Subtleknifewielder Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Melissa tensed. She knew it could very easily be taken as a challenge. But instead, she got a detailed answer. "That is what you would use Harlem, if the opponent gets too close." She reached down and picked up the dagger that had been tossed at her feet, testing its balance and heft. Now this was something she could already work with. She doubted she would need a lot of training with this, though undoubtedly there would still be a few tricks she could learn. And it was a remarkable peice of craftmanship. Whoever had made this really knew their art. "The question that your sister asked is valid. Swords are not the weapons of choice in the world anymore and while the rapier does have practical applications, the knife and dagger have many more. If you are in a bind, it is necessary to use a dagger and finish them off by any means necessary. Therefore you all will be equipped with a dagger for that purpose." Good. She had asked a question and she hadn't had her head bitten off for it. And it was nice to know that this sword wasn't the only thing other than a gun in the arsenal she was expected to use. As Anna came over to retrieve her dagger, Melissa held it out for her to take. "For the daughter of an official, I'm impressed, you know your stuff. Just don't let it go to your head. All right?" "I won't, Ma'am. Besides, said official would be furious with me if I did." She wasn't afraid to smile this time, as she walked over to retrieve one of the training daggers they would be working with. As she had expected, she was miles ahead of any of the others when it came to such the daggers, though she still had to work hard just to get the stances right for the other weapons. Not a few of those injuries were ones she experienced through mishandling the rapier, epee, and saber, but she admittedly got carried away occasionally when they practiced with the daggers. All throughout she did her best to encourage both Nicolette and Amy, though on the rapier practice, Nicolette seemed actually better than her. Probably came from not having to unlearn anything else. ---- "Thanks, Nicolette. Thanks, Melissa, I owe you guys." Melissa blinked sleepily, smiling through a yawn. "What're sisters for?" she asked rhetorically, closing her eyes again. She was asleep in seconds. ---- What was this? Instead of weapons practice, or more physical training, this room was...relaxing. The moment the new Lillian walked in, Melissa began studying her. Though she was obviously different to a degree, she was still clearly trained in everything they needed to know. "Greetings girls. My name is Eist. As per all Lillian training, Her Majesty is not training mindless brutes that cannot hold conversation and cannot impress the elite which they are apart of. As such you will be taught the humanities and the arts. You will learn how to play the piano, or a violin, or some other instrument of choice. You will learn to philosophize, debate, and speak as a young woman, you will also learn the basis of international diplomacy. So I would like each of you to come up to me and tell me your past education and what you would like to pursue here at the fort." This was going to be...interesting. Melissa wasn't the most diplomatic of persons. just about any person she met knew whether she liked or disliked them. She wasn't generally afraid of speaking her mind, except when conversing with a person she truly respected, or rather feared. Persons such as her commanding officers. When her turn came to explain her education, she bit her lip before speaking. She explained that she had studied some of the basic arts, though she had never been proficient at them--in college she had majored in writing (she had intended originally to be a journalist before getting this invitation). "As for an instrument...does a harmonica count?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 "As for an instrument...does a harmonica count?" Eist chuckled as Melissa walked up to her and explained her instrument of choice. "Well I must say Miss Harlem I haven't had many harmonica players, but I don't see why not. Sort of gives it that folklorist culture to it. I'm sure for the Outback Travelers they would appreciate it just as much as a few fiddles. You can't a lag a grand piano around." Over the next weeks, the girls went to class everyday and they received in a very fast paced routine something equivalent to furthering their college education or an introduction for some of them to the liberal arts and the fort itself began to transform from a military encampment to a educational campus that might be found in Brisbane or Perth. They still woke up early to Anna's call and went on their morning exercises, though they were much shorter. Some days they would spend all day at the gun range and then walk over to the conservatory, other days it was all day in the sword school and afterward it was to the library. The girls were expected to write reports of their own personal philosophies, their ideas on diplomacy, they were educated on Francoism, Communism, Martenicism, and the various forms of Tintagylism. Arguments were prevalent in classrooms as they were thrown into role play of nations and dictators, playing the great figures of histories and arguing how to disprove the wars that came up. To solve the Valkyrie War without bloodshed, to pressure Tintagyl into joining with the Slavorussians during the Nordic War and on the contrary, how philosophically the Hansa may have changed into a Nordic Republic or a Communist Nation. As a month and more had passed, the girls were barely themselves from the women who had arrived at the fort, lost and confused. They were stronger, they could run just as Anna did on their morning and evening exercises. The gun range echoed with the sound of uniformed gunshot and the unison pinging of bullets against targets. Blades clinged against each other, as the girls moved up and down the sword rooms, amateurs in the epee, the rapier, and the saber, and masters in close quartered knife fights. While inside the conservatory, the sweet sounds of music filled the fort. "Miss Barrows!" Amy lifted her head from her desk and looked as Eist glanced up from the piano. "Yes Ma'm?" "Come down here, you and Nicolette, I want you to sing something for the class." Amy and Nicolette looked at each other nervously. "Ma'm?" "You'll play the piano and Miss Meniere can play the harp. Both of you should be able to sing." "But what should we sing Ma'm?" Asked Nicolette as they walked down the isle to the middle of the room. "The Rose of May, I think every one of you should know that song." The Rose of May was, if the Lillian Guard had an anthem, that would be it. It was the ode to the innocent girl learning the brutalities and the pains of war. Something they would all learn, something that deep down all of them knew that this was what truly brought them together as sisters. Nicolette sat at the harp and Amy at the piano as they looked at each other nervously and laid their hands on the strings and keys and began to play and then their soft voices rang through the room, only to be joined in later by their sisters... OOC: The Rose of May is owned by Kate Convington, this is a very beautiful song sung by her from a tune from Final Fantasy IX. When I heard it, there was no doubt that it speaks to the female warrior archetype and of the battle maiden, but please, all thanks for this post should go to her as is such an inspiration for the Lillian Guard from this point on. Again I am continuously awed by the creations of other artists around me and this song brought tears to my eyes, I hope its beauty does to you as well. IC: Nicolette's voice began to be joined by Amy. Her heart underneath Cries quietly This part of me I choose not to see What lives must I take For fealty's sake? How much blood must stain This warrior's blade? War leaves its trail In moonlight so pale Its shadows they flow In rivers, in rivers So put on my mask I'll go where they ask So I might once again see the Roses of May Staining my soul and stinging my eyes The red on my hands Won't wash away, wash away No where to run from what I have done I'm no longer, no longer A Rose of May Fate holds the blade before you Mirrored in maiden's eyes Far from myself I fly Into the perilous skies And they said Follow the blade before you Fear fall and courage rise Leave all your tears behind you Far from where innocence lies Cage of the kings No need for wings So turn them to stone From roses to bone When you look at me What do you see? This costume I weave Disfiguring me... War leaves its trail In moonlight so pale Its shadows they flow In rivers, in rivers So put on my mask I'll go where they ask So I might once again see the Roses of May Staining my soul and stinging my eyes The red on my hands Won't wash away, wash away No where to run from what I have done I'm no longer, no longer A Rose of May Storm clouds are creeping closer Danger is drawing near Why am I not protecting all that I once held dear? And you said Break free from all that holds you Kings hand and maiden's tear Run now into my arms Together we'll conquer our fears Led here by fate No longer afraid So here now I lay My Roses of May Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razgriz 2K9 Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 (edited) OOC: Aw, sweet, I loved that song. I think I have it as my national anthem, though I'm not sure... EDIT: Actually, it's another one, but it's the same singer. Edited December 5, 2009 by Razgriz 2K9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 (edited) Melissa mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Some people might look down on the harmonica as a lesser instrument, but it still took practice to get it truly right. Not to mention it took very precise breath control at times. She knew because she'd tried it a few times as a young child, but she'd always had something else come up that distracted her interest. Now she would be forced to make time, and to be honest, she was actually kind of glad they would be doing this. It was interesting, too, how the routine had slowly changed over the course of her time here. Never were they introduced to too many new things at any one time, but looking back, she came to a startling revelation—the girl she'd been when she first had arrived here would have been quite shocked at the changes she was going through. Not so much any physical changes (she had been expecting that), but more her attitudes and thought processes. Diplomacy, and analysis of diplomatic situations, had never really been her strong suit, and so she at first struggled with such classes. But she slowly fell into the proper mindset, and after those first few weeks of lessons, she found she was actually enjoying them, enjoying the role-playing, the debate. The reports felt like little more than a review of her college classes, though an enjoyable one. The real breakthrough was on the attitude shift into a diplomat. All it took. On her part, was to imagine that everyone she met was her superior in one way or another. You don't back-talk to your superiors, however much you might wish to, unless you believe there is no other way to prevent them from making some horrible mistake. Sometimes not even then. Some peole would simply never change their minds on anything, even if undeniable proof stared them in the face. The eeapons practice, whether it be with the gun, sword, or dagger, proceeded as well as could be expected for herself and her friends. Where they needed help, they could get it from her, and where she needed aid, she could count on them to take the time needed to help catch her up. She still excelled with the knives, daggers, and pistols, but she could see remarkable improvement in Amy and Nicolette. And in herself, as well. She grew more confident by the day in the useage of other firearms, the epee, the saber, and the rapier, though not nearly on the same level as Anna, not yet. And this particular song...she closed her eyes, just listening to the almost haunting melody, and the words that went with it. The words she had memorized brought sharply to the fore of her mind the fact that in service to her nation, she just might have to kill. She wondered what that would feel like, though she could not imagine enjoying it in any way. But she hoped that if she had no choice, she would not hesitate to do what needed to be done. Unconsciously, she reached under her uniform to tightly clasp the locket hanging there. To prevent someone else from experiencing the kind of losses she had, she hoped she had the strength...a river of tears ran down her cheeks as she recalled the day that had shattered her previous life, but her voice was strong and steady as it joined her friends' in harmony. Edited December 5, 2009 by Subtleknifewielder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 "No. Please, please tell me you're lying to me. That can't be true." Chelsea cried falling to the ground in her tears grabbing the white coat of Commander Zephyrine Ourais. The commander, no older than Anna, who in fact was standing at the doorway having brought Chelsea to the command post. Zephyrine held a piece of wrinkled paper in her hands and looked down at it sorrowfully. "Please Commander, it can't be true, it can't be true." Two days ago, out on the frontier of the outback was a small village known as Claraville, it was the village that Chelsea called home and it had been completely eradicated by a rogue group of bandits or some force. No one had survived the attack and Chelsea's entire family had vanished in the close of an hour. "I...I'm sorry Miss Aquina, but the government has already sent the Royal Army to solve this problem, the rogues will be brought to justice I promise." "That isn't going to bring my family back!" Chelsea cried and gripped Zephyrine's coat harder. "They're dead and there was nothing I could do! I don't even want to be a Lillian anymore! I just want my family back!" She cried nearly in hysterics. Zephyrine looked hopelessly up at Anna who gave the same depressed look. "Chelsea, if you finish your training you'll have the justice that your family deserves. You would have died if you would have been with them, you survived, God has a greater path for you." Chelsea glared back at Anna. "No! You don't know anything! They're dead and you say something like that? I knew you were a heartless !