witchesreign | Action; backdated to November 30

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Action; backdated to November 30

[Over the course of her life, Gwendolyn has learned to count her blessings. For instance, at least this time she wasn't caught flying outside when the Garden crash-landed. Better still, she also didn't have to fly back to Garden, which means she's fresh and capable of engaging in more than a few rounds of combat in the event of a fiend invasion.

You know, such as the one currently taking place.

Fortunately, there are more than enough SeeDs and cadets running around to keep anyone from being overwhelmed. Just to be safe, Gwendolyn is gliding around, dive-bombing any beast that decides on ambushing an already occupied ally - a confused foe is an easily dispatched one, after all - and lending a hand to anyone who might need it.

If she has one regret for today, it's that no one's probably recording that fight she glimpsed between two Blue Dragons and a T-Rexaur. Ah well...]

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[Nina lands beside Gwendolyn with a flurry of feathers. She smiles.]

I see you're doing well? Consider this extra credit.

[Gwendolyn takes a moment to salute Nina, having previously ensured that there are no fiends approaching at the moment.]

I appreciate it. 'Twould seem many among us are taking our lessons to heart.

I take it shelters and safe spots are being secured?

"We're working on the way out. Infirmary and the living quarters are well secured for the time being. Now it's just a matter of securing the area till the generators come on."

Nina whirled on a monster and cast a fire spell.

"How's it going out here?"

[Gwendolyn quickly lunges to finish off the monster.]

The cadets here are doing well in fending off the fiends. I must however admit the territorial struggles between the locals and the ones from the training center have taken care of the worst of the lot. Still, the monsters are dwindling.

[Nina flaps her wings and hovers a moment before she casts again. The monsters were going away and to be honest, she was very proud of her students.]

Better than could be hoped for I think!

[Since Marco is thrilled to see someone with the same idea and relative attitude as him, he very briefly pauses, hanging upside down, and tries to figure out how to do a high-five when your hands are busy being flamed and feathery.]

Nice one. [Giant grin.] We should come up with a high-five in midair that doesn't use hands. Like a special swoop signal or something, eh? [Drop-kicks a grat.]

[Gwendolyn allows herself a grin as she dive-bombs a Gayla that had just noticed them.]

Among my people, we raise our spears while on the ground since any salute in midair might be taken as an opening. Though perhaps a special sign might suffice when dealing with this rabble.

Sounds fun, but yeah, I'm not much one to carry weapons.

Can you speak any avian?

Regrettably, no. I can sense their intent, perhaps more easily than most humans, but that's as far as I can understand them.

[Of course, Lenneth doesn't count.]

Darn, I was going to suggest a whistle of some sort.

Would a caw not be more fitting for a victory cry?

[Quiet laugh.]

Sure, eh. Got something you can do?

[Ryu brings his pace to a halt upon spotting Gwendolyn. His mind runs through what he could possibly say to her after Vienne mountains, but he eventually settles on...]

You look like you have this under control.

[Smooth.]

[Gwendolyn notices Ryu. To be honest, she hasn't exactly been avoiding him after what happened in Vienne mountains, but between the other field trip and exams, she hasn't exactly had time to collect her thoughts and process his being able to turn into a dragon.

At least she can handle battle banter.]

It shall be a sad day when a Valkyrie can't have a battle under control.

[Not that well, but it's something.]

I'm just glad to see you're alright. Have you seen Oswald yet?

[Not that he's super eager about seeing him after what happened, he'd like to see he's well.]

Your concern is appreciated. As for Oswald... I have not yet seen him, though he's no doubt battling fiends on another corner .

Good. I'm happy to hear that. Gather up any other students you find, Snow has the Infirmary locked down.

[Two Grats find themselves dispatched as quickly as they appear before Ryu.]

If you have questions about what happened... We'll talk about that once everyone is safe.

[There's another odd sight quickly coming into view. A blue dragon laboring through the sky, with something black hanging off its side, half hidden under those wings. As it claws its way through the air, it becomes more and more clear that thing is human shaped...And stubbornly both clinging on, and trying to wrench something out of the dragon's side.

