The Retreat (Hellfire Aftermath)

[Roxanne]

The portal Rivers threw up in haste led to the exact same place they left from: Aria's cabin. It was a relief, of sorts, to step out onto the slightly overgrown grass. It was quiet in the way that most woods are and the chirping of birds and insects replaced the screams of the dying, injured, and scared. A gentle breeze ruffled the leaves and the grass. It was so different from the chaos of the gallows that one almost had to stop in shock to take it in.

Roxanne stepped out and looked around briefly, determining that there were no threats. She threw back the head of her cloak and shook out her hair, wincing a bit at the pull against her burned scalp from Aria. Weird, that should have healed already...she thought, a flicker of worry crossing her face. It didn't feel like a bad burn though so she determined that a shower wouldn't be out of the question. She'd need a change of clothes though and made her way into the house to retrieve her leather bag. Emerging with a swath of black fabric in hand, she made her way to the shower. "First shower!" she called to anyone in earshot, before stripping quickly outside the shower before stepping behind the partition.

Her shower was brief and anyone watching might notice what looked like a black tail reach around the partition to lift the black fabric around it. A moment later Roxanne emerged, sans tail, wearing a floor length black dress with a deep V neckline and a slit up the side to her thigh. Her hair was still wet but she'd managed to pull it into a reasonable bun. "Any one know a stream or something close by where I can wash my clothes?" she asked, leaning against the outside railing of the house.

[Deleted]

Kail got back through the portal and he had a feeling that, Rivers was going to rip him a new one or worse. He pulled the hood back and looked a bit pale. Either from what he had seen during that rescue mission or was it one at all. It seemed more like a declaration of war or revolution. There was something wrong with the entire thing and was not able to put something together. There was too much swimming in his head and went to the cabin to place his weapon as well as some of the outer clothes. He drank some clean water that he stored away and was sitting down outside. Trying to digest everything that did happen. The blond did hope that most of the others came, they were not too badly hurt. He did hear the shower and hear Roxy making a claim for it and he had no issues with it. The blond knew that Serenity would not be too far behind him. If anyone was hurt though he could apply some basic first aid stuff he knew. Kail did look at his hands as they did tremble a bit as the adrenellen was fading away.

".....What the hell happened.....did we go too overboard on this" he called out to any others to see if he was not the only one that felt something was off. Kail after that stayed a bit silent as this was different then when he slayed the young dragon. He had went into a war zone then a simple rescue mission with the explosions and people screaming in full terror.

[Serenity Caine]

Serenity followed Kail moments later, a hard look on her face. She had tried to get him out sooner, when Rivers had asked, but no. He had to go and shoot a bloody dragon! A dragon, which Serenity assumed, had been the feisty redhead at some point, due to Rivers' flaring anger about the shot. She walked past Kail, giving him a hard look for a moment before moving past him to the table. Serenity herself was not harmed in the slightest. She heard the new redhead not to far in the distance, but paid her no mind. All that she could think about was the sound of the bomb going off, and the screams shortly after... What had she caused?


Yes, Mr. Lancaster. I believe we did. Why didn't you just come when I asked you to? River's obviously knew what he was doing!

Serenity sighed, and faintly heard a voice in her head. She nodded to herself, and looked up to the blonde man in front of her, not noticing if there were others in the house just yet. Rivers will be staying in the city for a little while longer, for damage control. She sighed once again and ran her hand through her currently knotted red locks, closing her eyes, hearing the screams over and over in her mind.

[Deleted]

Lilith was gathering various foods that they would need when someone entered the cabin, then another, and another. Turning, she saw that the various people were more than likely from the group saving the Fated woman. Lilith remained in the kitchen, watching quietly. No one appeared to be overly hurt yet, but that was easy to hide if the person so wished it. A redheaded woman ran to the shower first, calling something that Lilith couldn't catch. Then a blonde man- Kail? Well, it had been so long she almost didn't recognize him. Kail appeared, followed by another redhead, who looked angry. Had something gone wrong?

