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Post by Remus on Oct 21, 2015 8:23:25 GMT -6
The blue haired priest couldn't help but smile. Sure he was always smiling, but in this regard, there was simply no reason not to. The giggling little girl, while as dainty at times as any wild wyvern, was expressing happiness. Amelia was good at that. Contagious as people often said sorrow and depression were, he strongly believed Amelia was proof that so too was excitement and happiness. Though to hear her describe it, Remus and Nayru were the embodiment of energy incarnate. She would've had them believe, he suspected, that Nayru had practically been shooting lighting from her fingertips while screaming unlimited power at the winged fiend. In reality, well...actually reality was probably cooler than that given she'd fired a colossal lightning laser from her mouth. So maybe Amelia wasn't entirely exaggerating. On his part, he felt like she was though.
He had simply fired small light bursts and bolts. No super lasers, he couldn't fire like..some special beam cannon or anything. Either way though, there safety made him happy. Lapis shaded hair ruffled as the priest attempted to get up, combing fingers through his messy locks while he chuckled. He lifted himself off Nayru and slowly helped Amelia get up after Nayru's brief speech on how she'd have to keep him in line. The giggling mess of a girl nodded before the priest tugged at her so she could stand up and no longer be laying upon the dark haired woman. Remus laughed before shifting himself upwards and patting the dust off his robe. In the back of his mind though, he felt a slight twinge of seriousness. Almost a guilty squirm. There was more validity to what Nayru said than he was willing to openly admit. He'd enjoyed fighting those creatures a bit beyond just defending the others and himself. That was not okay, nor did it stand well with the priest. It conflicted everything he knew of himself. So he could only draw assumptions that it just wasn't right. Remus tried to hide this, smiling regardless as Amelia responded.
"That's fine! I'll make sure he doesn't and then when I can shoot lightning and light lasers I'll be the leader!!!" The girl beamed brightly towards Nayru as Remus rested his hand on her head quietly, chuckling with a shake of his head. "Until then, you can enjoy being a normal little girl. " Yes..except normal wasn't an apt word for Amelia. At this rate, he was wondering how well it did at applying to any of them really.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 21, 2015 16:44:44 GMT -6
The blessings of the tremendous weight of a young girl and part of a frail priest's body finally lifted off of her, Nayru realized in pretty short order that she actually didn't feel like going anywhere or doing anything, possibly ever, but she'd burn that bridge when she came to it. For now, though? She was just happy to be alive. It was almost an - afterglow of sorts, the sense of having overcome the impossible even as exhaustion claimed her.
It wasn't even that she had won, though that was certainly nice, and she wouldn't have had much to be happy about if they hadn't. Mostly because she and Remus would be dead. It was more of a sense of contentment that she had overcome herself in some ways. That she had managed to do something good, something meaningful, made it through alright in the end. Of course - she hadn't done a very good job of it. There was room for improvement, to say the least; without Remus's firepower she couldn't have taken care of them without blowing her cover, and she clearly had a ways to go with the whole mage-fu thing too. It wasn't all peaches and kittens. But it was a start.
Free of bonds dragging her down so Amelia, Nayru flopped over like a boneless retard, acutely aware that all she was really doing was ensuring her hair was going to be filthier than a cow's assh-ok that was probably a bad metaphor, anyways the point was that she was going to have to bathe in acid to actually clean up anyways, at this point it didn't matter if she used three gallons or four. The fallen(ish) reached up to her throat again, not so much in pain as sort of a thoughtful gesture... and an element of it still itching a bit. Again, Remus's healing had done a lot, but it would take a miracle to fix that instantly.
But lying there, the warmth and light of the sun beating down on her, with Remus and Amelia bickering slash bonding in the background? It sure helped to make her assorted aches seem a bit less important. She wasn't exactly actively staying out of the conversation between them, more just caught between her world and theirs, but as it was Nayru was just happy to watch them interact. They might live in different worlds, and she could never truly have the same relationship with them that they had with each other, but it was... pleasant to watch nonetheless.
Though maybe it was because she was on the outside looking in that she thought she saw something... wooden about Remus's demeanor. It was possible she was looking too far into things, by dragon standards Nayru wasn't /really/ that perceptive even if she had an advantage over most humans simply by dint of trial-and-error experience, but there were always signs when someone was uncomfortable, even if some people hid them better than others. And from her repeated interactions with Remus, by this point she felt she had a pretty decent impression of his.
What she didn't understand though - the level of wisdom that would have been more appropriate for a dragon perhaps - was why. She honestly couldn't think of any reason he'd be unhappy about all this, unless it was leftover frustration from not being able to help people from the previous attack, but she didn't think that was it. Less ancient wisdom or incredible perception as just a hunch, to be fair, but hunches sometimes worked out when actual logic didn't.
