2017-09-30: If You Give A Jerk A Cookie

From Dream Chasers
Jump to navigation Jump to search 
============================<* Wayside Village *>=============================

Wayside Village sits at the midst of a road exchange leading into the neck of the Badlands. Decades ago, this village was abandoned due to increasing pressure and risk from roadside thieves and bandits, as well as aggressive wildlife, but it was resuscitated recently by the Ebony Wings.

Now, Wayside Village stands as a haven "for those who have been left by the wayside" - it houses an orphanage, school and a homeless shelter and soup kitchen to aid those that have been abetted. A vulnerable, but growing community has gathered here, slightly odd in shape, size and appendages, owing to them being mostly "Tainted" -- rumored to be broken Metal Demons, or perhaps just Beastmen and other demihumans; the real story isn't quite widespread. Besides, those that have nowhere to go seem to be happy enough to coexist here.

For Drifters, a large roadside saloon called the "V4L-H4LLA" acts as an inn, a watering hole and a stable all in one. Those with vehicles that require repair can also find some mechanics who can enact some basic maintenance and a top-up of common fuels. A dojo with all kinds of martial training equipment has been set up near the village centre.

Wayside Village sustains itself largely by trading and selling water for other services, owing to its recently repaired water purifier unit - served to the village via a Qanat with a robust irrigation system stands at the edge of the village, where a Garden with simple hardy crops and other agricultural pursuits can be followed.

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Wayside is starting to be downright bustling with the younglings showing up, providing the village with a kind of energy that adults just can't quite manage. They've adopted soccer and are wearing <s> hideous </s> uniforms provided by Linvidia as they bounce a soccer ball between each other. One of the children, a little girl named Emily, kicks the ball too hard and it flies past her friend and into the chest of a new arrival into Wayside.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMA4vDwP7n4

The chest belongs to a man in a red and golden flight suit. He has long wild red hair, some of which is hanging over his eyes. He catches the soccer ball in his hands before it drops to the ground. The children run over and Emily says, "Mister-- Can we have our ball back?"

The man, who seems like a huge asshole to be quite frank, crouches down and smiles at the children. "Balls are pretty fun aren't they?"

Emily nods. "Yeah..."

"Let me show you something, how to kick a ball."

The huge asshole then promptly kicks the ball so hard it bursts into flames and flies through the sky, quickly out of site.

OUTSIDE BOOT HILL

A skeleton and its head are really excited! They finally made it back to the Mistress! It waddles its way towards the manner but--what's this?! There's a glint in the sky. It pauses to take a look at it when suddenly a fiery soccerball knocks its head off and sends it flying, the ball landing firmly and solidly in place of where it's skull once was.

The skull is teary-socketed as it rolls away from the now disoriented body.

HERE

Id shoves Emily over like a schoolyard bully. He really is a huge asshole. He continues his advance into Wayside, committing petty vandalism all the way. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Emily tumbles over with a whimper to go, "W-whaah!" One of her friends rushes over and checks up where she's lightly scraped her knee, and looks up as the man continues to walk unchecked towards Wayside. "What a jerk."

        Wayside has indeed become more lively and bustling in the month and a half since it's founded, since the Tainted marched and risked their lives across the Aveh desert and through the Kislev-Aveh warfront. Not all of them have made it; but those that have have gathered together to form a small community.

        Wayside exists on a valley crested by two hills; a large campfire is surrounded by several caravans, and several buildings have been further crafted outwards past the caravans, including an inn and local tavern marked 'V4L-H4LLA', and a larger building out back that has a sign reading: 'Wayside Orphanage'.

        As luck would have it, the Ebony Wings are out right now, largely scouting the area for threats -- and as such, no Dragons pile up near the entrance at the sight of the red-haired man.

        As luck would also have it, a certain blonde Metal Demon in tribalwear is returning from the makeshift tent that serves as their field clinic with a black-haired orphan in her arms, smiling gently to say, "That wasn't too bad, was it? You were very brave, Mikaia..."

        Mikaia doesn't respond to Riesenlied. She's staring at the entrance, where a red-haired man has appeared. A man that exudes a pressure that's paralysing her to a whimper.

        Riesenlied stops to stare, and her tainted blood freezes, her eyes shrinking.

        Everyone outside looks to him. Him.

        The one who destroyed their former home, Old Petra. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

        Noeline is having some... difficulties getting used to children. For all that she used to be (and still is) a terribly flighty sort of person, she has some distinct troubles coping with small humans at least as flighty as she is - not to mention, she's finding they can be incredibly blunt whenever they want to, particularly around rather personal questions involving her and Riese.

        Still, she'd admit to being fond of them, at least, which is why she's carrying a young girl with two red pigtails easily on her shoulders, flanking Riesenlied as they step out of the clinic; the girl is evidently one of the reasons they went there, with a couple of plasters dotted up her legs from where she'd fallen at speed and scraped up her knees.

        "... honestly, the two of you can be such a handful--" the Metal Demon cuts herself short when a prickle of sensation and uncertainty traces up her spine. She can't tell if it's the sensation of Duras Drum telling her to be careful, or the well-honed instincts from a couple of hundred years in the field - but the question ceases to matter when she follows Riesenlied's gaze, her eyebrows rocketing upwards as she swears under her breath.

        Very carefully, moving slowly, she sets the girl down on the ground, kneeling to help her down. It lets her be close enough to murmur privately to both the children: "... both of you, back inside the tent and wait for us. ... okay?" 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

Some people in Wayside Village are misfits among misfits. And then there's Neriah Parringer, a self-hating misfit among misfits among misfits, anxious to the point that she's been too nervous to even try to make a home in Wayside. She hasn't gone out of her way to meet many of the villagers or even make her presence known; she just comes here sometimes, hangs around in a lopsided tent just outside the town, and occasionally comes in to trade stuff with villagers. She doesn't talk all that much, though.

It's not like these people would want her, she reasons. Just like Thomas the Medical Student didn't want her.

But from a ways off, something bursts into flames and goes looming through the sky ahead. Looking up from where she's been staring at her right hand for the past hour and plotting how best she should hurt everyone who's ever been anything less than friendly to her (read: everyone but about two people and Seraph Ragnell aka The Dead), she blinks a time or two, watching that flaming ball fly off into the ether.

She's got a feeling nagging at her. Neriah frowns, adjusts her gun belt, and begins to jog towards the Village of Misfit Metal Friends and Well-Wishers.

Dragons begin to pile up. Neriah keeps clear of them and circles several metres around to the other side, coming up from her own angle so that the Dragons don't get the wrong idea and jumps her. As she approaches, she blinks a couple of times, trying to get a look at what's going on.

Or who's going on. The man waiting there is instantly recognizable. She'd know Id both by his face - and by his feel. Her right hand twinges a little.

"Oh, it's you," she says with a dull surprise. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Bart... just happens to be in the area.
 
 Really he had been working out some resupply points for the Yggdrasil, a critical yet mind numbingly boring job, for the past couple weeks. Generally this involved finding some out of the way location which was not inhabited by 1) Random Monsters, 2) Wels, 3) Bandits, 4) People Just Hiding From The Three Preceding Conditions, and then loading it up with supplies and a large tank of fuel that this sand ship could quickly pick up and restock in a hurry if the need arose.
 