Kail! I had no idea you were apart of this. Please, tell me what happened? She so badly wanted to ask about Sima, but refrained, knowing there were more important questions. Lilith walked forward, past the angry woman at the table, and stood closer to Kail. She didn't know that woman, and though getting better, she was still a shy person.

Does anyone need to be healed now? Her eyes roamed anxiously over the two people in the cabin, unaware as to where the other redhead went. She knew that Otsoa was in the cabin somewhere, and Trésor was getting the honey. Both should return soon. She heard the woman speak, and thought of Rivers for a moment, hoping he would be alright as well. She knew this was his plan, and though noble, she wondered if it was foolish- though she knew he wouldn't see it that way.


Where is Aria? Is she alright? Once again, keeping herself from asking of Sima. He would no doubt, return soon with the others. 

[Deleted]

Waiting for the group return, Lia doesn’t really realize anyone has come back until she hears a voice shout “First Shower!” From the loft, she walks back down to main floor and can hear more than one person moving around. Well, one of them sounded alright. Perhaps the mission was successful then. At least, they seemed to make it back safe. That was the important part, wasn’t it?

Then, she hears the blonde boy concerned voice. That didn’t sound very good at all. “I was just about to ask the same thing,” she says from the stairs. While she doesn’t sound worried, she’s a little scared of what the answer to that question will be. “Not the part about going overboard, but about what happened. Did something bad happen?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

When the redhaired lady mentions Rivers’ name, she looks around. Clearly, the entire group wasn’t present. Maybe this hadn’t gone well. “Damage control... why exactly does Rivers need to be in the city for damage control?”  She was beginning to regret following the bard here.  Being out of the loop was terrible, and she was beginning to fear she was now associated with wanted fugitives. 

[Deleted]

Otsoa comes back with a bag of full of lunar flowers and some other flora gathered from the forest. He’s just about done foraging when he notices his connection to Aria has gone suddenly silent. This wasn’t really something that happened to him before. However, he was beginning to fear the worst. Had Aria died? Had things really gotten that chaotic.

Running back to the cabin, he can smell extra people in the area. Definitely the rescue group. Maybe they would have answered. His eyes wide, he throws up the cabin door. “I can’t talk to her. I can’t reach her at all. Where’s Aria? What happened? She’s not…” He makes a slight whimpering noise, not really wanting to complete that sentence.

He drops the bag of potion components on the floor. He didn’t know many people at here, and he didn’t want to lose a friend. “What did you guys do?” he says, staring down at the floor. His voice is quiet, but anger could be heard in his voice. They destroyed a city. Hurt tons of people. And he may have lost a friend because of them.

[Serenity Caine]

Serenity eyes the blonde woman carefully, noting her purple eyes. Immediately she knew the woman, but kept it to herself. I can't tell you why he's staying, I only get what he tells me. If the bloody fool wants to stick around, then so be it. She responded coldly to the new woman, still angry at Kail. Aria is fine! Pick up your things, please, and stop worrying. Rivers sent her to the forest somewhere. She's slightly hurt, but she's alive. I don't know why your link broke. Serenity looked at the man sadly. She didn't know him, but she could tell his bond to the feisty redhead was strong. The rest of the questions she ignored, glaring at Kail.

[Trésor de Lys]

Tres was slowly making her return back to Aria's with a half jar full with honeycomb and some brood cells. Tres had been careful enough to not be stung, which is why she only had half of a jar. When coming upon the house, she hear a muffled cry. It didn't sound painful or similar to shrieking at all. Tres, being the worrying healer that she was, picked up her pace and made way for the back door. Kicking the door in, seeing as it was slightly open from when she had left, she entered upon a group of people she was unfamiliar with- with the exception of Lilith and Otsoa.

Her eyes flitted from person to person as she made her big entrance. Tres took a slow step in, but being as anxious as she was around these new people, her wings expanded nearly to their full length- almost hitting a chair at the table. She clutched onto the jar of honey, then looked at Lilith. "I see the rescue party has arrived. Is this everyone?" Her eyes followed from person to person in the room. Seeing a redhead coming from out of the shower room, another red head with her nose in the air, a blond man who appeared distressed to Tres and a woman with fair skin, asking about Rivers. Looking at the woman with fair skin, Tres replied "Perhaps he had unfinished business. From what Lilith, Otsoa and I barely know, the damage was great in the city." Tres then continued on, "Has anyone been injured at all?" Looking back at Lilith and Otsoa as her only safe-guard, Tres grew worried at the reactions of the people in the room to her wings. Though that may not be of the greatest concerns seeing as the situation is dire.