Hmm... Nayru closed her eyes, relaxing a bit more as her head lolled back. They'd burn that bridge when they came to it. Or more accurately, she'd bother him about it when the time was more appropriate. Harassing him about something he probably didn't want to talk about now wouldn't do much for the atmosphere, and Amelia and Owain probably didn't want to hear Remus admit that he had decided to become a galactic overlord just yet. So rather than stress about it too much, Nayru sorted the thought away for later and interjected herself back into the conversation the only way she knew how: by ruining everything. "Normal? I guess you didn't want me to teach you my giga drill breaker technique yet then, Amelia?"
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Post by Remus on Oct 23, 2015 7:58:39 GMT -6
The priest paused for a moment. In that brief lingering lapse of plausible reaction or gestures, he gazed towards the cerulean sky that blanketed the landscape. It was clear, and inviting. Open even. Warmth washing down around them from the blinding sun above, no clouds within the sky to pass by and intervene. It gave him urges to reflect. Inwards, mostly. How long had he been a pacifistic person by nature? His entire life ultimately. He could remember a.. defining moment. When going through the educational upbringing within the church. An older man, formerly a holy-man of the Eliminian faith turned tutor, was instructing a small class on the ethics they were expected to hold to. He'd been a heavyset man. Bald, with bushy brown facial hair covering almost entirely his lower face. How the man had spoken, tirelessly and at length about the righteous. The wicked. The holy. The sinners. The saint.
The priest could almost hear the conversation echoing within his mind. Distant, but a few years of time had done nothing to dull the pristine recollection of the talk.
"What is the best solution to those that commit wicked acts? Anyone? Remus!"
"Ah! Um..sir. To forgive and accept."
"Incorrect! If you forgive and accept a sinner of wicked intent, it does nothing but abdicate our responsibility as the caretakers of Elibe. We are to guide them, and we must lead by example. If we allow wickedness, all shall allow it."
"Er..but sir I-"
"Cleansing! To purge the sin and wicked is our greatest response!"
There was a bitter taste in his mouth as he felt slight comparisons drawn now between himself and that man now. Obviously...there was a difference here. These gargoyles were thoughtless creatures of taint and darkness. However it disturbed him that he could have fun..even enjoy fighting. Killing even! He felt a twinge of worry squirm within his gut as a guilty shame washed over him. If it was this easy to enjoy it conventionally...against such creatures..would it be so easy to enjoy if he ever had to fight people? He still did not condone taking a life, and yet here he had sat within the high of combat and smiled. Laughed even!
The priest heard Nayru speak up to Amelia abruptly, and his thoughts washed away. Like oceanic tides running long the sands of a beach and dragging away the small debris. Here, Remus felt a colossal sense of relief. As if weight had, albeit temporarily, lifted from his shoulders. For the moment Nayru mentioned teaching Amelia ANYTHING ....
"Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss!"
The small girl squealed excitedly and began to run around the duo in circles with her arms outstretched. Her giggles becoming constant once more before she abruptly plopped down to sit besides Nayru who was still laying down. With her hands resting in her lap, the young girl looked expectantly from Nayru, to Remus, back to Nayru, and back to Remus. Repeating this pattern every few moments, she flashed what seemed to be puppy dog eyes at Remus. The lapis haired priest shifted his hand to weave through messy blue strands of hair before shaking his head and mockingly rubbing his temple in exasperation. He didn't have to open his eyes to know that Amelia was sitting next to Nayru staring at him, likely with a pleading expression. He had a sneaking suspicion, knowing Nayru, that he knew what came next.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 23, 2015 9:38:14 GMT -6
"HaaaAAAAAAh-ahhhhh." Wider and wider her mouth opened as her arms stretched out, a mighty yawn that could consume entire worlds, the ego of the average dragon, and even Amelia's excitement. Well, maybe not that last one, but it would come close. "Hsbfghble." Nayru's little episode of gibberish was accompanied by shaking her head, trying to get the cobwebs out of her head and her head out of the clouds. While all she really wanted to do at this point was sleep forever, they had stuff that needed to be done. Even with the gargoyles supposedly all dead, they still didn't know that was truly the end of the battle; it was possible there would be reinforcements, it was possible there were a few in hiding.
She didn't sense any, it was most likely a waste of effort to even check, but if she was supposed to take responsibility for her actions in this town, she had to be thorough about it. And besides that, they had plenty of work that definitely did need to be done. Checking on the survivors for starters, both to see if anything new had arisen and to gauge the injuries of the wounded to see if they needed frther attention. Cleaning to some degree as well. She couldn't stay long enough to rebuild the town, but the dragon was more than willing to pitch in to help move some debris and if necessary rescue trapped people.
And they needed to discuss how to keep this from happening again, even if only in passing. It would be up to the villagers to actually find some way to defend themselves and each other, but they couldn't rely on her and Remus forever. She would be gone after this afternoon, so there was some need to hurry overall, but no need to rush right this instant. Best to make sure Amelia didn't accidentally destroy the town in the meantime. With a bemused smile, the prone dragon sat up a bit, tousling the also seated Amelia's hair with her free hand as she surveyed their surroundings one last time just in case she'd missed something. Well, no raging Cyclops or three story Baels in eyesight for now... unless they were invisible. Hmm. She squinted an eye just in case, then gave up.