Likewise, the dragon is determined to shake the person off it, leaving both of them unaware that they're heading towards someone else in the air.]

[The unintended destination notices the incoming flier (not so much its passenger), and is quick to flap her wings to go higher than its current trajectory before administering some Justice! (sometimes Justice is a mere ideal, other times it's five feet of steel thrust into your skull, or so the saying went)

Hopefully its passenger won't mind the sudden drop in altitude.]

[Oswald grits his teeth as he yanks his head away from those foreclaws; they skim through the air a bare inch away from his eyes, and if his sword wasn't still embedded in the dragon's side, he would have gladly shortened them. His fingers are starting to shake, where he's grabbed a patch of loose skin, and he redoubles his efforts into yanking the Belderiver free-

Which he suddenly manages, as the entire dragon shudders when something else bashes into it. And, with a shout, Oswald realizes that he isn't flying so much as falling.]

[Gwendolyn is ready to glide off of the dragon and wait for it to land before removing her spear when she hears the shout. She figures she should at least warn the poor person who most likely has never had its flying target plummet down.]

"Get over the dragon! It will cushion your fall!"

[And with that, she takes off.]

[At least it doesn't take long for Oswald to find and keep his head, even while the wind is rushing past and howling in his ears. He starts following that order before he even recognizes the voice.

But once he does, and he's twisted down so that the dragon is falling beneath him, his head jerks up.]

"Gwendo-!"

[And that would be when the dragon smashes into the first set of tree branches, driving any air and words he has out of his lungs. And then the next few branches,

and the next-

And the next. Oswald abruptly finds himself no longer appreciating how many trees are planted in the common, out door areas of the Garden. Even if those are arguably what's saving him from the worst of the fall.]

[Gwendolyn recognizes that voice almost immediately.]

"Oswald!"

[Of course, no sooner does she shout his name in recognition that the dragon smashes into the trees. She winces in sympathy - even with the dragon taking the brunt of the hits, that can't have been good - as she lands near the downed creature.]

[Whether it was the spear, the sword, or a collection of branches, the dragon was still dead before it hit the ground. Oswald is in slightly better condition, once the branch snapping stops; he managed to stay on top, and is still breathing, even if he looks a bit bruised and bloody.]

"Hnnn..."

[He's also kept a death grip on his sword the entire way, miraculously not poking any eyes out...Although both of his are shut tight right now as he tries to stand up through the pain. He wobbles on his feet, before putting a hand on the corpse to steady himself.]

[Gwendolyn approaches the corpse to dislodge her spear, and takes a look at Oswald.

Yes, that really can't have been good. It's a good thing he's sturdier than most.]

"Oswald, are you well?"

"This won't kill me."

[His sides and chest are feeling plenty bruised up, but he's still able to breathe without much difficulty. Given a few more moments, he might try standing and walking without assistance.]

"What...Of you? Are you injured?"

[He starts easing his eyes open as he asks that, to check for himself.]

"I avoided impact, so I lack injuries from this."

[She can tell he's not nearly as bad off as he could be, but still...]

"If you are well, we should continue. You should go to the infirmary once this infestation is taken care of, however."

[She knows he wouldn't go while there are still enemies to be fought - thankfully this battle should be over in a few hours.]

[Indeed, once he manages to get his eyes open, she appears to be fine; less bruised up then he is, and standing more easily.]

"Good, then..."

[It's a bit surprising how much of a relief that is. But he shrugs it off after a moment in favor of something just as pressing.]

"Aye; I can handle myself until this fight is finished."

[And to prove it, he hazards taking a few steps forward. His sides hurt from the movement, but he pushes through the pain, and his legs hold.]

[It's at that point that two Mesmerizes choose to charge in and notice the pair.]

"I shall handle the one on the left."

[With that said, she leaps towards it and starts the fight with a dive-bombing attack.]

[Oswald doesn't hesitate to rush the other; he's fought armored unicorns before, even killed a few...Such a small, pale copy of one doesn't make him pause. His legs feel almost like lead as he moves, but he forces himself forward and brings his sword up and a fierce swipe to take the thing's head off-

Which would happen, if the horse didn't choose to duck and try and parry the sword with the horn on its head. The Belderiver hits the Mesmerize's horn, making a high pitched pinging noise...And then the horn breaks off with a snap, leaving Oswald unbalanced and the monster reeling from the sudden loss.]