 It was super boring for the most part, and Bart had to foist the job off on other people in the past only to have them STEAL ALL OF HIS STUFF which Bart really didn't like, so he ended up having to do this himself. People had no respect for all the hard work Bart had put into stealing a lot of the loot he used to pay for these supplies.
 
 But He's decided to swing by this out of the way village due to a crew member being holed up here for... well supposed to recuperate. The pirate plans to keep his eye out for anything a bit more exciting than that reason, because maybe that means his friend is finally loosening up a little bit. But as Id strides into town generally looking to knock down any buildings like they were iterant sand castles in the playground, just waiting to be kicked, Bart just leans over a the top of a small stack of boxes and looks at his crew member for a long moment.
 
 And then he laughs. "No really, what *actually* happened?" 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

Some people in Wayside Village are misfits among misfits. And then there's Neriah Parringer, a self-hating misfit among misfits among misfits, anxious to the point that she's been too nervous to even try to make a home in Wayside. She hasn't gone out of her way to meet many of the villagers or even make her presence known; she just comes here sometimes, hangs around in a lopsided tent just outside the town, and occasionally comes in to trade stuff with villagers. She doesn't talk all that much, though.

It's not like these people would want her, she reasons. Just like Thomas the Medical Student didn't want her.

But from a ways off, something bursts into flames and goes looming through the sky ahead. Looking up from where she's been staring at her right hand for the past hour and plotting how best she should hurt everyone who's ever been anything less than friendly to her (read: everyone but about two people and Seraph Ragnell aka The Dead), she blinks a time or two, watching that flaming ball fly off into the ether.

She's got a feeling nagging at her. Neriah frowns, adjusts her gun belt, and begins to jog towards the Village of Misfit Metal Friends and Well-Wishers.

With no one to actually stop her, Neriah finds her own angle of approach and dips into the village proper, hoping she's not spotted and shot or something. As she approaches, she blinks a couple of times, trying to get a look at what's going on.

Or who's going on. The man waiting there is instantly recognizable. She'd know Id both by his face - and by his feel. Her right hand twinges a little.

"Oh, it's you," she says with a dull surprise. 

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
 
A little pink dragoncat who has no earthly idea this is the Demon of Elru has just flown up into his personal space. Pink pawsies crossed.
 
"Like acting like a jerk in the stands at a tournament is one thing. But bullying little kids? You should be ashamed! Lunata definitely wouldn't approve of her fanbase becoming toxic like this!"
 
There's also this guy who's walking across the way. Eating from a bag of chips.
 
Crunch.
 
"Yo Riese. Noeline. Just in town for a resupply and decided to pay my respects to the village chieftain." He grins wryly at the thought of Riese the Chieftain. His own sort of running gag.
 
Better assessing the situation as he gets closer, enough to realize something's wrong. He stops in his tracks. "Something wrong? Two of you look like you've seen a ghost..."
 
Ruby turns to call out to him, "Yeah something's wrong! The Death Waitress guy thinks he can bully the village kids!"
 
Hiro gives the guy a look like he doesn't approve, but he slowly eats another chip as he looks at the red haired guy in a flight suit.
 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil has spent some time here in Wayside lately, even returning a scant day after she left recently. She has been around as a somewhat intimidating figure, even considering all of her injuries. Some of that time has been with the orphans, and some has been acting as something of an unusual medic, hurt already.

Specifically, today she's dressed in a long skirt with a wide belt, an undershirt peeking through and a long-sleeved jet top with buttons up part of it, all undone. A little skin shows, but not her arms; she's gloved. More to the point...

She has sutures up her cheek and down her forehead, and a heavy set of bandages over her left eye, held in place by a few more bandages threaded through her hair. Her left hand is immobilzed in a sling. She's stiff.

But she does like the children. There is also a small black dog trotting along at her heels. Bart asks his question. Lily stares at him with one golden eye for a long few moments.

"...I fed my dog ten minutes late," she deadpans.

There is not much time after that though before a feeling sinks into her. It shudders down her spine, and Bart can see how disturbed she is just by looking at her, her eye closing. "Bart," she says carefully. "There's something here. I need you to come with me." She's not even carrying her weapon. It's difficult just to stay standing.

"Come on girl," Lily says, "Stay." She looks to the dog in some concern, while the dog moves to hide behind one of Bart's boxes with a whine.

It will not take her long, with everyone staring, to find Id. It doesn't take her long to...

Walk up right behind Hiro and says in her smooth voice, "Hiro, this man shouldn't be taken lightly." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        There's another Gear out on the outskirts of town. It hasn't moved in... quite some time, though some people claim they've seen someone moving around it, and climbing up and down its ladder. It's not far away from one of the caves pockmarking the valley, and in this case, that cave has an additional occupant. Ida has been camped out there for several days, now, aside from a brief interval where Noeline grabbed her and forced her to take a bath and change her clothes. Kalve lives in some manner of room deeper in, but Ida can't access it. She's basically turned the antechamber into her base camp, only leaving to fetch water or to use an outhouse that's not occupied. The thought of interacting with people who are not Kalve is exhausting to her.

        A wooden bucket thumps onto the side of a well near the orphanage. Its proximity to the orphanage is precisely why Ida's been avoiding getting water unless she has to, but it's also the closest one to the cave. Ida herself is in what can charitably be described as 'terrible shape'. She's wearing canvas pants and a sleeveless, low-necked shirt, and her hair hangs loose around her neck, dirty and tangled. She's still bruised up from her fights with Claude and Fenrir. She hooks the bucket onto the hook dangling above the well, and lowers it, using the rope.

        Be quick about this, says the chastising voice in the back of her head. before someone sees what a shameful state you're in. No one deserves to see you like this.

        Ida sees someone emerging from one of the tents near the orphanage, orphan in tow. Her shoulder hunch, the muscles in them tightening reflexively. Ida all but drops the bucket into the well, and raises it again once she feels the weight on the other end has increased. She unhooks the bucket, and scurries off like a small, frightened animal.

        She has not distinguished the aura of awful surrounding Id from the mire inside her own head. She's moving right towards him.

<Pose Tracker> Fenrir has posed.

While Fenrir still shows up in the dojo, it's not as often as before. She's been at her Gear far more often, it parked on the outskirts of town, a bare and nonweaponized thing. Right now, the Metal Demon is in fact leaping off it, waking up from a nap and heading to get some food. Walking into town, Fenrir sees and nods at Riesenlied, but pauses as she sees that Riesenlied is looking at something. Her eyes scan over...glancing at Id, who her eyes lock onto. Id, the Demon of Elru. Id, the man who took her arm. Id...
That red-haired asshole.

Fenrir begins to move forward. She doesn't even notice Ida walking forward as well, as Fenrir begins to walk at a brisk pace straight up to the man. Her eyes and the way she's clenching her single fist indicate she's not going up for a friendly chat. She's going up to pick a fight. There's obvious rage in her expressions, her normally moody expression turned into a sharp scowl. But she must confirm something, first.

"You. Are you the Demon of Elru?" 

<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.