@#$%* Commander Lindstrom, but...but..." The crying girl jumped up and lunged at Anna hitting her in the face before running out of the door. The punch had drawn a bit of blood from her lip, but the Vice-Commander only took a deep breath and drew out a handkerchief to dab her lip. "The girl's got a good punch, you trained her well Anna." Chuckled Zephyrine. "Yeah. Only the best." Anna jeered. "You think she'll leave?" "If she wants to leave I'm not going to stop her, but what? There's only like two months of training left, it would be a shame for her to forgo that all now." "Death of your entire family would do that Anna. Go easy on her the next few days." "But they need to stay eq-" "Anna, I said go easy on her. If you need to go easy on all of them, do so. Is that understood?" "Yes Commander." --- Chelsea's mood only continued to decline as the week continued and while she tried to hid her grief from her sisters during their lightly lackadaisical training, which in Anna's mind made all of them sloppy, there were many times during times in the conservatory or in the sword room where Chelsea would run out of the room in tears. Much to the confusion of Melissa, Nicolette, and Amy. This nearly drove Nicolette crazy, thinking that she was failing Chelsea at every turn and did her best to try and keep her friend in a good mood. But every attempt seemed to fail miserably, leaving Nicolette almost as saddened as Chelsea was, though naturally for different reasons. However one Thursday night, many hours after the girls' evening exercises had ended, Melissa would be woken up by the sounds of harsh whispered to her left. "Amy! Amy! Wake up! Wake up for God sakes!" Nicolette said as she shook her friend. Amy Barrows opened her eyes slowly and pushed Nicolette out of her face. "Leave me alone Nicolette, I'm not in the mood, I'm tried as $%&@ right now." "Chelsea's gone Amy! She's gone!" Amy's eyes bolted open as she sat up in bed, her dirty blonde hair a mess and her dark brown eyes still fuzzy from sleep. "What do you mean she's gone?" The girl said loudly causing more of the girls to twist and turn in their beds. "Quiet! Do you want to wake everyone else up?" "Did you at least check around the fort? She always goes on those weird walks and !@#$." Nicolette glared at the muddy boots on her feet. "Don't you think I would have looked before waking you up. C'mon we have to go looking for her." "Look for her?" The sarcasm in Amy's voice was biting. "Nicolette, I love Chelsea, I really do, but what are we supposed to do. We don't even know where to start." "She's been talking about going home for the past two months and recently its been really bad. I've even heard her talk that she's never going to see her family again and that they're in a better place. I think something bad's happened that people aren't telling us. I know how to get to Claraville, we should go there and find out what's wrong, to find out what's wrong with Chelsea." "Christ..." Amy sighed. "She's our sister." "Yeah, I know...I know..." Amy nodded. "Alright, give me time go get dressed. Christ Nicolette, we're going to get in so much trouble for this you realize that right? How are we even supposed to get to Claraville?" "There's a bus depot in Saxby we can take north. We'll be fine, it'll be a days walk." Amy sighed. "Lord help us..." As Nicolette started walking towards Melissa's bed. "Where are you going now?" "Waking up Melissa, she has to know and come with us." Nicolette walked over to Melissa's bed to tell her the same story and violently wake her up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Melissa doubted she was the only one to notice the slacking off in the training. Add to that the behavior of Chelsea Aquina, and it wasn't hard to determine that there was some connection. And some of what she had heard Chelsea mention...for some reason, it sent chills down her spine at the thought. No, certainly they wouldn't hide something like that, would they? That Thursday night, Melissa was having trouble sleeping, drifting in and out of a light doze as she was tormented with her own memories. She had only just gotten to sleep when the whispering woke her up. Growling under her breath, she went to grab her pillow and put it over her head, when the subject being discussed finally broke into her consciousness. While her friends were discussing the matter, she sat up, completely unnoticed, and began donning her uniform. There was nothing else to wear at the moment. "Where are you going now?" "Waking up Melissa, she has to know and come with us." Undoubtedly to Nicolette's suprise, Melissa was already half-dressed. She was just finished pulling on her pants, actually. "No need to wake me up, I heard enough," she said quietly. As she grabbed the outer cloak, she took a moment to study it. "We'll need to find more inconspicuous clothing, though," she added with a grimace. "If we wear our uniforms for too long, we'll stand out like a sore thumb." Once that was on, all she needed to grab was her boots. "And if we can, we should obtain some concealable weapons. If it is something bad, we need to be prepared." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 "No need to wake me up, I heard enough," "Yeah, well if loud mouth here didn't talk like she does during training." Amy said as she buttoned up the gray coat of a recruit and adjusted her undershirt. "Well its good to know you're coming along with us. I appreciate it Melissa." Said Nicolette. We'll need to find more inconspicuous clothing, though, if we wear our uniforms for too long, we'll stand out like a sore thumb." "Yeah..." "And if we can, we should obtain some concealable weapons. If it is something bad, we need to be prepared." "Yeah..." Nicolette repeated again, grimacing that she hadn't prepared this escapade as she should have. "Well what now General Meneire?" Scoffed Amy. "Every minute we wait, Chelsea's getting further and further away." "Shut up, I'm trying to think." Nicolette tapped her foot against the ground. "Okay I have an idea. Follow me." She said and walked out towards the parade grounds and fountain. As she disappeared through the doorway, Amy looked at Melissa and shook her head. "She's going to get us all in trouble, you realize that right." Before she followed the energetic Lillian outside. -- Nicolette lead her friends towards the buildings comprising the sword training rooms and the gun range and set to work on the doors, with the idea of strict discipline and no outsiders were allowed into the fort, the door swung open perfectly. "Oh no, you can't be serious." Said Amy. "We're stealing weapons now too?" "Well you want to be protected right?" "Yeah, but not by breaking nearly every rule that Commander Lindstrom gave us. This is stupid Nicolette." "Is she your friend?" "Well yeah..." "Your sister?" Amy scowled. "Yeah, I know, sisterhood. This is still a bad idea. Don't you think Melissa?" The girls walked into the sword room and Nicolette opened up the drawer that held the training knifes. "They won't miss a few knifes I'm sure. There's tons in here." She said pulling out three sloppily crafted knives. "They look like !@#$ too. So no one is going to miss them." "Lets hope not." Finally Nicolette took Amy by both her shoulders. "Listen Amy! You don't have to come with us if you're just going to criticize us. So get rid of the goddamn attitude unless you're going to contribute something." The girl frowned and sighed. "No, its not that Nicolette. I just...I just don't want to have forfeited everything I've done for the past five months. I always wanted to be a Lillian Guard, ever since I immigrated to the Hansa okay. I want to actually be a Lillian, more than anything." She bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry, I want to help Chelsea as much as possible. I'm sorry for being greedy." She shed a quick tear and tried hiding it from Nicolette and Melissa. "I'm sorry." "No its okay, I shouldn't have been as demanding. But we need to take risks, they can't yell at us for helping her or trying to help her out. If we do get in trouble, I'll take full blame, okay Amy?" The girl laughed. "No, its okay, Nicolette, lets just get going. We're wasting time." They got their knives, however the pistols were locked up tightly, so they'd have to rely on short blades for now as the girls made their way over to the wall and grabbed onto the ivy covering the tall stone wall. Nicolette was first, climbing up towards the ledge and back down the other side. Amy was next, having a bit of difficult going up and fell halfway the rest of the way down and once Melissa was down, the three girls began walking down the road towards Saxby, from there it would be to the ruins that would be Claraville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 (edited) "Well its good to know you're coming along with us. I appreciate it Melissa." She couldn't let them go off by themselves. If it was bad, and they got themselves killed without her there, she just knew she'd end up blaming herself. "Hey, what are sisters for?" It became plain as day, as she continued talking, that Nicolette had not thought the mater through as well as she should have. Melissa sighed. "Yeah..." "What would you do without me, huh?" Melissa teased, trying to keep some humor in the situation. It didn't really help. "Well what now General Meneire? Every minute we wait, Chelsea's getting further and further away." "Shut up, I'm trying to think." Melissa sighed again. There was only one place they were going to get the weapons they needed, but it shouldn't take long for her friend to come to that conclusion. While she waited, she made sure her boots were on firmly, then stood. No trace of her earlier weariness returned, but she knew that once the adrenaline of the situation completely wore off, she would be feeling dog-tired. The other two might not be so badly off, depending on how much sleep they had already gotten. "She's going to get us all in trouble, you realize that right." Melissa shook her head. "But her heart's in the right place. As long as we're with her, there shouldn't be too much we can't handle together." Before she left, she quietly communicated to any others that had woken that they were trying to help a sister that was in trouble. That was enough to evoke a promise of silence from them until the three were long gone. -------- Yes, Nicolette had clearly come to the same conclusion she had, and it wasn't long before they were inside. Not that it was much of a challenge, but there was always a chance a sentry could have spotted them. The other two started bickering almost as soon as they were inside. Melissa massaged her temple, feeling the beginnings of a mild headache. "Yeah, I know, sisterhood. This is still a bad idea. Don't you think Melissa?" She shook her head, though her grimace indicated that she didn't like it any better than Amy. "Perhaps. But we don't really have a choice. Where else did you think we were going to