, Erika clutched her side.

"I might need assistance.." She murmured, charging another Risen who was about to kill a soldier after breaking through her cluster. The soldier winced as an axe was raised over his head. Before the axe could get to him, Erika drove her brave sword through it's head. "Move." She told the soldier, and watched him run to assist a one of his men. She hacked through it's head, and watch it evaporate into dust. Her side began to throb, and she almost fell forward. Loosing to much blood. But I've figured out how to kill them again. She looked around, and sawthat there were others fighting alongside the soldiers. Shepherds. She realized quickly.

"Nokam! Go for their heads!" She called in a pained voice, just as another Risen charged her.​
 
Natalya​

Natalya briefly shared a stare with the red-head, before giving her a hand for support. "Your... sword?" The woman asked, grabbing her hand firmly. As Natalya pulled her up, the woman quickly started to turn red. "You don't mean... that squirrel, do you?" She asked bluntly, furrowing her brow. "Yup. Although it didn't turn out exactly as I hoped it would." Natalya replied, completely oblivious to the woman's anger. The woman tightened her grip around her arm, gave a sharp glare, and let go. Natalya rubbed where she was being held; removing the imprint she had left on her.

"You didn't have to grab so hard, y'know." Natalya pouted, before noticing a blue-haired man sprinting towards the two of them. Why do the people around here have such weird hair colours? Natalya pondered, searching for any other interesting hairstyles. That's when she noticed it. The dragon. As far as she was aware, Natalya had never seen one before. It flew gracefully around the battlefield, showering zombies in ice. She gazed in awe at its magnificent power, ignoring everything else until she heard an unknown voice.

"Excuse me," The blue haired man said, briefly shocking Natalya. She noticed that the other woman had now left, leaving her alone with the stranger. "But can you use that Tome? If you can, you might be able to help us end this battle sooner. Can you help us?" Natalya gave a slight snicker, before raising a glowing hand. She closed one eye and focused on the tip of her fingers. A dark purple ball, which was no bigger than an apple, started to form in the palm of her glowing hand, aiming it towards the neck of the warrior. "Hold still..." She commanded. A tiny explosion from her hand propelled the ball forward, sending it towards Nokam's neck. It barely missed, flying past him and into a zombie's shoulder, which had been charging towards the knightly figure. Its arm tore cleanly off, causing the risen to collapse onto the ground. The risen started to drag itself across the ground, but it didn't look like it'd be getting anywhere fast.

Natalya quietly chuckled at the sight, before responding to the man's request. "Sure, why not? It's not like I have anything to do right now." As soon as she had finished speaking, Natalya walked up to the still un-dead creature. She stared as it attempted to drag itself towards her, wanting to spill as much as it possibly could. Her mind started to think of the most interesting way to take the zombie out. A simple, albeit satisfying spell popped into her head, causing Natalya to immediately flick through flux's pages. The page she stopped on had a very short explanation on how to cast her spell. Natalya didn't even need to say anything for it to work.

She pushed her right arm below her waste, allowing purple energy to rush to her fingertips. Her hand started to tremble with power. "Good night..." Natalya smirked, before raising her hand above its neck. She quickly lowered her hand to just above the Risen's neck. Dark energy immediately rushed through her fingers, striking the zombie in the neck. The zombie dissolved into purple fumes, delighting the young mage.

She looked around for another target to toy with, when she rediscovered it. The dragon. It landed, sending a small sheet of ice towards a risen. Natalya wanted to get a closer look at its beautiful wings, fierce teeth and... blanket? 'Why would it be wearing a blanket, and more importantly, how did it put it on?' She thought, running closer to the majestic creature. Not once did the thought of it being a manakete pop into her head. Once Natalya was only a couple of metres away from the dragon, an amazing idea made its way into her head. "I wonder if I could take the dragon as a pet." She said, staring in awe at the creature before her.

Natalya dropped her guard considerably, not noticing that a pair of risen were charging at her from behind.

Tarin Anace​

Tarin stared confusedly at the teenager in front of her. What did she mean by her sword? "Your... sword?" Tarin asked, letting the young girl pull her up to her feet. A sudden flash of memories reminded her of the squirrel incident that had happened earlier. She couldn't have meant that, could she? "You don't mean... That squirrel, do you?" Tarin asked, furrowing her brow as anger started to boil in her gut. The girl remained silent for a brief moment, before confirming what she had thought. "Yup. Although it didn't turn out exactly as I hoped it would." She wasn't sure whether she should be laughing or lashing out at the girl.

Her grip tightened around the mage's arm, causing the girl to stare at her with a confused look. Tarin glared; she was half-tempted to smack the youth across the head. But as she glared, the idea of hitting the girl became less and less appealing. After all, she was just a kid, she probably didn't mean anything by it. Tarin sighed, releasing her grip and looking around. They were surrounded by a ring of fallen risen (Oh the irony), many of which struggled to pick themselves back up. Some had become nothing more than dust.

Out of the destruction, she saw a blue haired prince running towards them. Tarin figured this was the right time to leave, sprinting away from the now conversing pair. She looked around the battlefield for any soldiers that were in need of assistance. However, her eyes spotted a particularly strong looking warrior, who was cutting down risen left and right. She appeared to care about saving these soldiers more than her own safety, as she had a large gash on her side. And yet, she continued to fight in her weakened state.

"Nokam! Go for their heads!" The woman called in a pained voice, as a risen began to charge her. Tarin waited for the warrior to turn around and prepare to cut it down, but no such thing happened. Immediately, Tarin grabbed her last vulnerary and her dagger, charging through the bloody courtyard before the risen got to her. As both the risen and herself closed in on the weakened warrior, they both prepared their strike. The zombie raised its axe above its head, swinging it down with a lot of force. Tarin slid in between the two, dropping the vulnerary safely behind herself, and raising her dagger into the air with both hands.

A loud clang emitted from the blow, with both herself and the risen wrestling for the upper-hand. Undoubtedly, the risen was much more powerful than Tarin, forcing her to apply as much force as she possibly could. Through gritted teeth, Tarin commanded the woman. "Take that vulnerary... Then hurry up and slice this thing down!" Knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep him locked for much longer, Tarin started to contemplate why she got herself into this mess.
 
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