The Vile Fiends have entered the wastelands, and Althena's Guard has followed. Though the comparatively sparsely populated desert makes for a much more difficult place to hand, the bulk of the Guard's force has remained behind in Adlehyde to stabilize the city. As a result, their quarry has continued to elude them.

As a result, the Storm Fist Corwynt has begun to take steps.

The martial artist sits crosslegged atop a lonely stone in the wastes, his eyes closed as he reads the winds. The barest trace of the Blessing that is the birthright of every living thing on Lunar wafts out from him, slowly carried away on the breeze to the distant corners of the land, seeking the faintest of echoes - resonating power of like and like. Were he to attempt this on the world of his birth, Corwynt would be deafened by the result. But here, on the broken world of the Blue Star, it is like hearing for a butterfly's heartbeat.

He had done this daily for three weeks straight. And today, it finally pays off.

"Got them," the little man says, his voice rough as he straightens, signalling to the other Guards around him to mount up. "The voice of the creature that claims to be a Dragon - faint, but unmistakeable. Nothing else sounds quite like..."

Corwynt breaks off, his eyes narrowing. Behind the echo, there is something else resonating in the background. Not the clear bell tone of the Blessing. Not the sinister taint of the Destroyer. Less dark, but sinister. Angry.

Hollow?

"...we should hurry," he says, mounting the sand sailer. A black mage begins pushing wind intot he sails, and the vessel begins hurtling across the desert. 

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Wayside is not home solely to the Tainted and the human orphans they had taken in. There was another group that made their home there - Veruni agents, ambassadors in allies in their common mission.

Ambrosius was one such agent, though he had been careful to ensure that only his closest allies knew this.

As such, he was present that day, as well. He had some rudimentary defense systems set up around the village, and he became rather aware of The Problem when one of them reported a critical error on his messaging unit.

Apparently, there was some individual going around town causing trouble...

Well, he would find the source soon enough. The Veruni in the brightly colored poncho emerges from his workshop and begins to head to the source.

...All's he has to do is follow the trail of chaos and raised voices.

He does not approach just yet. Instead, he chooses to watch from a safe distance. There were humans here, some of them he didn't recognize...

There was one he could, however, if only through reputation. If that one even was human... 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

        Perhaps it's because of Dean, perhaps it's because of their current living conditions. Regardless of the reason, Avril had stopped by Wayside for the simplest of reasons -- to chat, for a wide range of reasons including perhaps ways to prevent the war she fears might come and Gear repair consultations with a certain young miss -- and had since been instead been caught up in...

        Helping out in the orphanage. As she and her friends already do as a part of their 'rent' at a completely separate orphanage, some ways away.

        "Oh, my apologies. Did I pull too hard?" she murmurs to the child she's attempting (attempting) to braid the hair of, as the little girl squirms away as if somewhat uncomfortable.

        "Uh huh," is the child's response. Avril frowns, unhappily.

        "Ah. Then, I shall attempt to be more careful--"

        A strange expression crosses Avril's face. She freezes where she stands.

        It is exactly the sort of look someone might have if someone 'walked over their grave'. So to speak.
        Something's wrong.

        "Stay here," she tells the child she's been helping, before straightening and turning to hurry on outside.

        Something's wrong. Something's very wrong. She can feel it grate against her very being. 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia, feeling bad about her little mishap at the dojo, stuck around Wayside to help repair the damage she caused. Which, given that she's much better at breaking things than she is fixing them, mostly meant that she gathered and carried materials so that others could do the fixing. She's helping, at least!

Her part of that operation now done, she had time to relax and enjoy what exotic treats the village has to offer. For as little as they claimed to have, any place that has unusual tasty foods seems plenty rich in her eyes. Such as what she currently carries: a bowl filled with a combination of shards of frozen water and syrup. Whoever came up with this 'shaved ice' is a genius! A hit with the kids, to be sure, which Xantia tends to act like anyway.

Too bad her attempt to play with the kids didn't work out too well. She didn't mean to, but... Id isn't the only one who's ever made a ball disappear into the distance. Holding back is still a problem sometimes.

Despite her good intentions not always ending that well, today Xantia is in a fine mood, and why would she not be? A tasty treat, and plenty of friends about. Riesenlied, too, is now counted among their number, and is cheerfully approached and greeted: "Hiii, Riese! Have you tried this stuff, it's great! Not very filling, but it's--"

The bowl of shaved ice falls from her hand, shattering on the ground. It doesn't look like Xantia even noticed she lost her treat - that's how you know it's serious. Instead, she stares in disbelief at the latest visitor to Wayside. Him. She just talked about him recently, and now he's suddenly here? She was not prepared for this.

She briefly looks over to Riesenlied, as if silently asking 'is this really happening?' That short pause is the only sign of hesitation, before she leaps over the shards of the broken bowl, and rushes over to where Id is. That feeling from before is back. The feeling that she just... has to go to him. For what reason? Maybe she'll find out, this time. 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id's gaze shifts towards Bart briefly though he doesn't stop by to say hello, he just glances in the guy's direction before shifting his gaze towards Lily. He looks a bit deadpan as she approaches Hiro. "You keep biting off more than you can chew huh? What is getting in the way of your true potential?" Ruby starts yelling at him, frontin' real hard. "Death of the author," He tells Ruby. "Sorry." He's mostly being sassy, he knows that really isn't the point. He nods to Hiro and keeps on.

He throws a wave to Neriah and DOES speak to her. He says, "Yo. Your spookymagic is real interesting."

And that's it. Id isn't actually a super chatty guy, preferring to get his point across in few words and getting to the point. The red gear flies in at around this point, clearly not piloted, and it lands in the motorpool with the others. It looks fairly out of place to be honest even in a parking area for gears.

"Riesenlied," He says quietly, but clearly annunciated. "Are you ready to feel the rest? It's been so long since I've made a connection..."

The area is busier than he expected, even with carefully plotting his arrival for the guard to be out of town--this isn't because he's worried about a fight, he just doesn't want the hassle right now. The less energy he expends, the more he gets to enjoy life.

Anything else he'd like to say to others is interrupted by Fenrir who successfully manages to obtain Id's full attention.

"Yeah? Who're you? What happened to you? Kinda busy." He nods to the lack of arm and damaged face.

Yeah. He doesn't even remember. He's a huge asshole. 

<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

Malfi watches as Fenrir approaches the possible-Demon-of-Elru, radiating menace. She does not recognize him, having only spotted his Gear -- and that from a distance -- at Old Petra. She braces herself for a fight, just in case. After all, this is her home now. If this IS the one, she must be careful not to underestimate him! 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Riesenlied's heart is pounding at an alarming rate -- and Id can see that it's troubling her. She doesn't look as well as she did last they fought, even after all the punishment she took; she's more scaled than ever, her right arm and leg overgrown with what looks like draconic scales covering them, and more along the base of her neck to her cheek.

        Her mind is already calculating manners to evacuate everyone, to get everyone safe -- an ETA until the Ebony Wings get back here; how much she'd need to--

        "Avoid fighting for now; you may need rest. But... This is all premature until I know how you got these growths."

        --she flinches with a tremble as she recalls Lily's words. She's in no shape to fight right now.

        She sees Hiro, and Ruby chiding her; she wants to call out and warn the dragonet, but it seems like they're on edge too. Lily comes as well -- and she sees Bart, who she remembers well from their assault on Mount Eldrin. They haven't made a move.