Tres pulled her wings back in, then set the jar of honey on the table. "The honey hasn't been tampered with. Seeing as it is unpasturized, it can act as a disinfectant and an antibiotic. Plus, it's sweet. But try not to eat it." At a quickened and determined pace, Tres made her way to the kitchen and pulled some herbs from the pantry. She laid them out on the counter based on appearance and quantity. She then would etch her way past the red head and the fair skinned woman on the stairs to get to the loft to find more lunar flowers.

[Rivers]

Those with tunnels would feel the remaining 5 tunnels drawn into a point and then 3 of them used to make a very large tunnel over top of the execution location. The sound of rain water would become present in Aria and Serenity's ears.

[Claire]

Claire could see fire. Heat rushed at her feet and at her fingertips and she clenched at the sword in her hand, watching scales ripple over Aria’s pallid skin. She transformed again before her eyes and this time she wasn’t afraid. Even as the fire whipped around them, she was ready to run. But as she took a step forward, she felt something… drop.

The world suddenly went sideways and she was falling where she could not have fallen. Something whipped around her and she lost all sense of space and then the city was gone. Her back hit something hard and she dug her fingers into the ground, grass and dirt digging under her nails. There was gray sky above her and trees. And cold. The forest? How? Where was she?

Claire wrenched herself upright, her head spinning from nausea. The cold air burned her lungs, fresh after being trapped and held in the thick of stale air for so long. She pulled herself upright, limbs shaking and her head still spinning from intense vertigo. The short sword fell from her fingertips and she collapsed to her knees again, dry heaving. There was nothing in her stomach to vomit.

Her wrists and ankles were rubbed raw from the chains and rope, her face thin, eyes sunken and dark. This was not the visage of a fighter. It was one of a prisoner. She looked up, around, searching for a way to get back. She had to get back- she couldn’t be here, in this forest. She had to get back to the city. Rage unlike any she had experienced was boiling inside of her. She had nearly been killed, then a band of strangers suddenly arrived and began a massacre. A massacre that was only possible because she had been wrongly accused and sentenced to die.

She would put a sword through the heart of that bastard King herself. No matter what it took. This place was rotten to the core.

Claire pushed herself back to her feet, grabbing for a tree to stabilize herself. She had to make it back to the city. Or at least back to her own home. Form a plan. So intense were her own thoughts that she didn’t notice what was behind her, not that far back. A cabin in the woods, and the young people beginning to emerge and call out.

[Rivers]

Serenity would feel one of her tunnels be taken away as a new portal to the cabin was opened and several of the unconcious injured individuals from the attack begin to appear on the ground. Rivers was placing them on the ground with virtually no movement.

"Serenity tell them to heal them, when that's done I'll bring them back and send you another batch." explains Rivers in Serenity's ear.

He was still at the site of the massacre.

[Roxanne]

Roxanne was surprised at how many people began to crawl out of the woodwork and emerge from more portals, though you wouldn't see it in her face. She did spare a look of pity for the young dog-human or whatever he was. She didn't particularly like Serenity's tone since it was clearly misplaced anger and her lavender eyes flashed black for a moment before she regained her composure. There were a lot of questions being asked and since no one else was explaining, she made a decision to do so herself.

Pushing away from the wall, Roxanne moved to a center in the room where everyone would be able to hear her easily. "The mission's base goal was successful: the woman sentenced to execution has been freed, there she is now," she motioned at a new dark haired woman outside hugging a tree,"Most of the other Fated were also freed, to my knowledge. Things did get out of hand and many were injured or killed in this attempt, not all guards. The gallows were completely destroyed but the remainder of the third district is intact," she finished, not a trace of regret in her voice for the events she described. She'd caused worse destruction before on her own for the fun of it.