get weapons?" Although she herself almost felt like cursing when she saw the knives Nicolette withdrew from the drawer, and she did bite off an oath when they couldn't get at the pistols. At least her friends had resolved their differences. "No its okay, I shouldn't have been as demanding. But we need to take risks, they can't yell at us for helping her or trying to help her out. If we do get in trouble, I'll take full blame, okay Amy?" "No, its okay, Nicolette, lets just get going. We're wasting time." Nicolette's words echoed in Melissa's mind all through their stealthy trip to, up, and over the wall. As they stealthily slipped away from the fort, she couldn't help but make one whispered comment. "You realize that if we get in trouble for this, they're not likely to believe you were the one responsible, right? They'll be more likely to believe us if I take responsibility." Because of the three, Melissa was the most outgoing, and most of the people at the fort, recruits and full Lillians alike, considered her to be the ringleader of their little group. Considering the identity of her father, it was a natural assumption, despite all she had done to try and disassociate herself from him while she was here. Edited December 7, 2009 by Subtleknifewielder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 "You realize that if we get in trouble for this, they're not likely to believe you were the one responsible, right? They'll be more likely to believe us if I take responsibility." "Well then we'll just have to make sure we don't get in trouble." Said Nicolette as Amy scoffed, but after that exchange of quips, the girls were pretty much silent for the rest of their long walk to the village of Saxby. Leaving Fort Victoria around three in the morning, they arrived at the outskirts of Saxby just as the sun began to rise over the eastern expanses and probably by this time Commander Lindstrom would already know that the three had disappeared to go look for Chelsea, a deliberate breaking of the chain of command, but in Nicolette's mind friendship and sisterhood was much more important than some stupid etiquette that the Lillians held over each other. "I'll tell you what makes a real Lillian." Nicolette said as they walked into the bus depot, still brandishing their gray cloaks from the night before. "Someone who's willing to sacrifice everything they have for their sister-in-arms. That's what separates Lillians from the regular army." "Yes and we might never know how that feels if this doesn't go like you planned it." It hadn't taken long either for Nicolette and Amy to resume their roles as counter-balancing each other, optimism and pessimism. Melissa could consider herself lucky, even in an Order where everyone was considered equal and helping each other was the most important of all the codes, she was still in the middle of the proverbial yin-yang. Stepping into the depot, Nicolette led the other two girls towards the conductor's booth, looking at the bus map to buy their tickets to Claraville. Combined, the girls just had about enough money to cover the expenses and maybe to get something to eat on the ride as well. Taking the collected marks up to the booth, Nicolette smiled through the window and pushed the bills forward. "Three tickets to Claraville please sir." "Claraville?" The conductor asked with a hint of fear in his voice. "Yes, that's the one." "Miss you haven't heard the news have you? Claraville was attacked by some rebel force just a few days ago. The entire village was destroyed, everyone was killed." Nicolette's face hung low in disbelief. "No, there has to be some mistake, our friend just went ba-" Then the pieces of what had been going on finally came together. "My God, she's trying to get revenge." Nicolette turned back to Melissa and Amy, her voice ragged from sadness. "Claraville is gone, people destroyed it and Chelsea's in danger now and its all my fault, I...I...should have been there for...her..." The tears began to fall down her face. Amy walked up and took the money out of Nicolette's hands and turned back to Melissa. "You watch her, I'll get us a ticket." Amy walked back over to the conductor's booth and started discussing other routes, while Nicolette grabbed onto Melissa's body tightly and buried her head into her shoulder. "I don't know what now Melissa. I feel like we failed her and we haven't even done anything yet. We have to find her before she gets killed, we have to..." Amy turned back from the booth and walked over with three bus tickets in her hands. "I got us on the bus to East Creek, its about ten miles from where Claraville is. The conductor warned me about going there as well, but I told him that we were Lillian recruits and that seemed to make him feel a bit better. So the bus is leaving in fifteen minutes, are you two ready?" "Y...yeah...I'm okay." "Nicolette. Seriously, she's fine. We'll find her before anything bad happens and have her back to the Fort before she knows what hit her." "You think?" "You got us this far, I don't see why not." And for as much as Amy and Nicolette being the yin-yang on Melissa's nerves, the two always seemed to come together strongly in the end. The bus ride passed slowly as they traveled across the edge of the outback towards the town of East Creek. The most unnerving thing here was simply the fact that East Creek was so close to where Claraville was and with this rogue force out on the loose, there was no telling where they would strike next. This became prevalent when the bus driver stopped at the outskirts of East Creek and refused to drive any further in. The sight of smoke bellowing out from buildings and the ground filled the distant sky, they had been too late for East Creek as well. Getting off the bus, the girls held their knives close as they walked into the ruins of the town, a few villagers had been able to survive the onslaught and now it was time for the Lillian Recruits to get to the bottom of these rogue attacks and to find their friend... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 "Well then we'll just have to make sure we don't get in trouble." At least they had fallen silent, even if the headache didn't go away. And she was already beginning to feal the weariness seep into her bones as they made it into Saxby. "I'll tell you what makes a real Lillian. Someone who's willing to sacrifice everything they have for their sister-in-arms. That's what separates Lillians from the regular army." True enough, she supposed, but the retort by Amy had a point. Melissa, though she abstractly knew it was in essence a good thing to have two balancing points of view, felt far from lucky being the one in the middle. Unable to control it entirely, a yawn escaped her. The weariness vanished once again, though, when the conductor informed them of what had happened to Claraville. "Miss you haven't heard the news have you? Claraville was attacked by some rebel force just a few days ago. The entire village was destroyed, everyone was killed." While not a complete surprise, she hadn't expected something quite on that scale. It all made sense now. And the others were equally quick in making the logical conclusion. "Claraville is gone, people destroyed it and Chelsea's in danger now and its all my fault, I...I...should have been there for...her..." "You watch her, I'll get us a ticket." Melissa nodded, turning to the first real friend she had made in all this. It was obvious she needed help, but as she opened her mouth to say something sympathetic... "I don't know what now Melissa. I feel like we failed her and we haven't even done anything yet. We have to find her before she gets killed, we have to..." "We will. And don't go blaming yourself for what happened," she added sternly. "We couldn't have known what was going to happen. Unless you are somehow able to see the future and you haven't told us?" Perhaps she spoke a little more harshly than she intended, but she was fighting back her own tears, for her own reasons. "...So the bus is leaving in fifteen minutes, are you two ready?" "Yeah, I'm ready," Melissa stated firmly, taking her ticket without saying thank you. She didn't trust herself to speak right now. At least the two had made up again, apparently. She might have said something she knew she would only regret later if they hadn't. As she laid her forehead against the cool glass of the bus to alleviate the headache, tears, hidden from her friends, began trickling down her cheeks. ---- She woke with a start when the bus stopped. Apparently she had managed to get some sleep on the way there. She felt a little better, though her neck was slightly cramped from the position it had been in--it had unconsciously rested on Amy's shoulder. Giving a slightly embarrassed grin, she gripped her weapon and stepped off the bus with the other two. The sight of another ruined town threatened to force unwanted memories to the surface again, but she clamped down hard on them, turning it into focused anger that could hopefully be directed at the perpetrators instead. Stopping the first survivor she acame across, a young child that looked heart-breakingly like one of her brothers, she crouched down to meet his eyes with her own. His were filled with stunend disbelief, and he clutched a picture tightly to his chest. "We're hear to help, dear," she said. Her voice was as soft as she could make it, trying to communicate not only with her words, but her tone, that she meant no harm. "Can you tell us what happened?" She hated to ask, but they needed to find out what they could, from anyone that could talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 "Good God in Heaven." Said Amy in disbelief as they walked further into East Creek. "This is a massacre." She held her hand over her mouth as the girls looked on at the town, dead bodies were strewn across the streets, the buildings still on fire made the streets of town burning hot from the afternoon summer sun beating down on them as well. Amy and Nicolette stayed towards Melissa's back as their self-proclaimed leader walked up to a young boy, covered in ash and blood, gripping a torn picture in his hands. "This...this is horrible." "We're hear to help, dear. Can you tell us what happened?" But the young boy only began to cry and grabbed onto Melissa's cloak to bury his head in her sleeve and continue to cry, until he could barely form tears anymore. Nicolette and Amy immediately ran over to her side, trying to console him in anyway possible. They tried for about a minute to no avail before a gruff voice made its way to their ears. "His parents both died right in front of him. You're not going to get anything out of him now girls." The three Lillians looked up at an old man, he was the personification of rugged. His face with a thick five o'clock shadow while a pipe stuck out of his mouth with a foul smelling tobacco inside. His teeth were a shade of yellow, mostly from age and wear, while a thick mustache protruded from under his nose. The man had dirty blue jeans, and a green flannel shirt with oils stains all over it. "Its the same case for about everyone in town." "Well do you think you could explain what happened here?" Amy snapped back. "Who's asking? Can't say I really trust anyone right now." "Lieutenant Amy Barrows of the Lillian Guard." Nicolette's face contorted, almost in humor, she might have even laughed if the situation around them wasn't so grim. "Lieuten-" "A Lillian?" The man puffed a smoke ring out of his pipe as he walked down the wooden stairs to where the girls stood. "Pete, go on and find your sister. Its too dangerous to play outside right now." At the words of the old man, the young boy, Pete, ran off back into the smoking ruin of East Creek. After he was out of sight, the old man turned back to Amy. "So you're a Lillian Guard? I'm impressed, I didn't think East Creek was important enough to get the attention of Lillians, something big must be going on." "The Queen takes an interest in all her people sir. Claraville and East Creek have to been avenged." "You know about Claraville too?" He nodded. "Hell you girls must be on top of your game. But I didn't know that Asgeirsson took to such an interesting in the peasantry like us." He chuckled. "A Queen and all, I never liked the first Queen, thought she was too contempt as well. But hey, that's what old men are supposed to do right?" He stuck out his hand and took Amy's. "The name's Dave, pleasure to meet you Lieutenant Barrows, I figured you three to be Lillians, Tintagyl always made sure to find the most attractive. Probably why everyone's so enthralled with you ladies." "Well Dave, as much as we'd love to sit around and chat. We have orders to complete. Do you know anything about the attack on the two villages?" "We've always had a minor problem with bandits. Its supposed to be the modern age right? Well, recently the attacks have been getting worse. Normally they'd come in, steal some money, terrorize, but at the most a few people would be injured. Now the attacks have become much more coordinated and they're not after money or a bit of extortion. They burn the towns to the ground, we didn't believe what happened to Claraville and now it happened here." "Just random bandits?" Asked Nicolette as she walked up next to Amy. "Depends what you mean by random. They're definitely organized now. They come on horseback wearing all black and since we're out here in the boonies and the outback, we police ourselves pretty much. Tax collector comes by every once in awhile, life is supposed to be quiet out here. Not always the case I guess." He blew another smoke ring out. "The seems almost terroristic." "All bandits are terrorists my dear. Just not always how you perceive them. I understand you want the foreign nationals, people that blew up the Diet Hall. Sorry, not around here, its much less cut and dry. But its not that you wouldn't be able to get to them, its not hard to tell from where these !