        And then she sees Ida, and her eyes widen. "Miss Ida-- don't come here right now--!"

        Fenrir approaches him as well, and Riesenlied only needs a moment to know how this can go horribly wrong really fast.

        Mikaia, the child in her arms begins to whimper, rather clearly sensing something that's making her unwell. "U-uwah..."

        The alarm in her tilts to confusion as Id approaches and addresses her, specifically. "... I-- you came all this way just for that...?" she asks, almost baffled.

        Her throat is dry. If she could... distract him...

        She flits her eyes towards Noeline with a look of clear concern, but also one that seems to communicate clearing people out where necessary. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        Dean of course had come along with Avril. He hasn't been to Wayside before, but hearing about it from Avril, it sounds like a really nice place! Plus it's run by Riesenlied and Noeline? Extra nice! Dean knows that the Metal Demons don't have a great reputation, and for good reason, but Riese has always been really nice to him and his friends, and he's happy that she's trying to find a way for her people to live peacefully on Filgaia. Avril wanted to talk about wars and Gears; Dean just wanted to have a look around. His look around brought him and Avril to the orphanage, where some kids asked them to play, and now here they are!
        
        "It's kinda hard, braiding hair, huh?" Dean says to Avril and the little child she's attending to. He's sitting cross-legged nearby as he and several other kids color in battered old coloring books with nubby hand-me-down crayons. "I dunno how Rebecca does it all the time! ...Though, come to think, you've got a braid in your hair too, huh, Avril? How do you get it to go across your head like tha--"
        
        *PUNT*, goes a soccer ball outside. Dean looks up, and although he's not quite as sensitive to that aura as Avril is, he definitely gets an unsettled feeling deep in his stomach. When Avril excuses herself, Dean hands his coloring book over to the little girl and gets up too. "Yeah, we'll be right back!" he says, hurrying after Avril to the outside, where a confrontation is already in progress. 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

"Oh." Neriah blinks twice.

She hadn't expected Id to give her a second's notice. Most people don't, unless it's to glare at her or drive her out of a particular social gathering.

The fact that Id does actually say something to her leaves her taken aback, touching a hand to her collar and hooking two fingers into the fold of the red scarf there. "It's not that spooky once you get used to how it feels," she starts, but Id's talking to Riesenlied before she can really comment on anything more.

The Excavator presses her lips together in a tight line, momentarily disappointed that he didn't come for her. But then she refocuses her attention on what Id is actually saying and doing, reminding herself not to look at these things selfishly. After all, these particular Metal Demons have some connection to her new... friends...?

For a second she debates whether K.K. is really describable as a friend.

"Guh," she finally says with a grimace and a shake of her head, just moving her hand down to rest at her belt, thumb tucked into one of the loops. She isn't exactly putting it near her pistol, but it's in the neighbourhood if she needs it.

As Fenrir comes charging up, Neriah just shoots her a look and shakes her head meaningfully. Not that she expects the so-called pufferwolf to actually pay heed to the warning.

After all, last she checked, Fenrir was on her list, too. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida stops.

        Oh, she's seen you. Careless girl. Now you're going to have to explain to her just what you're doing walking around town, looking like this, and Noeline will be with her. She looks over at Riesenlied, her lips pulling tight--as if she's trying to figure out what to say. The fact that Id is literally ten feet away and approaching quickly has not registered with her. Idiot! Say something, you stupid child. You've lied to her all the time, what's stopping you now?

        Fenrir walks up while Ida's busy staring hatefully at Riesenlied without realizing she's staring hatefully. It takes Fenrir's voice to jar her out of her own head, and when she does, well--

        Ida raises the bucket with both hands, and casually turns to observe the man who single-handedly destroyed Old Petra. She should feel fear. She does not.

        Perhaps if you wait here, he'll solve all your problems for you. Perhaps you could throw some water at him, or the entire bucket.

        "Hello," she says, to Id.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

        Noeline finds herself swallowing; she's not a common friend to fear, used to dancing past it where possible and certainly not above outright fleeing from it should it be absolutely necessary - and yet, here in Wayside, she's found a home and a purpose she would have never felt possible. So instead she discards the instictive motion to hunker down and bolt, standing her ground at their strange visitor, holding out a quiet hope that perhaps Wayside will make it through.

        A little part of her brain, used to being analytical, begins to talk to her: While he might be Some Asshole right now, that's all he's being - and that's a damn sight better than their starting out at explosions. They've talked to Guardians. Do they have a chance to talk to Id, as well? He said he would destroy Mother - paid homage to the idea that her hatred might be all-consuming. Does that give them a chance, as Metal Demons that have begun to splinter away?

        "--Hiro," she blurts, for once taken aback at the sudden presence of someone nearby; unexpected, perhaps, but there's a flash of gratitude that rockets across her face for a genuine moment as she sucks in a breath. "I-- be careful," is all she can really find it within herself to say, her gaze sliding back towards Id as she stands her ground. "Be very careful."

        More than anything else, she holds her ground for the time being - at the very least, until the children have slipped back inside the tent into (very, very relative) safety. The lull is useful - it gives her time to pick out Ida, and her erratic path towards the Demon of Elru. It gives her time to spot Bart and Lily off to one side, and Fenrir's belligerent call. It gives her time to recognize the noise of a very familiar Gear casually riding in to park.

        It gives her time to recognize and process that the Demon has basically just walked up to them, and addressed Riesenlied directly - quietly - improbably. Hardly knowing what to say, she meets Riesenlied's glance... and then decides to suck in a breath, throw caution just a little to one side, put on a devil-may-care grin, and speak loud enough to let her voice carry: "... welcome to the peaceful village of Wayside," she greets the Demon of Elru plainly, putting just a little emphasis on the word 'peaceful' as her gaze flicks past Id at the others around. "... if you'd like to talk to Riesenlied, I can arrange somewhere more private."

        She's thankful she doesn't sweat, right now. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Well, Bart does at least have a bit of a sense of humor about the whole thing, the people who actually hurt Lily not being available for folding, spindling, or mutilating. "Eeeh, well dog walking can be dangerous. But at least we match for a little while." He attempts to be lighthearted, but there is an edge to it all... one that gets a bit sharper when Lily takes off to confront Id.
 
 On the upside, Hiro is here! Among a bunch of other people. He lightly punches Hiro's shoulder on the way past, and gives him a... well it's a wink but again, with Bart it's hard to tell.
 
 And then there's this guy. Is he pale or just wearing a bunch of makeup? And that hair is kind of overdone too. But Bart also can feel... something. He isn't sure what, but just looking at this guy warns him on a primal level that he's dangerous.
 
 "Hmmm," he states, inclining his head slightly as he looks at Id.
 
 And Bart decides to just be Bart. What harm can that do?
 
 "If you're going for the dark and menacing look, I'd say you've got that down pretty well," the pirate captain states with his usual confidence and swagger. "Probably keeps the kids away - although I know some ladies go for that sort of thing, so you might end up having to beat them off with a stick." He grins, and glances at Lily. "...how bad are we talking here...?" he asks out of the corner of his mouth. While Id can still hear him, of course. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

        "I would not say it is a difficult technique," Avril responds, brow furrowed and expression the very mask of concentration, as she tries to -- more gently this time -- pull the strands into a plait. "Rather, it is difficult to ascertain another's boundaries and thresholds. Hm..." The child has winced again, right before Avril makes that promise to try again even more gently and--

        There is that sense redolent in the air of absolutely everything going sideways.