[Gwendolyn's own opponent also attempts to parry her attack with its horn, but the Valkyrie has gravity on her side, preventing her from losing her balance even as the horn breaks off.

The Mesmerize she's facing appears to have had to regrow its horn before, however, as it stands its ground even over the loss and shifts away from the brunt of the spear, preparing a head butt. Gwendolyn has to quickly jump out of the way, but at least she has an advantage now.]

[Oswald, in the meanwhile, is making up for having his sword arm off balance by using a mailed fist as a good off-hand weapon. His fist smashes into the side of the beast's head, leaving it even more stunned then before, as Oswald fights to get himself back in position.

His side still doesn't feel pleased with him, but Oswald ignores that as he lunges in with his sword, first stabbing into the chest of the monster, and then drawing out in order to cut into it again from a different angle. In a few more swipes, it's hard to pick out whether the red trail he's leaving is from the jewel on the Belderiver, or all the blood and gore he's tearing out.]

[Gwendolyn might notice, as she glides closer towards the library, that the chill in the air is actually growing worse. The temperatures is low enough that there's even a few thin slivers of ice building up where the Garden canal meets the wall-

And a sudden flurry of ice shards that go hissing through the air. Mitsuru, after some thought, has stationed herself at the library entrance. And anything that gets to close that she can't immediately identify as student or faculty is given a hail of sharp edged ice.

She sends several sharp, cold knives through a troublesome grat with enough energy that some of them rip straight through the plant, and keep flying through the air.]

[Gwendolyn does indeed notice the increased chill near the library, but chalks that up to there being less people near there. Few people are trying to fight off the fiends close to the Training Center, after all.

It's as she starts swerving back that she notices the ice shards lunged her way. She has to drop to avoid them, but she still feels the intense cold seeping from them.]

[The grat is either dead, or well on it's way to being so. So, Mitsuru doesn't waste jerking her eyes away from it and up towards the air, where she saw that blur of blue. There's already a spell building up on her fingertips again, and Mitsuru tries to hurry it along so she can get the first shot off. She hasn't been looking forward to the prospect of facing one of those flying reptiles alone-

That thought sputters out when she sees the figure drop to the ground, and she picks out hands and a face.]

"My...Apologies. I wasn't aware there were people in the air above this area. I didn't intend to target a classmate."

[The spell sputters out in her mind, and her fingers buzz for a moment as the cold retreats from them.]

[Gwendolyn gets back on her feet, thankfully none the worse for the wear.]

"There is no harm done. I suppose I should have expected stray spells."

[She notices how Mitsuru is standing with her back to the library entrance.]

"..I take it you are guarding the Library?"

"Yes. Priority wise, with other people handling the infirmary and the dormitories, safeguarding the library should be the next step."

[Also, finding out that monsters shredded most of the reading supplies, even with digital backups of most of the books, is a horrifying possibility. And not about to happen on her watch!]

"Allowing anything aside from students and faculty through here would only invite trouble, later on."

"Indeed. Any losses incurred to the library might prove costly, and not merely in the monetary sense."

[For some reason, she gets a mental image of a grat and a bite bug leafing through books. She chalks it off to the cold making her mind wander when not battling.]

"The beasts seem more interested in going where more people or light sources gather, however. Still, there's no harm in taking cautions."

[~~A kindred spirit!~~ A wise observation. Mitsuru nods her head when she hears that, an approving look flickering across her face for a moment.]

"True. I've been to a few of the other places...Mainly due to the crash."

[And blundering through hallways with little to no power isn't an experience she wants to repeat again.]

"And it seems like people are holding the line in most areas. It seems that the curriculum taught here is being absorbed by nearly everyone."

"Indeed. No doubt the headmaster and the commander will be pleased by the overall performance, even though they would rather have seen the results of the curriculum under better circumstances."

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Action; backdated to November 30

Birdy ladies?

Sounds good (and better than the Birdy Pair)

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