@#$%^&* are coming from. Claraville wasn't the the first one raided before. It was the first one burned, but we've always had problems with these bandits. They hit Corale, Fielding, and Stokes as well and if you girls know your geography at all." "Vena Ridge. Its the center." Said Amy nodding her head. "But haven't the towns attempted to try and do something about it. Or contact the proper authorities." "Well we have, but sorry to say. Money rules and poor folks like us get pushed to the back of things like this. There isn't anything we can really do, we've accepted it." "But have you tried to do something?" "I told you!" Said Dave a bit angrier. "No one bothered to help us and you know how big Vena Ridge is? Its some twenty miles across, north, south, east, and west. We've tried to force them out. Some brave young boys go in and they come back with their heads chopped of. So you tell me Lillian, what would you have us do?" "I understand." Said Amy quietly. "I'm sorry for offending. But you said Vena Ridge. All right. Thank you." Dave laughed. "You three going up to hunt the bandits by yourselves? I mean I've heard Heaven and Hell are nice this time of year, but I wouldn't be rushing to get there. You three will get yourselves killed." "We have to res-" Amy looked back at Nicolette and glared, making sure that their cover wasn't blown. "You underestimate the Lillian Guard Dave, we can take care of ourselves." He chuckled again. "Well I guess what they say about beauty is true then. The more beautiful, the stronger, and courageous the girl. However, no weapons with you?" "Just knives I'm afraid." "A Lillian without her rapier?" Dave's eyes widened. "Tintagyl would faint. But I won't ask, I'm sure that there's an explanation to everything. Lieutenant." He said with a bit of humor. It wasn't hard to tell that he didn't by the story that they were Lillians sent by the Queen, but he humored them nonetheless. "I can help you three out at least. Hold on a moment." He walked back up towards the house where he had come from and reappeared a few minutes later with his arms full, two pistols, and a bolt action rifle with a few boxes of bullets. "I understand, probably not what Tintagyl teaches you, but this stuff gets the job done. I figure three Lillians would be fine with a bit of muscle to their voice." Amy took the rifle and looked at it as Melissa and Nicolette each took a pistol and a few clips. "Yeah, this will work just fine. Thanks Dave." "No, thank you girls. Hopefully you'll come back with the heads of some bandits. And if they come back with yours, well we'll give you a proper burial." Nicolette's eyes widened at the thought as Amy smiled and took the girls by the shoulders and started leading them off towards Vena Ridge. "If you ever make me talk to the guy that smells like cucumbers again, I will personally kill both of you." And they laughed as the three Lillians began to make the daunting walk up towards the Ridge that loomed in the distance, nightfall coming quickly behind them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 9, 2009 Report Share Posted December 9, 2009 Melissa shouldn't have expected an answer out of the boy, but he had been the first person she'd seen. She let him cry on her shoulder, gently enfolding him in a hug as she rester her chin on his head. His obvious grief prompted her own sympathetic tears, and she wasn't afraid to show it as another individual intruded on the scene, an old man, lainly weathered by years of hard labor and probably a lifelong tobacco habit. While she listened to his words, she did not let go of boy, not until the old man told him to go. Wiping off the tears as she stood, the young woman arched a single eyebrow in Amy's direction. She, too, might have found the claim of Lieutenant almost humerous were the circumstances not so dire. She almost spoke up several times, but in the end decided to hold back, letting Amy and Nicolette do most of the talking--she didn't have any question in particular to ask they wouldn't think of between the two of them. Melissa was touched by the man's generosity when he brought them weapons, and as she loaded a clip, she offered a sincere smile of gratitude to him, pocketing as many clips as she could, but making sure to leave some for him, in case the bandits returned and he needed them. "Yeah, this will work just fine. Thanks Dave." "No, thank you girls. Hopefully you'll come back with the heads of some bandits. And if they come back with yours, well we'll give you a proper burial." "Well, that's a relief..." Melissa muttered with a small degree of amusement, making sure the safety was on before she tucked the new weapon into her belt--the best that could be done without a holster for the gun. No resistance was offered as Amy began steering them in the right direction, though she did flash one more smile at the man behind them. "If you ever make me talk to the guy that smells like cucumbers again, I will personally kill both of you." She couldn't help it...tha startled a laugh out of her despite the situation. Probably for the best. Good humor was good for you, despite what some people might say. ---- An hour into the walk, they would certainly be glad of their physical training. Earlier the day had been shaping up to be hot, and it clearly hadn't disappointed. The sun beating down on their heads seemed determined in its way to hinder them in their mission in any way it could... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 By the time the girls had reached Vena Ridge, they looked more like rogues themselves than Lillian Guards. The heat had made wearing the cloaks unbearable and they had long discarded their lace undershirts, tying them around their waists and walking up with rifles and pistols in hand. As the bright and hot afternoon sun slowly began to shrink behind the ridge as they came closer to its high hills rising up in the distance and red rock that burned like fire with the dim orange sun falling behind it. Vena Ridge was a wide expanse of territory, about twenty miles in every direction so to pinpoint exactly where the bandit rogues had their base camp was going to require an entire full evening and probably the greater part of the night investigating around its rolling hills and valleys. Covered in low laying shrubs, abundant wildlife and perilous rock the Lillians would have their hands full and as the sun had finally set behind the western horizon, success was the last thing on most of their minds. "Nicolette! No! We have to go back!" Said Amy plopping on the ground near a flat rock sticking out of the ground. "I can barely see what's in front of me anymore!" Amy had a reason to be mad, she had wanted to turn back since the sun had dropped below the horizon for various reasons. First it was dark and they for the lack of hindsight, hadn't brought flashlights with them. Second, even if they had brought flashlights, the bandits that were roaming the ridge would be able to spot them quite easily. So not matter what they did, they either wouldn't be able to find the bandit hideout, or they would manage to get caught and kill. Adding to this, was that Amy had tripped over another nice sized rock and had a long cut going up her arm. She was miserable. "Look this isn't even about Chelsea anymore. We're going off on some revenge quest now. For all we know, Chelsea is in Claraville burying her family and we don't need to be doing this at all." "Then we're doing it for Chelsea, we're doing the revenge for her. Plus, this is part of our job, to protect the innocent, the bandits need to be brought to justice." "But there's only three of us!" "We're you telling Cucumber man that we were Lillian Guard and a troop of bandits was nothing for us?" Amy glared at Nicolette's wit, if the girls could see it through the dark. "I said what I needed to get us to this point. But being stranded out in the dark hadn't been my idea of how we were going to spend the night." She yawned. "Speaking of which, maybe we should start thinking about turning in for the night." "It can't even be that late. Come on Amy, we have to keep going." Nicolette pleaded. "You can barely see me what do you honestly expect to fin-" Amy's sentence was cut off by the sound of distant hoofbeats, the girls jumped up and ran over the edge of the where the sounds were coming from and Nicolette's face beamed, much to Amy's chagrin. In front of them was a line of horsemen carrying torches, riding into a large cavern on a lower part of the ridge. There were easily ten torches riding into the cavern, many more than the Lillians would be able to take on by themselves. The girls crawled back behind the rock they had stared down from and looked at each other with despair. "Well it doesn't matter anyways. There's three of us and God knows how many of them are still inside the cavern. No way, we need to go back and get help. Go back to Fort Victoria and tell Commander Lindstrom, this is stupid, us doing this alone." Nicolette sighed, she wanted to say something to counter Amy's pessimism to the operation. But there was really nothing she could say that she could even convince herself. "Yeah...maybe it for the bes-" "No! You devils killed my family! You killed everything I loved! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you all!" Came a voice from the distance, as the girls jumped up from behind the rock to see two more bandits with torches heading into the cavern, but these two were on foot and dragging a young girl with them. It was Chelsea. "Chelsea!" Nicolette screamed as she took the pistol out of her belt and began heading down to the cave at the bottom of the ridge. "Chelsea?" Then Amy watched as Nicolette began to climb down the ridge. "Nicolette! Where the hell are you going?" But there was no answer, the Lillian had disappeared from Amy and Melissa's sight. Amy's eyes boggled, nearly out of her head. "Can't you believe this! Christ and we were almost asleep." She sighed and picked up the rifle from the rock she had rested it on. "Come on Melissa, we have to go now. Say your prayers, I don't think we're going to be making it out of this one." Slowly, Melissa and Amy climbed down through the dark towards the foot of the ridge. They tried to be as quiet as they could, but navigating through the dark and then down a the side of a proverbial mountainside, quiet was nothing more than a gesture. Rocks slide down from their boots as their hands slipped on the edges, finally the girls both plopped down to the both of the ridge with a loud thud while Amy groaned and held her back. "Seriously. Now you know why I said we should have stayed back at the Fort. God. I think I broke a bone." She wined, but Melissa got her up relatively fast as the girls crept over as quietly as they could towards the entrance of the cavern. It was lighter now, the illumination from the near torches helping the two girls find their way better. Closing in on the entrance, Amy and Melissa finally saw Nicolette, gripping her knife and pistol in both hands looking madly at the two guards standing guard of the entrance. They quickened their steps, they had to reach Nicolette before she did something that she would regret. "Nicolette!" Amy hollered in a whisper. "No! Don't!" But it was too late and with beautiful precision and agility Nicolette jumped out from behind her hiding place, stabbing the knife through the first bandits back and dropping him to the ground with only a sudden groan escaping his mouth. The other guard