        Her shoes crunch against the packed ground as she emerges into the daylight of the village.

        Her blue-eyed gaze glides across the tableau outside. People she knows: Riesenlied, Noeline, Ida. The children.
        People she doesn't know.

        And the figure, standing there in the center of the village, ill intent burning off of him like smoke from a fire.

        Somewhere, a child has started to cry.

        Avril halfway lifts her arm, hand hovering somewhere about near to chest height, eyes wide.
        ...Familiar? But...

        A breath follows. Another. Gaze fixed on Id, she strides forward to Riesenlied's side.

        "Who are you?" 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        As Dean heads on over towards where Id and Riesenlied and Noeline are, there are--well, quite a few other people gathering around too. The one Dean notices first is Ida, because while they met not too long ago, she seemed in a pretty good state then, and now she looks... really quite not. "Woah, Ida, are you okay?" he says to her, eyebrows knitting in genuine concern. Bruised and dirty, she looks like she recently got into a fight. Maybe a really bad one, based on the look in her eyes. "Did something happen?" he adds, wondering if maybe there was another Wels outbreak.
        
        After Ida, there's Malfi, whom Dean fought outside the Guardian Temple. "Oh, hey, it's you!" he utters, blinking at her. Perhaps unusually, given that Malfi had tried her level best to kill him in that encounter, he smiles. "I'm glad you're doing okay!"
        
        The others, besides Riese and Noel, are unknowns to him, including the big man in the red flight suit that no one seems to be happy with. Dean frowns at him, then looks over at Avril. She, however, has nothing to say; she only acts, striding forward over to her friends and asking Id who he is. Dean would like to know that too, and there are crying children about, so he of course follows her lead, standing with her and Riese and the others. He keeps frowning at Id, and while it's more puzzled than hostile... something about this guy just gives him the creeps. 

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"You're not sorry!" Ruby looks rather upset at the sass. "Wait - death of what now? Start making sense!
 
Lily walks up behind him and he freezes for a moment. He only gives her a look over her shoulder- if Lily is saying that, he's taking it seriously. Stuffing the bag of chips into his sack, he grabs his buckler and straps it on. "That a fact?" He doesn't draw his sword though. Though he keeps hearing comments- Demon of Elru.
 
Destroyer of Old Petra.
 
"Ruby. Get away from him." There's something urgent in his voice now, knowing full well the dire situation he's just wandered into. Ruby seems to get it now too with everyone gathering about, and starts to list off, flying over to Lily rather than Hiro and landing on her shoulder. "So he's not just a creepy fan?" She whispers to her.
 
Hiro thinks it through, this guy supposedly defeated Siegfried with ease, wiped out a whole town of Tainted What was he supposed to do against someone like him?
 
And all the same, he felt a need to do something. Whether it was out of decency, or a desire for justice- or something. He gives Riese a look at how frozen she seems, at Noeline as she echoes to be careful. "Alright." He gulps, and slowly nods, keeping it in mind. A guy this bad, even starting a fight could endanger everyone in this whole village.
 
Bart punches his shoulder, and he manages to get a grin out of him even in this somber time. "Yo Bart. Fancy running into you around here." But as Bart asks Lily how bad it is, his expression grows grave, "Worse than you can imagine from what I hear... but sounds like she knows way better than me."
 
What Id says, what he's here for... he thinks about the state Riese was in after the battle when he found her. A breath rasps through his teeth as he grows cold, thinking about how she supposedly stopped him.
 
Suddenly he hopes very much that this guy will take up on Noeline's offer of diplomacy and privacy.
 

<Pose Tracker> Fenrir has posed.

Several people react to Fenrir. Glancing at her, making gestures - she ignores all of them, even though part of her can acknowledge them. They're unimportant, white noise. He's right here, the man who ruined her life. She could crush him, right? He's not in the Gear. She could rip him apart. She's still good enough. She's still strong enough.

But something in her tapers that, just a bit. Is it survival? The acknowledgement of the village being here? Either way, Fenrir doesn't strike Id outright, though she also doesn't move. She growls at him, speaking with venom in her words. "The Demon of Elru. I was at Old Petra. You took my arm. You damaged me, and you have the gall to forget?" She practically spits with her words, as her teeth grit sharply, making a painful noise. Her left arm begins to shift. It's a wolf's, complete with sharp claws, within moments. Fenrir takes another step up towards Id, but doesn't strike. Not yet.

"I'm going to kill you. I'm going to rip you piece to piece for what you did. There'll be NOTHING LEFT." And Fenrir's absolutely serious about it. 

<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

"You," Malfi stammers at Dean. "Y-you're that human, the one who helped me." Which was more than her superiors had done: they had, in fact, LEFT HER on the Guardian Temple FLOOR, bleeding out. Dean had dragged her to safety. If it weren't for her native regeneration, she'd be far from "all right" at the moment. "Wha-what are you doing here??" Subconsciously bits of her armor start to appear: a spike here, a glimmer of blacksteel there... 

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Like all Mysterious Individuals, Ambrosius elects to observe from the safety of a rooftop. This has the side effect of putting him safely out of range of most forms of attack, while also meaning that he can very easily get a signal to all of his defense systems.

He laments not having access to a full array of advanced Veruni technology, with which that wouldn't be an issue.

He does not press the button yet, however. He does not want to be the one to start this trainwreck of an occasion.

At the moment, it would seem the Demon of Elru would wish to speak to Riesenlied...what that would entail for her, Ambrosius isn't certain.

Fortunately, the humans have yet to make a terrible decision. He hoped it would remain that way.

Fenrir, though...Ambrosius hears her threat and frowns slightly. Hopefully that doesn't cause any problems, but it's too late to stop her. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"And I suppose we do," Lily accepts about their matching, before they go.

"It is," Lily says to Hiro. Id's deadpan look catches Lily staring back. It's uncomfortable, but she needs to know what's there in those eyes, given their history now. She shrugs once. Then her face sharpens into a frown. "My true potential...? What are you talking about?" Is there something he knows? Or is he just being strange?

When Ruby flies over, she finds an easy perch on Lily's shoulder, on her good side where she can actually see her. "He's not," she murmurs back, "I want to know what you mean by that." But not necessarily now. "Just stay with me," she says calmingly.

Lily doesn't take issue with Bart's flippancy like she did what Hiro was saying, for some reason. She just stands there with the both of them, looking into Id's eyes as best she can. Bart murmurs to her, and Lily answers the same way he asked, "He's the guy who took out Old Petra. Himself." Her voice is quiet, and she does not look at Bart. "But it's complicated."

Ida's presence makes her attention shift quickly and sharply. "Ida," she warns, but she isn't... Anything. Not that Lily can entirely think straight. Her uninjured hand slips up to the side of her head, pressing there as if by a headache. "Gh..."

"Hiro's right," she adds. "I do know, firsthand."