"The first step in your training, brave one..." And with a giggle, Nayru swooped in, scooping Amelia up bodily and depositing the girl on her shoulder as she ascended to her full height. "-Is to be my eyes and ears while I check out the village. We need to make sure none of those flying jerkbags are hiding around and help anyone who looks like they need it, while staying out of Remus's way so he can focus on healing people, alright?" It was a lot easier to pretend she wasn't as sore as she was exhausted if she was focusing on everything BUT that, and she probably needed to keep Amelia out of Remus's hair if he was supposed to get anything done. But while he wasn't quite as outgoing as his sister figure, she didn't want to just ditch Owain either, or make him feel like he was any less important and interesting than Amelia. Turning to the young man, she continued. "Owain, you want to come along too or help out brother Remus?"
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Post by Remus on Oct 23, 2015 11:41:06 GMT -6
Remus couldn't describe the sheer amount of ease he felt as Nayru began to sweep up the small raven haired girl had once again erupted into a fit of giggles even as she ascended to the towering heights and heaven. The small girl lifted her hands a bit and excitedly waved, flailing briefly and saying to the sides before regaining her balance upon the perch of Nayru's shoulder. Her giggles erupted into fully fledged excited cheers before planting her palms softly atop Nayru's head and puffing out her cheeks in an attempt to stile the giggling and appear intense and serious. Her Look-out duty started now. As her hands lifted and she began to peer around, a quiet voice came from behind. Owain, having been offered to follow quietly nodded and took a few steps over towards Nayru. "s..sure. I'll help you out."
Remus picked up on what Nayru had planned. At-least, he assumed she meant what she said and generally, and that it would be best for him to make his way to check on the others. Having already healed them though, he was sure that it would not take much compared to what they had exerted. The blue haired priest moved over towards the wooden building serving as a makeshift shelter, shifting his staff over his shoulder while he tried to accurately gauge any form of progress he'd made. Besides the whole "I can use light magic now, certainly couldn't a few minutes ago" part. He remembered when healing just a single laceration had felt like too much. When he had to focus for several minutes on a single light wound just to fully heal it.
That, or the times he'd been forced to focus on healing the inner parts of a wound first and trying to cover the outer layer so it could increase how efficiently the wound was tended too without taxing him overly. Now he could heal multiple wounds of that caliber, simultaneously, and feel far less fatigue after. Though..knowing this as his limits, what in the world could have had Nayru so tired? She had seemed completely drained. Was that lightning power new? He'd assume for now at-least it was, given he'd not only never seen it before, but she hadn't used it often and still almost collapsed. Though that was a feeling he knew well. Allllll too well.
When the priest entered the building, most of the people had been still cowering. It seemed that the children were the only ones crazy and naive enough to see what the fight was going and put themselves out there to be seen like that. Though he smiled, and set to assisting the others as best he could. It took but a few minutes to tend the few remaining wounds, and he was certain that these people had plans to leave their home. With so many places not safe right now, they would likely move towards inner Bern.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 23, 2015 13:24:23 GMT -6
"Good man." All smiles, Nayru clapped Owain on the back, more lightly than she would have with the irascible Amelia. Roughhousing with the avatar of annihilation was one thing, but Owain needed encouragement more than admonishment and didn't seem to be quite as physical as the irascible Amelia. "When Amelia takes over the world, I'm sure she'll be happy to have someone as brave as you to keep her safe!"
And with that they were off, their search for the unforeseen unlikely to bear a great deal of fruit, but a necessarily evil nonetheless... if only to give Remus enough breathing room to actually focus on his craft. The children were less likely to get into trouble if they had something to keep them occupied though, and if there was any trouble to be found she was quite sure they'd help find it, so it wasn't so much trying to get them out of the way as channel their destructive power into more useful pursuits.
Amelia was chattering away about something with Owain, or more accurately to Owain as he failed to get a single word otherwise, but Nayru tuned the two of them (well, mostly Amelia) out for the time being as she focused on her searching as well as her thoughts. The repercussions of her actions here were still bothering her on a number of levels, whether it be how close she had coming to hurting herself seriously by pushing herself so hard with the breath attacks, the bare beginnings of a glimpse into integrated magical combat she had foreseen, and the very real and ongoing issues that the people of this town would have to deal with in the near future even with the gargoyles dead.
For not the first time, Nayru found herself frustrated by the fact that, no matter what she did, it was never enough. Save people here - innocents there die. Take time from her hunt for the beast ravaging southern Bern to save people here - it potentially killed even more. There was only one of her and so many problems to solve, and her foolhardy decision to attempt to take responsibility for any of it left her stuck trying to take responsibility for all of it, no matter how impossible it was. What was the answer? Was she supposed to just not care? Was she supposed to save all of them?
But there was no answer, no universal truth that could guide her here. As much as she tried to act the part of wise sage, she really wasn't all that smart or wise or good at figuring this stuff out. For now, all she could do was what she could do, and hope that things fell into place as she went.
[Topic end]
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