barely knew what was happening, as Nicolette slid the knife out of the first guard's back and threw it with deadly accuracy, embedding it into his throat. Once the bloody spectacle was over, she walked over retrieved her knife, wiped it off on the bandit's clothes and walked into the darkness of the cavern; leaving both Amy and Melissa thoroughly stunned. Amy turned back to Melissa and shook her head. "You know, she gets that from you." Amy sighed as she jumped out from behind the rock and they pushed into the darkness of the cave after Nicolette and Chelsea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 'Why did we come out here again? Oh, yes, for our sister.' "Nicolette! No! We have to go back! I can barely see what's in front of me anymore!" If she had not been constantly reminding herself why they had come, Melissa might have been tempted to agree with Amy that they should turn back. But they were here, and they were committed. They would likely not make it back out to any of the surrounding towns by now anyway--they had not exactly been loaded down with the necessary supplies when they started this little trip. Her father, if he could see her, would most likely chide her for her lack of foresight. Then again, supplies had not exactly been thick on the ground. She wasn't sure if she would have even grabbed a flashlight if the opportunity had presented itself. Sure, it would have been nice, but in this situation, there were rsiks involved too. It would have perfectly ruined any night sight they developed, and two, any alert sentries would be able to spot the light from quite a distance. "It's too late to turn back, Amy," Melissa answered quietly. She didn't dare allow herself to rest. She was too afraid she would lose her will to continue if she so much as sat for just a few moments. Once again, she had to listen to an exchange of complaints and answers to those complaints. "Speaking of which, maybe we should start thinking about turning in for the night." Melissa was nodding in agreement before amy finished the sentence. In the dark, it was true they were less likely to find any signs of the bandits' whereabouts. But then, just as she was thinking that, their luck turned. She wasn't sure it hadn't been for the worse, though, seeing how many there were in that party. No way they could take that many on at once, even with the element of surprise, which would surely be lost by the end of the fight even if, by some miracle, they could win. It seemed, though, that fate was determined to provide the motivation to continue. It was a wonder their enemies hadn't heard Nicolette's outburst, but then again, Chelsea was still screaming bloody murder. She sighed as Nicolette began climbing down the ridge. 'We better go and make sure she doesn't get herself killed.' Amy was quite obviously thinking along the same lines. It was a miracle none of the three was spotted on the way down, and she silently thanked whatever deity that happened to be watching over them for that miracle. "Seriously. Now you know why I said we should have stayed back at the Fort. God. I think I broke a bone." Melissa held a finger to her lips. The slighest noise could easily cary in this kind of terrain. They needed to be as quiet as possible--and they also needed to keep moving. She gave a stern glance at Amy, who sighed and followed her toward the mouth of the cavern. But Nicolette had already beaten them there, and Melissa could only clench her fists and pray furiously as her friend moved in on the guards. But it was over almost as soon as it begun. Melissa sighed in relief, even as she marvelled at the precision and timing it took. Now if only their friend would stop and actually wait for them, they might be able to form some kind of coherent plan. But evidently such thinking was beyond her at this point--not that anyone could blame the girl. "You know, she gets that from you." And Amy meant that quite literally. She had helped teach several of the other recruits how to throw a knife properly. But there was no time to stop and really think about such a trivial thing. Because if they didn't catch up to Nicolette soon, they would have two rescues on their hands instead of one. The entrance was even darker than outside, but there were sure to be at least a few torches along the route. The bandits wouldn't stumble around blindly in the dark after all. But such might be few and far between, something the girls might actually be able to use to their advantage if they were careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Amy and Melissa stayed to the side of the cavern for as long as they could, creeping through the darkness, trying to avoid the bright torches that were placed about every twenty yards apart, if they stood in the middle between the torches the girls pretty much became invisible, the trouble was getting from one torch to the other. The other problem that was presented to them was that this wasn't a cave, this was a goddamn cave complex and as they reached the end of one of the dark corridors, the paths split into the threes and from those path ways there was no telling how far the cavern descended into the earth. "We're not splitting up." Amy said sternly to Melissa, with a hint of fear and a bit of self-doubt as well. "There's no way I'm getting lost in here alone. Okay?" Once the girls had gotten that straight, Amy and Melissa spent about a minute deciding where to head in the cavern next. Finally after listening long enough and the sounds of footsteps coming up one of the corridors, they chose the furthest of the three paths and continued to walk down into the dark. Staying close to the walls, the girls shivered and held each other tightly when they would throw themselves against the dark walls of the cave as two bandits would walk up the corridors on patrol. The girls' hands were glued to their knives and their respected guns. Not much good a rifle would do in these close quarters, Melissa's pistol would be much more helpful, but the sound of a pistol going off would be enough for the entire complex to hear that there were intruders. So instead they waited in silence, the sweat from their anxiety running down their brows, their arms, and their necks. It was the scariest thing Amy had ever been through, and while Melissa had seen much worse in her life she would still find her breathing quick and her mind racing. As they played hide and seek with the guards, making sure they stayed out of light and out of sight, the girls finally came to the end of another series of corridors that opened up into a large room and Amy and Melissa both sided at what was in front of them. The room was a gigantic circular room, with stalactites and stalagmites sticking out of the ground, torches along the walls and a spiral path that ran around the room leading towards the center. Nicolette was a bit further ahead of where Amy and Melissa entered the room and, already climbing down the rock face towards the bottom, she was climbing where it was moderately dim, but one trip of her legs would alert the some five bandits in the room. At the bottom of the room was Chelsea, her arms and legs tied as she lay against the wall, her face cut and bruised and her entire body pulsing in pain. There were some eight bandits around the room and in the center two of them, one a tall woman with dark brown hair and pale white skin was talking to one of the black riders, for all purposes she seemed the like the boss of the operation. She wore a black frock coat, much in the same styles as the Lillians had, a rapier was tied to her waste and she wore the same high black boots they did. Amy threw herself to the side of the wall and took the rifle off of her shoulder, holding in her hands. "You don't think? Do you Melissa?" Her eyes were almost wet with fear and disbelief for what they could be facing. But there was no time to think, only time to react, Nicolette had reached the bottom of the rock face and had taken both her knife and her pistol out as she strode gently, bravely, and quite foolishly out into the light of the cavern. For a moment no one seemed to notice the young girl, with light brown hair, sweating, dirty, and tired from her adventure so far literally stroll out towards the bandit leader, then finally the black coated woman turned and with one sweeping motion took out her pistol and pointed it at Nicolette's face, the other bandits alerted to the movements did the same. "Who the hell are you? Do you even have any idea where you are and that you're going to die?" The leader looked at her followers. "How the $%&@ did this girl get in here?" "You have my friend, I came to get her back." The black coated woman stopped for a moment and holstered her pistol and looked intently at Nicolette, looking at her movements, how she held her two weapons. Everything. "Your friend?" "Nicolette! Nicolette! Please hel-" Chelsea screamed from the side of the room, before the leader shot a bullet near her face, Chelsea reeled back in fear and began crying again. "Stop it! Who the hell are you anyways! Do you have any idea of the !@#$ that you've done?" The leader crossed her arms and smiled wickedly at the girl. "You're a Lillian aren't you, one of Sangral's little servant girls, one of her experiment pets?" "I'm not a servant girl. I'm a Lillian Guard and I'm taking my friend back with me and taking you to justice." The leader and the bandits around her fell into laughter. "Honestly girl, you and what army? One of you against eight of my guards, plus once the others hear the gun shots." The bandit leader pulled out her rapier and pointed it at Nicolette. "You should just get on your knees now, I'll make death so much less painful for you." Nicolette finally began to realize the inherent error in her planning and knew that if Melissa and Amy hadn't followed her, she was dead. But she wouldn't show that to the bandit leader and held her gun firmly at the advancing woman. "Not a chance." "All right the-" There was a blast, the gun shot echoed through the cavern and the guard standing next to the bandit leader held his neck as he dropped down to the ground, dead. "There's more of them dammit! Find them and kill them! Sangral isn't ruining my plans like this!" Amy smiled as she released the bullet from the rifle, and with a twitch of her wrist, the bolt action loaded another projectile to be fired as she took aim at another one of the bandits in the room and dispatched him to the afterlife with a shot to the head. Meanwhile, taking the leader by surprise, Nicolette charged ahead as fast as she could and rammed the leader with her shoulder, trying to gain a quick advantage in the fight that was going to follow. But the leader expected it and while she was knocked off balance for a moment, returned with deadly rapier strikes, forcing Nicolette back towards the wall of the cave. With only a knife to defend herself, things were looking extremely grim. "Melissa!" Amy shouted over the gun fire of her own rifle and the ricochet of shot pounding into the rock around them. "You go down and help Nicolette! I can take care of myself!" She knew Melissa would contest, Amy was good with a rifle, but she wasn't that good. "No! Listen! I'll be fine! This is Nicolette's fight! Not mine! Get your $@! down there and help her before that !@#$%* runs her through with a sword! I'll be fine! Get the $%&@ down there!" She took another shot. "I'll cover you! Move!" Meanwhile, Nicolette had been driven almost against the rock and as the leader continued with a horrible storm of thrusting blades, Nicolette fell back, tripping over a rock and looking up at the rapier pointing at her face. "This is why Valeria should never have been named commander, she lets little girls die for pointless reasons. Commander Morgan LaGuinn would have sounded so much better in my opinion." She said thrusting the blade towards Nicolette's beating heart. 