But Fenrir speaks up, and Lily grits her teeth. "This is a problem. This is a full set of problems." A slow breath. "Riesenlied..." 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Nothing could have stopped Xantia from making a beeline for the other red-haired fist fighter. Like when she faced him before, her heart is pounding, but it doesn't feel bad. No fear, no alarm, she just... really wants to go to him. To fight him? That's what she assumed before. It would sense that way. But now, she's not so sure.

Though she wasn't asked the question, she answers the 'Who are you' question, by loudly shouting, "It's you... Id!" She knows the name, now. She only wishes that hearing it would have stirred something in her memory, anything at all. That it would have offered some kind of explanation why she felt drawn to him - still feels drawn to him. She didn't get the sense that Id knows her anymore than she can remember about him. She can't make sense of these emotions. It feels... somehow different from the simple excitement of fighting strong opponents.

Still, since it seems unwise not to, she drops into an immediate fighting stance some distance away from Id. For a moment, she seems unsure what to do. But then she decides that there's nothing for it. She'll just have to ask the thing that she desperately wants to sure of. And hope that Id both has answers, and feels like giving them. "Do you... know anything about me? Anything at all?"

Fenrir speaks, and Xantia looks over in that direction. She says nothing in response to that declaration, but briefly wonders... has she seen this Metal Demon before? She might have, back at Old Petra, but that was a chaotic situation, and back then, well... Metal Demons, in general, were mostly just 'the enemy' to her. She certainly doesn't realize that she has something in common with this one, both having made the unwise the decision to throw a punch at Id. Yet only one of them still has all their limbs. Life is truly unfair. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        People who are not Riesenlied pay attention to Ida. She turns to look at Dean, the expression on her face flat. It's not a look of calm.

        Everyone is staring at you. They're disgusted. They're right to feel that way. Look at yourself.

        "Dean," Ida says. "Lily." She stays put, though, like she's Id's oddly-grubby shadow. She watches as Id does what she thought he would--he didn't even think Fenrir is worth remembering. Fenrir keeps going. Is there going to be a fight? Is Riesenlied going to lose yet another pet project to Id? Are people going to die?

        Ida starts smiling.

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id is threatened by Fenrir, who is now really up into his personal space. She informs him of their past connection. He comprehends, gradually, what is going on here. "It's all fun and games until it's your arm, huh? Until it's your people?" Id asks of Fenrir. "Please. Your people have been menacing Filgaia since you came to this world, now you're going to bring back Mother who would destroy the entire world and Lunar next. Yet here you are worried about a messed up arm, a messed up face, more than your own people. You'd think you'd have learned something for being taken down by a human but most metal demons are just like you. You consider your mindless 'honor' to be a strength. Something that protects you. You discard common sense to throw yourself on the first spear you find." Suddenly he's holding Fenrir's other arm into his hands. He tightens his grip. It's painful. "You're not even thinking about where you are. If your people die, it will be because of people like you."

He flings Fenrir away behind him and into the dojo. That place really has no luck.

Id doesn't dwell on it. "Heh," Id chuckles briefly at Neriah's response. "True that. Keep at it, kid. Religion only ever makes it 'half' right at best. Heh!" His attention is called to Ida. There's recognition in his eyes. He considers the state that Ida's in and frowns. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He asks bluntly. It doesn't take an empathic soul to notice she's grimy, hasn't been sleeping well, and hasn't changed too recently. He seems surprised to see Ida in such a state--he just blurted that out rather than thinking about his words beforehand. Id doesn't usually fret over his words too much but he does think before he speaks in general. Not that time.

"Don't worry," He tells Riesenlied, turning back to her. "I'm not going to destroy Wayside." He smiles. "Want to see if my old pal Siegfried does it first." He pauses at Riesenlied's strange question. "What. That's not enough? I thought you were going to come back for me. Sorry it's been awhile, heh, but there's issues I gotta deal with. You're a commander, you get how it is. Prioritizing."

He glances towards Xantia. He frowns. This place really is full of strange people, his kind of people really, but he knows not to fall into that kind of trap.

"No," He tells Xantia. "Not yet. You're on the list." For a moment he does seem troubled by Xantia's presence. He SHOULD know shouldn't he? "My guess is you're someone's science experiment." He tells her. "Shouldn't stop you from having fun."

He pauses as he glances towards Ida again. He caught that smile. "...That's more like her. I guess it's true. Heh. What a dark side."

Then there's Lily. He says, <Don't know many sorcerers as powerful as you are.> to her in a strange language that Lily understands.

But it's the last two people who end up the most distracting. Avril asks him who he is. "You." He says to her. "I know who you are. Playing pretend isn't going to--"

BART INTERRUPT.

He stops talking. He listens to him. He takes in a slow breath--this is a man who still breathes--by all appearances Bart is basically doing what Fenrir is doing and should be getting thrown off into a building somewhere. But that doesn't happen with him. Not yet.

"You." He says. "Are you strong?" 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

"That is actually a really stupid idea," Neriah calls towards Fenrir, waving her arms broadly. "He's not actually doing anything other than talking! Come punch me in the face instead if it'll make you feel better."

She even starts forward and cranes her neck to push her face out, pointing towards it with a couple of gloved fingers as if to indicate that Fenrir should take her up on the offer.

(Why am I doing this,) she asks herself bitterly. (I must be stupid.)

She glances back towards Id, lowering her hands and folding them behind her back even as she retains that angled-forward posture. "Religion? I didn't think it was that religious. But I guess it might scare some priests," she concedes with a shrug. "But I only like doing that if they deserve it."

For a moment her gaze drifts towards Ida, taking in the woman's state - she's not used to seeing her like that, despite not knowing her beyond the level of an acquaintance who tends to get scared when she magicks up. But her attention is really on Id and what he says to Riesenlied. And Bart, for that matter.

"You know, if you guys want to fight," she suggests drily, "maybe we should just form a line and you can all vent your frustrations by punching me in the face."

She's continuing to lean towards Fenrir. Once-in-a-lifetime offer right there, pufferwolf. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia wasn't planning to be here long. But there's a commotion, and people are fleeing...and Sephy knows that means trouble. So, making Chauncey big, Sephilia has charged in to be heroic and get to be a famous explorer by being brave and bold and rescuing folks and stuff, also healing anyone who might need the aid, because she's a helpful, nice girl.

She arrives right around when people are being thrown into buildings and stuff.

"Whoah," she says eloquently. Looks like all the book-learning is helping her vocabulary! 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        The worst outcome Riesenlied fears right now is someone -- Fenrir, probably, but maybe also Ida -- starting something rash and immediate and having it all explode in spectacularly swift fashion.

        She steps a little closer to Noeline, ostensibly to let the Metal Demon protect her for once. See, she isn't always the most difficult person on Filgaia to protect her.

        The Dragon's Tear pendant at her neck ... does not shimmer. It's a pitch-black at present; as if to indicate some kind of hollowness. This isn't malice... not simple malice.

        Her eyes shoot wide as Id flings Fenrir away, and she exclaims with concern, "Fenrir!!" she clutches the child in her arm a little tighter, as she lowers her head.

        "... it's-- as Noeline says. If you'd like to speak to me, we... can arrange for that..."