She noticed all the people coming through new portals were mostly injured. "I'm not a healer but I'm not useless either. I'll help as best I can, but first I think we should catch that woman we worked so hard to rescue," she added.

[Deleted]

Part of Lia wanted to start yelling at the group to tell her exactly what happened. She hated being in the dark. So far, she was only getting tidbits of what happened. Like the fact that the part of the third district was destroyed (as if it wasn't in bad enough shape), a lot of people were hurt, and a lot of prisoners were freed. The only reason she was here was because people knew that she worked with Rivers. He definitely owed her after all this was done.

However, yelling wouldn’t really help her. She was just unhappy with her current situation and confused. Examining her options, she could leave or wait to see what happened. She wasn’t fond of the idea of trekking through the woods by herself though, and she wasn’t sure what this group would do if she made a break for it. They were obviously guilty of something big.  

A pile of unconscious people appear on the ground, and Lia isn't sure what to do with herself.  She couldn't heal, so she does her best to move out of the way of anyone who could.  Perhaps it was best not to continue to harass the group for more answers.  From one of the windows, she could see a woman leaning against the tree. She didn’t recognize that one. Was that the woman that they intended to rescue or just one of the many Fated that they released? Walking outside, she approaches the obviously tired woman. “Hey, do you want to come inside? You can sit down here, and I can get you some food?” she calls out. Charm magic seeps into her voice to improve the former prisoners’ disposition toward her.  She could cook.  It seemed like the only thing she could do in the current situation.

[Serenity Caine]

Serenity felt something shift in her gut, and she knew it was Rivers doing something with the tunnels. Faintly she heard the sound of rain, or falling water, and it took her mind away from the group in front of her. She closed her eyes, focusing on the water, needing to clear her mind. Upon hearing Rivers' voice in her head, Serenity opened her eyes and looked over as a tunnel opened and injured civilians entered the cabin. Her hazel eyes glazed over, watching them come in one by one. Was this because of her? Was it the bomb that caused them harm?

Serenity blinked away tears and cleared her throat. Rivers' sent them, and he wants the healers to focus on them, please. When they are better, he'll return them to the city and bring in more. Her voice was hoarse and she stood up, needing to leave them for a few minutes. She stumbled over to the stairs, making it about half way up before stopping and sitting down, her head in her hands.

[Deleted]

Lilith looked back and forth at the various people. She noticed the woman out by the tree, but she also noticed the fair blonde woman go out to her- there was nothing Lilith could do there- her focus was on the injured. It was clear that she would not be able to get to much information out of the group as of now, it was to soon. Lilith left Kails' side to venture towards the unconscious and injured people being brought in. She heard an accented voice inform them that Rivers had brought them here, and he wanted them healed and returned.

Nodding, she set her focus on them, ordering them one by one in groups. She couldn't handle mass healing them, and one at a time would be difficult, but doable. She looked at Trés in the kitchen, knowing the Angel would join her soon. Purple eyes glanced at the frail nervous man by the door, and Lilith gestured for him to join her. I'm going to need your help. I'm not at helpless as when we saved Trésor, but I am still far from powerful. She smiled nervously, and pushed her mind away from the rest of the group. What happened was they're problem, catching the woman was on them, and what to do next was up to them. Lilith's only concern needed to be the health and wellbeing of these people, and the rest to come. She knew that the moment Sima stepped through that portal her focus would be drawn elsewhere, but she also knew that she was angry with him- angry enough that she may be able to ignore him for some time, and help her concentrate on the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfires of this forsaken mission. Slowly Lilith's anger moved from her partner, and towards the group as a whole. It was because of them that so many people were hurt and possibly dying. Yes, saving an innocent was important, but Lilith doubted that this much destruction needed to happen. She had a feeling that the Third District wasn't in great shape, especially seeing as Rivers' was still doing "damage control". Was there fire? Ruins? Bodies?

Lilith took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the injuries of the young woman in front of her. She was slipping in and out of conciseness, and Lilith found that her injuries were in her side- easy enough. She channeled her energy and thought of what Roland taught her, healing the innocents one by one. It was going to be a very long night.