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Subtleknifewielder Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 They were like a pair of shadows, flitting from darkness to light to dark once more. It was a curious thing they didn't run across any more sentries. You'd think they wouldn't depend solely on the two outside. "We're not splitting up. There's no way I'm getting lost in here alone. Okay?" "Of course we're not splitting up. We need to stick together to deal with any problems. Now, which way do you think they went?" There were tracks in the dust, of course, but the tracks went down all three branches. In the end, despite that, it wasn't hard--it just took patience and a good ear from both of them. Not long after making the decision, they finally encountered the first real obstacle--a patrolling pair. Melissa briefly considered trying to take them on; she was fairly confident she could do it, but there was always a chance one would sound the alarm first, and she couldn't risk that. They needed to know where Chelsea had been taken first. Holding tightly to Amy as they passed, she could swear there was thunder in her ears. Some irrational portion of her brain wondered how the bandits could not hear such a pounding beat, and she unconsciously held her breath as they passed, none the wiser to how close to a pair of intruders had been to their position, nor how close to death they might have been. Once they were sure the patrol was out of sight, they moved on. They encountered two more patrols along the way, but neither of them spotted the intruders either, and before long they were actually there. Other than the stalactites and stalagmites (or in a few cases, pillars where such formations had merged, there was little cover, though if a person was careful, he or she could make good use of what was there. But that was plainly the last thing on Nicolette's mind, and Melissa unconsciously groaned in frustration. Had the girl completely lost her wits? "You don't think? Do you Melissa?" Melissa nodded, sighing, as she withdrew her knife and pistol. They needed to be ready any moment now. Nicolette was quite clearly not thinking rationally at this point, so they couldn't count on her doing anything useful right now. It was actually a wonder she got as close as she did before anyone noticed her presence. Like when they had hid from the patrols, Melissa felt her heart begin to pound in her ears, and even as the woman who apparently led this rabble turned, she was clicking the safety off of the borrowed weapon. It was interesting to note that the woman down there apparently knew how to read a situation. Perhaps she had a background in special forces or intelligence operations. Melissa almost flinched at how loud the bullet sounded in such an enclosed space, but she forced herself to ignore it, carefully taking aim as Nicolette continued to rant her way through the situation--and make it worse, no doubt. At least she was prepared for the shot from Amy's gun, though that was sure, along with the earlier pistol shot, to attract the nearest guards. They were out of time, and needed to deal with the situation as quickly as possible. But yet, Amy would surely need someone to watch her back...that was the cause of her dillemma, her momentary indecision, but when Amy urged her to go help Nicolette, she nodded. They were actually fairly near the place where she had gone down, and Melissa used the same route to get down relatively unseen. The bandits were too occupied searching for the hidden sniper to see her approach, and one actually had his back to her as she landed on the cave floor. It was the last mistake he ever made. Some corner of her mind knew that moment where she had first ended a life would come back to haunt her, but right now she was in the middle of a fight for their very survival. With Amy having dispatched at least two more bandits that she could see, that left four to deal with. And she couldn't count on Amy forever--she had to have expended a good portion of her ammunition by now, and she needed to save some for the inevitible confrontation with the guards that were sure to come investigating. Melissa dashed around one of the stalagmites to take on the very startled bandit on the other side--a quick of the knife at his throat left him dying, but even now she could see the remaining two taking aim at her with their weapons. No time for thought--with one hand she threw the knife, embedding it in the neck of one of them, then ducked under the shot from his companion, rolling and springing to her feet in front of him. She swung the pistol with as much force as she could muster, ramming the butt of the weapon into his nose. As he staggered away, she finished him off with a single bullet. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friend's predicament. Again without conscious thought, her pistol swung and fired, though she hadn't had time to porperly aim for a killing shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 A spark of flash, a wisp of smoke, and the thunder of a shot ran out in the cave as Melissa shot at Morgan. The bullet struck throwing her back, but not before thrusting her rapier into Nicolette's upper shoulder. Both Nicolette and Morgan howled in pain, but the black-coated woman was filled with such a rage now against her entire operation being ruined by a few Lillian recruits that she had no time to waste with Nicolette, this red-haired one was causing too much trouble and would be dealt with appropriately. "You little !@#$%*. How dare you come done here like this." Morgan took out a silver coated pistol from her holster, much in the same design as Melissa would remember that Anna had carried or even Valeria. With precision, she fired at Melissa's hand and without hitting any part of her body, blasted the gun out of her hand and then pointed the rapier at her face. "I know you're one of Sangral's !@#$%*es and I know you know how to sword play. So face me you little weakling. Face me like a real warrior." Morgan walked manically up to where Melissa stood and slashed towards her. With Amy still taking care of the other bandits from her sniping position and Nicolette now completely immobile, Melissa stood to face the crazed woman alone and with only a knife it seemed nearly impossible to do so. At Morgan's first attack, Melissa moved back as the rapier danced in the musty air of the cave, still dimly lit from the torches, its shone like red silver raining down strike after strike on the Lillian. However, this was not to say that Melissa couldn't hold her own, she had an above average skill with knife fighting, but the rapiers reach constantly made her have to back up towards the wall, but she couldn't let herself get cornered, otherwise she was done for. As Morgan pushed her in the direction that she needed to corner the Lillian warrior, Melissa stumbled over the body of one of the fallen bandits and his short sword sticking out of his belt. It was just the thing she needed to better defend herself. Rolling to the ground, she took out the short sword from the bandits belt and using both the short sword and the knife, caught Morgan's rapier as she pushed the thin blade towards Melissa's chest. The two women held each others blades' in place gritting their teeth angrily at each other. Neither one willing to give an inch at this point. "You don't understand Melissa. You don't understand the Lillians, you've been fed the crap that Sangral and Asgeirsson tell you. You don't know what it was like back in the past. It was an elite organization, it was the bodyguards for the Lady Protector and it was secret. No one knew about the Lillians, no one knew about our oaths, our loyalties and then your Queen and her Welsh lover butchered it, we're known everywhere now. Diplomats? Horrible, it was absolutely horrible. If I could I would kill Sangral and Asgerisson both for what they've done to our Order. So I'll give you this chance." She groaned holding Melissa back. "Join my revolution, you're a Lillian and a damn good one. So are your friends, don't do this, we can change so much more! Don't be a slave to Asgeirsson and Sangral!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 The hand that had held the pistol only moments before stung from the impact that had knocked the weapon away. But Melissa could hardly afford to let a small pain like that distract her, and the adrenaline from the fight pushed it away to the back of her mind. She had just enough time to quickly bend down and recover the knife from the throat of the man it was embedded in before Morgan was on her, and she was fighting just to stay alive. While she knew enough about using a knife to keep the questing tip of the rapier away from any vital areas, the short reach compared to Morgan's weapon meant that she couldn't afford to go on the offensive—or even stand her ground. Frustratingly, she kept getting driven further and further back, helpless to retaliate, until she tripped over one of the slain bandits. At first it didn't seem like much of a stroke of luck; Melissa thought she might actually be done for, but then she actually saw what he had, and for the briefest of moments she smiled. His sword wasn't as long as the rapier, but it was much better than just a knife. Undoubtedly sensing weakness, Morgan's rapier thrust at her again, but she ducked under it, rolling away and grabbing the fallen man's weapon in the same smooth motion, raising both knife and sword just in time to block yet another attempt at a killing blow. And now they were at a stalemate, and Melissa could swear she saw grudging admiration in her opponent's eyes. "Join my revolution, you're a Lillian and a damn good one. So are your friends, don't do this, we can change so much more! Don't be a slave to Asgeirsson and Sangral!" 'So first I'm a !@#$%*, and now I'm a damn good Lillian?' She considered saying that, but when she opened her mouth, other words took their place. "Join you? Sure, why not. But not before I have properly dealt with the ones who killed my friend's family. You wouldn't happen to know who that was, would you?" Melissa's eyes were glistening—not in euphoria, nor despair, but in rising, unadulterated rage. "I don't know, perhaps you would be a more fit commander than Sangral. Perhaps you are better than Her Majesty. I really don't know. But I know they have at least one quality you lack. They don't go around deliberately plotting the deaths of the innocent!" With each word she spoke, she felt the rising tide of anger, and by the end of her own little speech, she was screaming. With a cry of righteous fury, she twisted her body to the left, removing the resistance against Morgan's blade, and twirling, smashed her right elbow into the woman's side to further off-balance her enemy. The follow-up chop with the sword in her left hand was only just blocked by a now wide-eyed Morgan, and now that their positions were reversed, it was her turn to take a step back, in the direction of the wall she had been driving Melissa toward just a few moments earlier. Melissa pressed the attack, not intending to give her a chance to recover. First a low cut at her legs with the sword, then a thrust of the knife toward her shoulder, Morgan was now being forced to twirl her blade madly to avoid serious injury. "Are you actually proud of what you've done?! The lives you've ended, the families you've broken?! You're nothing but a criminal, a terrorist and coward who preys on the weak because you can't touch those you truly hate!" Her eyes held no mercy. If Morgan were to look into them for just one moment, the icy chill in those grey depths would chill her to the core. This girl, for some reason, was taking it very personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) The tables had turned for a moment and Morgan's features showed the quick rise of fear in her body, but she was not about to be shown up by this little girl who had a stroke of fighters luck. Melissa had gone on the offensive and a storm of parries and defensive maneuvers was required to keep the knife and the sword from striking Morgan's body, first near the legs, with her arm pointed down, a perfect low guard, bouncing the knife and the short sword as it came closer and closer. Then towards the shoulders, Morgan swung her body in a twirling motion and caught the knife as it neared her upper body. The clinking of the metal sounded as Melissa tried to run her torso through with the short sword next but that was guarded as well, before Morgan responded with a straight kick to Melissa's stomach to which there was no guard to. Melissa had quickly tried to cut her with the knife, but all she really had down was a minor scratch against the Black Lillian's pants, it had only made her more angry. Before Melissa could react, Morgan pulled out her pistol aiming it at her face. Her eyes narrowing. "A coward? No, no my dear I'm not a coward. I just have a more direct way of doing things. This country needs to be changed, needs to be fixed before the changes that Asgeirsson makes are permanent. Do you want to be ruled by a despot? Sure I killed the innocents, but no one came to help them, no one until you foolish girls and Sangral made you weak. But yeah, I am proud of the change I inspired, of the change that I will inspire. People live in fear of what they can't control and they live in fear of the government that oppresses them. Also, if you get this emotional at the death of innocent lives. I shudder to think what is going to come of you when you have