        Her throat seizes up. He isn't going to destroy Wayside. ... Siegfried might. She needs to be stronger right now, to stand up and be firm. Yet there's some part of her that's faltering, perhaps knowing she might not survive a connection with Id right now...

        ...

        Yet, even without her conscience acting upon it, some ephemeral connection that has never left the two of them does awaken, however.

        Id can sense it, ever so faintly... The dead, cold smile of that girl with the fringes over her eyes. Nasrin. The frozen cross stuck in the backdrop, the shredded remnants of curtains that have been soaked and encrusted in ice.

        You really know how to make an entrance, don't you? It's been a while.

        A couple of the Tainted have scrambled to try to pick Fenrir up and support her after she gets tossed away. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 "It's... complicated," Bart mutters. "I hate it when things are complicated." It generally means he actually needs to think about a problem, rather than trying to smash it. But part of him thinks that smashing isn't the best idea here?
 
 Which is depressing. Bart is ALWAYS in favor of smashing things.
 
 "Well if this gets bad, Hiro, try and get folks away. I can always like... distract him with my good looks or something. Not like I have my Gear or anything so it'd probably have to be a crazy plan or something."
 
 Back to Lily. "...we do have a crazy plan, right? Or should I do something off the cuff?"
 
 All of this is, of course, right in front of Id. At the same time, he's also being threatened by other people and is generally distracted, so he might not notice the plotting that is taking place right in front of him.
 
 And of course, it seems like the murder dude is paying attention all of a sudden. Bart pauses, and takes a step forward, looking at Id for a long moment. He's basically putting himself out to get tossed around if this weird guy feels like it, but he's been CHALLENGED. He can't exactly step back from this. His pride would have a lot of trouble with that. On the other hand the guy beat up the Quarter Pounder Knights to some degree and flattened a town by himself. He's clearly more than just some ordinary bad dude.
 
 "Me?" Bart scratches his chin for a moment. "Yeah, I'm strong. For a normal guy I'd say I'm pretty damn good, actually. But my real strength isn't just in how well I shoot a gun, how strong my magic is, or how big a boulder I can carry." And he can carry some DAMN BIG BOULDERS if he puts his mind to it. SQUATS. And other regular exercise.
 
 He grins at Id, a little cocky. "But my real strength is when all my friends and allies are behind me, and we're all punching the same damn direction. Not a whole lot in the world that's going to be able to stop us at that point." 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

        It's at about this moment that Noeline actually begins to realize just how much in the way of assistance Wayside has actually begun to accrue. Some of the crew of the Yggdrasil are somewhere behind her and to one side, and a distant and dazed part of her brain makes a mental note to thank them later. Hiro being at their side is welcome. Dean and Avril, Xantia and Neriah - she'd rather not involve them in a fight, if she's honest, but it's a relief to have them nearby as well. For all that Ida looks beaten up and lost to the world at the moment, Noeline is well aware of how strong she can be when she feels the need to push herself.

        It helps to underscore in her mind that Wayside has already come a long way from 'a Metal Demon refuge', a tiny note of encouragement around the encompassing point of attention that is Id.

        Malfi's comment makes her ears prick up - but it's a data point to be saved for later, compared to Fenrir's anger front and centre. Instantly, her throat seems a lot drier than it was. "... Fenrir-- stand down, please," she states sharply with a furrowed brow, glancing towards the tent behind them as if hoping to signal the idea of 'there are people in there who preferably should not explode'. "You know the rules. If you have a quarrel, Wayside is not the place to make it known. ... this is a place of safety and peace," she adds, doing her best to summon an imperious note to her voice and a solemn frown.

        Riese is the carrot, she's the stick - well, not quite, but Noeline is at least prepared to take that role at times like this. It may be cruel of her - but she chooses not to hide the loophole of 'feel free to fight him outside' that's contained in her words. At the very least, that would mean it not being within Wayside proper.

        --but before she's even finished, Id makes her point for her - underscores it with three lines of red ink, even, and Noeline finds herself holding her breath even as the red figure promises not to destroy the village they're standing in. He even lets slip that the Demon of Elru is at least aware of the nature of the place, and the change in stance that Noeline and Riese have undergone - and that draws a breath out of her, stunned beyond belief. The spike of relief is slower, because she's not sure if she believes any of this yet - but it's a start.

        Her hand slips into Riesenlied's, unwilling to leave the other demon without some kind of connection to fall back on, as she gathers her breath. "... I would hope there's no need," she admits towards Bart - it's not a reprimand or anything, but all she's got right now is some level of deadpan humour. Her gaze flicks to the dojo, and watches for Fenrir, just in case. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida sets the bucket down. She cups a hand, and takes a drink--she just now realized how thirsty she was, after neglecting it for a while. She doesn't take her eyes off Id and Fenrir, though, mostly because she wants to see how this ends.

        It ends how Ida expected it would. Fenrir goes flying. Ida's brain promptly twists itself into a series of contortions that, to an outsider, would make no sense unless they, too, had been living in a depressive fog for the last week or so.

        It's funny because Fenrir had planned on this meeting and was still caught off-guard. It's funny because it happened exactly how Ida expected, and the opposite of how Fenrir expected. It's funny because Fenrir at least tried, which is more than what Ida's been doing. It's funny because Ida and Fenrir are just like each other, in this one way--both of their lives have been destroyed. It's funny. It's funny that she managed to trick people into thinking she was well put together.

        The net result of this is that Ida starts laughing. She doesn't laugh often, and when she does, it is polite. This is uproarious, hard-edged, horrible laughter--it erupts from her without warning, and it isn't long before she's in tears as well. It only stops because Ida has to breathe, and she all but doubles over. Id asks her a question. She looks up at him through a curtain of grimy, tangled hair. "Everything," she says.

        "Nice arm. I don't know if she'll learn from it, though."

<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.

And then just when things can't get any worse, they get worse.

A faint shadow pases over the sun, and Hiro (among others) will sense a familiar surge of power as a short, black-gied martial artist descends from the skies on a column of wind. Greenish-white energy flickers and fades as Corwynt touches down, looking a little weary from the effort it cost him to make it here in a hurry. He straightens, inhaling deeply to refresh himself, then turns his head toward Hiro, the Consort of the Lord of Calamity.

And, for once, turns away.

"What in the Goddess's name is that?" he asks rhetorically, staring at Id with the same sort of revulsion he normally saves for the Destroyer and her companions. "It's like... a scar in the world, shaped in the form of a man. Even for this place..." Corwynt scowls. "There is nothing of the Divine about this." 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

Neriah continues to lean forward until Fenrir gets tossed into the dojo. She looks after her with a hand raised to her forehead.

Then she looks off to one side, flipping her hands out and raising her shoulders in a broad shrug.

"I offered," she says to nobody in particular with a big, glib smile. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

        Dean steps up alongside her, as if to silently backup her question.
        And her quiet gesture of support.

        Her gaze lingers on the man in red and black.

        She can feel it. The stress, the delicate precipice that this entire situation rests upon. One push is enough to send it toppling down to either side The consequences will be dire for Wayside.