to take innocent lives in the name of your Queen." Morgan smiled. "But I'll save you that problem dear." Where was Amy? Where was anyone. Nicolette, Chelsea, they were still around weren't they? Was Melissa all alone that she had no escape from Morgan's pistol. "Take care, Lillian." There was another crack of thunder and a flash of light, Melissa closed her eyes, but seconds later there had been no pain. Had the shot been that quick that she never even felt it? She was afraid to open her eyes, passing between death and living. But she could still feel the floor of the cave on her fingers. She was still alive? Melissa opened her eye's to Morgan still staring down at her and slowly beginning to bleed out of her mouth. Moments later she collapsed to her knees, glared once more at Melissa before laying dead on the ground. Behind her to freshly polished black boots walked out from the light, and Commander Valeria Sangral looked down at Melissa with a stern look written across her face. Around the cavern, the sounds of marching boots echoed through the halls, as a detachment of Lillian Guards, rifles at the ready stormed around, helping, Amy, Nicolette, and Chelsea to their feet. Sangral walked closer towards Melissa, still looking down at her. "Get up." Edited December 12, 2009 by Sarah Tintagyl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Melissa, only just now getting to her knees from where she had fallen, glared balefully across the distance that now seperated them. She still had the weapons in hands, for all the good that did her, with her opponent no doubt aiming directly between her eyes. She would not have bothered to pay attention to Morgan's words, but she didn't really have a choice but to listen right now. As long as the woman was talking, she wasn't shooting, and that meant that much more time to try and think of something, anything, to get herself out of this mess. When she saw Morgan's finger tighten on the trigger, she closed her eyes, her weapons clattering to the floor. She knew not where her friends were. Surely they couldn;t be gone? They wouldn't leave her, they couldn't... She closed her eyes as she saw Morgan's finger tighten on the trigger, surprised she even heard the shot. When a few more seconds passed, her brows furrowed in puzzlement even as she opened her eyes. Why was she still alive? As Morgan collapsed, the blood trickling from her mouth, Melissa found the answer, and she almost closed her eyes once again. But no, she had to face this, and she met Commander Sangral's look evenly, refusing to show nervousness or fear though her heart was in her throat. She took in what was going around her with a glance, and despite the seriousness of the situation, she smiled in relief. Her friends were there, and they would be fine. "Get up." Without hesitation, she did as she was ordered. Though she must have been a sorry sight, covered in dust, bruises, cuts, scrapes, and even blood (although most of that wasn't her own), she did not complain as she stood at attention and met her Commander's stair, waiting for further orders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) Slowly order began to seep its way back into the cavern as Melissa got up, there were scores of Lillians and they were not the recruits from Fort Victoria, these were the real thing. Slowly groups of them went to the other three girls around the cavern, picking them up, dusting them off, and for the wounded, they pieced them back together. Two Lillians hoisted Amy up on their shoulders, she had a huge smile on her face and the rifle hung around her shoulder in a symbol of victory, her mouth and nose bloody, and her hair covered in dirt, she had went head on with a bandit before spearing him with the butt of her rifle and sending him over the edge of the cavern into a grouping of stalagmites. She walked down escorted by the Lillians stood next to Melissa, the guards still holding her up. Another group had went over to Nicolette and started to patch up her shoulder wound, the sound of her cries and tears echoed through the cavern, as they shot her up with a dose of morphine and began the necessary stitching to the blade wound, she would be out of commission easily for a week or so, maybe more. The others had gone over to release Chelsea from her bindings, she looked the worse out of all of them, and as Amy, Melissa, and Nicolette all looked like hell. Chelsea had been beaten up head to toe, covered in markings and bruises and was barely able to walk as the Lillians helped her over to where the girls stood, under the watchful eye of Commander Sangral. Finally after they had been walked over, Nicolette and Chelsea still with tears rolling down their eyes, they were allowed to sit down, as Valeria bent down on one knee and looked at them all in the eye. "So." Valeria cracked her knuckles. "I'm trying to think of just how many rules you four broke in less than two days." One of the Lillians chuckled to herself as Valeria smiled at the girls. "Breaking the chain of command, deliberately disobeying the etiquette that is becoming of a Lillian Guard. You ran away from Fort Victoria and each of you endangered the lives of your fellow Lillian." "But Chelsea would have died if we didn't go out to save her." "Speaking against a superior officer Miss Meniere. Tsk...tsk...tsk." Nicolette looked down, hopeless at Valeria's cold stare. "But what about her being our sister. Her family died, she went to save them and they?" She looked at Chelsea for help. The injured girl looked up weakly at the Commander, life barely being held in her body. "I know I disobeyed the rules...I...I just couldn't stay there, in the fort, knowing my family was dead. I had to try and save them. But when I got to Claraville, they were already dead and I was so made that...I'm alive because of Nicolette, Melissa, and Amy. If anyone is supposed to get in trouble it should be me, not them." Valeria nodded and turned back to Nicolette and her company. "And?" "She's our sister Commander Sangral. We did this to protect her and bring her back to Fort Victoria where she belongs. She's a Lillian like all of us and should be treated as such. If she gets in trouble then..." Amy sighed. "We all get in trouble." Valeria smiled and got up from the ground. "The Lillian's duty is to her Commander at all times, she obeys the Commander's words as she would obey the laws of the state." She looked down sternly, to the frowning of the girls. "However, more importantly, her duty rests with her family and that family is the bonds of friendship that she establishes through her life. The sisters who are more than just sisters because of a name, but because they mean something to her heart. Therefore, I cannot express how pleased I am with you four. The sacrifices you made for each other, for your real families, and for your new family is the push that I hope every Lillian learns to understand." She snapped a salute in the air and smiled at the girls as the other Lillians joined in the salute. "I am proud to know that I am your Commander." And that feeling of accomplishment would stay with them all they way back to a standing ovation from their sisters back in Fort Victoria, before they returned to and training once again. Edited December 12, 2009 by Sarah Tintagyl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Once again, Melissa found herself, curiously, in the middle--though there was an odd sort of reversal even in that. Amy, generally the pessimist, was all smiles despite the condition she was in, and Nicolette, the optimist, was in tears from the wound in her shoulder. But they were all alive to actually experience this, which was definitely one of the better points about the current circumstances. As they were gathered in a group, they were finally given permission to rest, and despite herself, Melissa let out a sigh as she sat. Even the hard surface was oddly comfortable. She hadn't felt weary during the fight, but adrenaline had kept her going when it needed to, and now the full reality of the situation began to set in. And not just the fact that they were most likely in a lot of trouble... "So. I'm trying to think of just how many rules you four broke in less than two days. Breaking the chain of command, deliberately disobeying the etiquette that is becoming of a Lillian Guard. You ran away from Fort Victoria and each of you endangered the lives of your fellow Lillian." Despite her earlier resolve, Melissa felt the urge to either close her eyes, or turn them away. She knew exactly what they had done, the reasoning behind it, and yet the clear fact remained that they had broken the rules. She listened to the protests, and Sangral's responses--a mirror to her own thoughts. 'Here it comes,' she thought to herself. It didn't worry her as much as it would have at one time. She had made her choice, she wasn't goint to make any attempt to avoid the consequences. "She's our sister Commander Sangral. We did this to protect her and bring her back to Fort Victoria where she belongs. She's a Lillian like all of us and should be treated as such. If she gets in trouble then..." "We all get in trouble." She added nothing. Nothing else need be said. She agreed with the sentiments, but she was fairly certain the Commander had already maken up her mind what to do with them. The question was, what? It wasn;t what she expected, for sure. "...Therefore, I cannot express how pleased I am with you four. The sacrifices you made for each other, for your real families, and for your new family is the push that I hope every Lillian learns to understand." Her jaw dropped as not only the commander, but the entire contingent, saluted them. "I am proud to know that I am your Commander." The euphoria didn't fade until long after their arrival back at camp. -------- In the fading feeling of contentment and accomplishment, combined with general weariness, it wasn't difficult to fall asleep--at least until the dreams began. Unconsciously, she tossed and turned as the images assailed her one after another, until she woke in a cold sweat. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but the dreams had been so vivid, she couldn't push them from her mind--it didn't matter if her eyes were open or closed. Hurriedly, she threw on a clean uniform, trying not to wake the others. Perhaps some fresh air would clear her head and allow her to get back to sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Amy's eyes darted open at the sounds of moving feet and a rustling mattress near her. Trying not to make a sound, she sat up in bed slightly to watch Melissa pull on her uniform and tiptoe as quick as she could from the inside barracks. The eternal pessimist looked down at her bed and closed her eyes as a deep sigh built up in her throat. Nicolette and Chelsea were both in the infirmary right now, not to be disturbed and it was better that way, those two had been through so much in the last few days that the rest and relaxation promised by Fort Victoria was just what they needed. But for Amy, she couldn't help but feel slightly depressed about the situation. Chelsea had ran away from the fort to go and attempt to rescue her family, even when everything else was lost. Nicolette had been the one to get both Melissa and Amy out of bed two days ago and pushed them on a crazy adventure through the wilderness to rescue not only Chelsea, but the entire northern territories from the grasp of Morgan's bandits and Melissa had really been their fearless leader at the end, she had taken on Morgan, had saved Nicolette and Chelsea both. "But what did I do?" Amy had been asking herself that question a lot since they had been taken out of the cave by Commander Sangral and her reinforcements. She had asked herself that question for the ride home, with Nicolette and Chelsea both wincing in pain from the morphine, while Melissa sat silently looking out the window at the passing scenery. She had asked herself that question when they had finally returned home to a great applause by their teachers and their fellow Lillian Recruits, they were the heroines that people said all Lillians became eventually. But Amy didn't feel any different and she especially didn't feel like a heroine of any sorts. Slowly she rolled out of bed, much as she had done when Nicolette had dragged her out days ago, with the same groan and sigh that she made with every movement. "Christ I was spoiled." She laughed to herself as she opened her chest and put on her own clean uniform, walking outside a cool breeze ran over the girl's face as she stared up into the sky. The thin crescent mood was bright tonight, along with the twinkling stars in the sky. Melissa stood over by the fountain as a steady flow of water poured out of the statue's mouth into the pool below, she too, looking up into the sky. "They're all the same stars aren't they Melissa?" Amy said walking over to her, the moon reflecting radiantly off of her dirty blonde hair, though the look of solemness and loneliness on her face was anything but radiant. "You know I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I know that I was so negative the past few days and all...and I want to apologize for it. I wasn't really thinking clearly I guess." She took a seat on the fountain and looked up at Melissa, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "You know when I first came here, I was nervous as all hell, I mean I took to some of the girls pretty well. But it just wasn't home, but the problem is, well...with home...I was always used to getting my way and such." She shook her head in embarrassment. "I was such a !@#$%* and even here, I didn't really regard anyone as friends unless I was the one in charge." Looking up at the moon, her eyes met the distant floating orb. "But you, Nicolette, Chelsea, you put me in my place, but in a way that I didn't know it was happening. You guys accepted me as one of your own and so did I. So when things finally got rough down there...I don't know what I would have done if all four of us didn't make it out of there. If I wouldn't have been able to see you, or Nicolette, or Chelsea ever again." She squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could and the tears flowed down her cheeks as she flung herself around Melissa and hugged her tightly at first and then grabbing her right hand and holding it as tight as she could brought it in front of Melissa's face. "Friends for life Melissa. Friends for life." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Melissa had thought that when she stepped outside, the fresh air would help her clear her thoughts. In a way, it had, but then the stillness, studying the clear sky, even listening to the steady tinkling of the water cascading down the fountain to the pool below, it just created a void for those thoughts to press back in again. She reached out a hand, and with the tip of a finger, traced along the surface of the pool, but the ripples created by this passage disappeared in the disturbance caused by the fountain itself. Sighing, she withdrew her hand and looked up once more. As far away from home as she might be, there was one comfort—the stars she studied were the same ones her father, and others she cared about, saw whenever they looked at the sky. 'One more thing we have in common. How did you do it Father? How did you deal with killing?' Yes, the bandits had deserved nothing less than what they got, and in a way, it gave her a small degree of peace to know they wouldn't be killing anyone else, breaking up any more families, but that didn't make it any easier to look someone in the eye and a moment later see them dead from an action you took. All the training she had been through both here and with her father had not prepared her for what it felt like to actually take a life. And know, with absolute certainty, that the course you were taking now would undoubtedly lead you to more killing. While Morgan had been wrong, one of her sentences had touched on that very issue. "They're all the same stars aren't they Melissa?" She was broken out of her musing by the arrival of Amy. Melissa turned her head to study her. Despite the radiance, almost like an aura of light that reflected off Amy's hair, the girl looked as conflicted as Melissa felt. In a different manner, perhaps, but that didn't make what Amy felt any less real "Yes. I was just thinking that, actually," she admitted, offering a hint of a smile as Amy walked over to stand next to her. "You know I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I know that I was so negative the past few days and all...and I want to apologize for it. I wasn't really thinking clearly I guess." Almost as an automatic response, Melissa wanted to open her mouth and deny that any apology was necessary. But as Amy sat on the edge of the fountain, something told her she needed to let the girl continue, especially with the tears she saw forming, and so she held her peace. "You know when I first came here, I was nervous as all hell, I mean I took to some of the girls pretty well. But it just wasn't home, but the problem is, well...with home...I was always used to getting my way and such." Now Melissa was very thankful she hadn't acted on her first impulse. It was clear Amy needed someone to talk to—and she might not open up like this again. And if Melissa was honest with herself, perhaps she needed to hear this as well. "I was such a !@#$%* and even here, I didn't really regard anyone as friends unless I was the one in charge." An apt enough description, Melissa thought, but didn't say. "But you, Nicolette, Chelsea, you put me in my place, but in a way that I didn't know it was happening. You guys accepted me as one of your own and so did I. So when things finally got rough down there...I don't know what I would have done if all four of us didn't make it out of there. If I wouldn't have been able to see you, or Nicolette, or Chelsea ever again." By the end of that, Amy's tears were flowing harder than ever. Melissa felt a few tears of her own. She wasn't sure herself what she would have felt—no, that was wrong—she knew exactly what she would have felt if any of them had died in that cavern. And that made it all the more of a relief that they had. When Amy gripped her hand, she held on tightly as well, smiling through her own tears. "Friends for life Melissa. Friends for life." "Friends for life," she murmured in agreement. And for now, the worries that had brought her out here were put aside. -------- Still, over the next week, Melissa was a bit more subdued compared to what she had been before the time they had left. She still performed quite well in the physical training, and she was dutiful in her studies, but much of the time, it seemed as if she was distracted by something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted December 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 Days later, after Nicolette and Chelsea had both healed up enough to return to training, Anna took the recruits towards a building in the back of the fort. This building was the Command Center and after walking past the mahogany designs on the walls, the plush cushions on the chairs and the classical architecture the girls were taken down a flight of stairs to what was a long series of corridors and rooms built into the walls. The walls were made of stone and sconces hung off of them, burning dimly down the various hallways, the floor was stone as well and with every step of one of the girls' boots the echo passed down into the darkness and then returned to their ears. It was an eerie part of the fort that none of them had ever imagined existing in the slightest, especially at such a prestigious place as Fort Victoria, these rooms seemed more like a torture chamber than anything thing else. Anna had the girls line up in a group and the beginning of the corridors as she turned and faced them, a smile on her face that she wore with pride. "I would like to congratulate all of you on finally reaching this point. After today, your training is officially over and you may finally consider yourself part of the Lillian Order. Not many can safely say they made it to this point without hardship, without remorse, and without loss. I have watched each one of you, I have watched you change from young girls in to strong women that will, I know, hold the banner of Australia and the Lillian Guard high. I know that you will make me proud, you will make Commander Sangral proud, and you will make Her Majesty proud. But, there is one more test that each of you must go through before you can truly can yourself a Lillian Guard." Anna turned. "Doctor Cyaire!" Out of the shadows a frail man in a white coat walked out, he was balding, wore thick glasses and his skin was tired and stretched over his body. He walked slowly before looking up at the girls who were assembled in front of him and his face contorted into a rotten smile. "Good afternoon ladies, my name is Doctor Simon Cyaire. Co-Inventor of the Raging Nostrum, along with some unfortunate scientist in Dranagg somewhere." "Raging Nostrum?" Nicolette looked at Melissa with a worried look on her face. "Melissa do you have any idea what..." Cyaire reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small syringe of blue liquid and handed it to Anna. "There you are commander, will that be all for introductions or can I get my team ready?" "That will be all doctor." Cyaire bowed and limped off back into the darkness as Anna turned back to the girls holding the syringe in her fingers. "Ladies, I would like to introduce you to the final test of your training. This is Raging Nostrum, it has been a piece of standard equipment in the Lillian Guard since Lady Hannah became Potentate of the Commonwealth two years ago. After the attack on Brisbane by the Dranaggian terrorists, we discovered that they had been using adrenaline boosters in their special forces, we have decided to do that same. Each of you will go into on of the rooms, the assistants will hook you up on one of the beds and you will be injected with the Type 'A' Raging Nostrum serum, we are doing this so that when in battle and you find yourself in trouble and have to inject yourself, you won't be horribly surprised at what happens to you after the injection." One girl raised her hand. "If we get in trouble Commander?" "It is a dangerous world out there for a Lillian, Raging Nostrum was created so that during times of trouble we could have an extra boost to our strength and our endurance. When you are injected you will have an immediate boost to your strength, your endurance, essentially we're pumping a very concentrated amount of adrenaline into your system, so don't be afraid to go a little crazy after you've been injected." A few of the girls began to chuckle at the thought. "No, I'm serious, its been a Lillian tradition for two years that if you cannot break the bonds that hold you on the table, then you haven't trained hard enough." She laughed. "But I don't think any of you will have a problem with that eh?" She turned and looked down the dark corridor. "After you pass, you will each receive three vials, Type 'A', which is adrenaline, Type 'B' which is adrenaline plus morphine for pain killing, and Type 'C'." She turned back to face them at the mentioning of the last chemical. "Type 'C' technically does not exist, because it is a lethal dose of adrenaline and the Queendom will not condone that. However when the person's life that you are guarding comes into immediate jeopardy as the Queen herself, then you are authorized to sacrifice your own life in a fit of rage. I would rather none of you ever have to do that." "Commander Lindstrom." Cyaire called out from the dark. "We're ready for them." Anna nodded. "All right ladies, to the rooms." The girls got up off the ground and began walking down the dimly lit hall, Nicolette, Chelsea, Amy, and Melissa all looking at each other oddly before turning into their individual rooms. When Melissa walked in, it was a bare white room, sound proofed with a large table in the middle with leather straps. Almost immediately, two scientist assistants walked into the room and carefully helped Melissa onto the table and strapped her down to the table tightly. After she was strapped down and the ability to move taken away from her. They left the room without saying a word leaving her alone with her thoughts, which were only to be interrupted again by the arrival of another figure through the door, Commander Sangral, she had the blue syringe in her right hand. "It seems that we keep meeting each other Miss Harlem. Well I have to say, you've done better than I ever would have thought a woman of the gentry could do by herself. You managed to defeat bandits, train yourself to become a true Lillian, impressive all around Melissa, so I look forward to you passing this final test of strength." She leaned down and rested the needle against Melissa's neck. "From this point, consider yourself a Lillian Guard." She pushed the needle into the vein and injected the serum, it would be an immediate sensation of ice and would eventually begin to sweep warmth. "Let me tell you." Valeria whispered into her ear. "When I first went under Raging Nostrum, I nearly broke the table. I'm sure you have some hidden anger inside." She stepped back and watch the rage take hold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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