        Great wrong has been done to Filgaia by the Metal Demons -- in Adlehyde, Arctica. Since long ago, when they arrived on the planet. She knows this even before Id speaks to the matter, it having been a topic of discussion with Riesenlied once, weeks and weeks ago. The Guardians are absolutely terrified of Mother's return.
        She will stand against even Riesenlied, who she considers a friend, if that is what is necessary to save this world. If necessary.

        Nevertheless. This village has innocents here, children. A fight should not break out here. Her gaze breaks with Id momentarily, long enough to glance sidelong at Riesenlied, at Dean, worry's fire lit briefly in her eyes. But if one does...

        The man's gaze falls upon her, as if noticing her at long last.

        Blue eyes go wide. Avril lifts her hand once again to chest height; her lips part.

        "You... know who I am? Who--"

        She blinks, as if struck. "Pretend...?" 

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
Ruby whimpers softly as Lily tells her that, "Okay..."
 
Hiro winces though as someone(Fenrir) that he doesn't know steps forward to say that he's going to kill the guy. He can understand a desire for justice or vengeance, he's feeling it right now. But when a guy can kill so many people with minimal effort he wonders if picking a fight with him is the best course.
 
What Id has to say in reply though is pretty surprisingly level-headed. Hiro's tension is still there, but he actually relaxes a touch by just... him saying something that makes a lot of sense. And then Id totally throws him and that tension floods back, dialing up to a twelve. Ruby squeals.
 
Even when he says he's not going to destroy Wayside- it doesn't go back down at all. In fact what he has to say causes his own fears of what might happen to Wayside to come screaming back.
 
Bart tells him that he can help with the evacuation if things get bad, and he reflexively almost calls out- 'I can fight.' but in this situation, does it matter if he can't win? Damage control might save lives. After a moment of stomaching the taste of his own pride, he finally nods, "Brings new meaning to getting by with just your looks huh?" He manages a faint smile, "Don't get yourself killed. Alright?"
 
He's used to people thinking up crazy plans on the fly. A crazy plan though... would it be enough?
 
As Bart is asked if he's strong. Hiro almost reflexively takes a step back, mentally pleading for Bart to be careful with his answer. But-
 
And then a shadow passes overhead. "Oh no. Oh no not now..." Hiro gives Corwynt a glance sideways. He doesn't react threateningly, his eyes just move forward back upon Id, before he says softly in answer to Corwynt, "They call him the Demon of Elru." Hiro says slowly. "He's not someone we can overcome... I think he's just someone people like us can survive." After a moment he adds, "If we're lucky."
 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"It's all right, Ruby." Lily speaks softly, carefully.

"The crazy plan is you run with Hiro and I try not to die. Trust me, there's a chance." ...To be unfair to her, it is a very crazy plan, albeit less crazy than she thinks. "But I don't think we should carry out the crazy plan. You either, Hiro."

Lily, obviously, shares Bart's love for smashing things. It's fine. She likes it. But it just doesn't fit here, for... Reasons. The fact that Lily isn't powerful enough to even pretend she could do it isn't the only one.

But Lily blinks--or winks, it's hard to tell--and stares at Id. Not for long; she recovers in a moment and speaks back in the same strange language, "<You speak it.>" She still sounds surprised, a little amazed. "<...I'll take the vote of confidence, but power alone isn't good enough apparently. There's a lot I need to learn.>"

Beause they're speaking in secrecy, she pauses, and then suddenly adds, "<Why did you help me?>"

Corwynt appears, and Lily lifts a black eyebrow at him. "That's an incredibly powerful man. He can destroy cities at a time. ...And I can feel what you're talking about, I think." From there she looks to Bart and Hiro, "...I'm going to help that fool girl who got in his face." With this in mind, Lily walks around the long way rather than getting between Id and Riesenlied. She moves around towards the doo, and for that matter looks at Ida when she laughs that way, and stops in her track. She looks... And finds nothing she can do. She thus keeps going and makes it to the dojo wall, staring down at Fenrir and then looking to the nearest two people and saying, "Get her out of there." She pauses, "You. I can get you patched up, but you'll have to stay with me to do it." But her hand is at her side, curled, and then there is a pulse of Ether, of magic. Red light sparkles down from her hand towards Fenrir, to mend wounds and soothe pain.

But Lily has another spell in mind if she has to. "That's just a patch job. Can you move everything?" 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        Dean nods at Malfi in confirmation. "Right! My name's Dean," he says, because obviously this is the perfect time for self-introductions. What's he doing here, though? "Riesenlied's a friend of mine!" Or a friend of a friend, but that's the same thing to Dean. "And I heard about this place, so I wanted to see!" A pause; he eyes Malfi's armor as it starts to emerge. "Uhh, I'm not here for a fight, just so you know..."
        
        He looks back at Ida, who... Dean can't put his finger on it, but something *really* seems off about her. She's so... He doesn't know how to describe what he sees. Like... she's really upset about something? REALLY upset about something, so much that she can't even say it, she can only bottle it in. Except then she starts smiling?? And then *laughing*??? Except it's not a nice or happy laugh at all. Honestly, it gives him the willies. Dean wishes Rebecca were here. She understands these things better than he does.
        
        "Ida, seriously, did something happen?" he repeats, and his worry is openly apparent in his tone and expression. "You look like something really bad happened to you... Do you need help?" (Because obviously this is the time and place for such an observation and offer!)
        
        But then Id finally starts paying attention to Fenrir, saying a lot of things that Dean doesn't understand and some things that he does (and are consequently quite alarming) and ending in Id hurling Fenrir away into the dojo. "H-hey! You can't just throw people around like that!" Dean says, alarmed, apparently missing the memo where Id just did. It's good that Id isn't going to destroy Wayside, as he tells Riesenlied, but there's still a lot of hostility going around here. ...even if a lot of it goes over Dean's head, literally. There is one thing he understands, though, and that's--
        
        "--wait, you know who Avril is?" he says, taken aback. He recovers a second later to look over at Avril, who looks just as shocked by this revelation. When she can't quite voice a full question, Dean adds, "Then d'you know who Johnny Appleseed is?!" PRIORITIES.
        
        Although if Riesenlied wants to take this guy to one side and have a private talk, and not have somebody pick a fight with him, Dean would understand. Like Noeline says, this isn't the place for a battle. 

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Fenrir gets unceremoniously tossed into a build. Ambrosius isn't all that surprised by this. He had heard stories of what the Demon of Elru was capable of.

Apparently, however, he had no intention to destroy Wayside. Ambrosius's brow furrows slightly...but he understands perfectly when he continues.

Ah, it was like that, was it. It brings to mind his and Riesenlied's...disagreement.

Yes, he did not doubt that the Quarter Knights attacking Wayside was a distinct possibility. But what could be done about that...?

That was just another matter piled onto the list of problems, but the biggest one was still right here among them. 

<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

"Dean," Malfi muses thoughtfully. "I'm Malfi. Thank you for helping me. Maybe I can show you around Wayside IF the situation doesn't escalate." Her body language shows that she obviously doesn't trust that it won't, especially with Fenrir being so reckless. She chuckles, and her armor disappears. "Good to know." 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Fenrir's confrontation with Id is... well, Xantia doesn't really get the full picture, but she understands there's History there. When the Metal Demon is sent flying, she doesn't try to directly intervene. She doesn't even seem that surprised or perturbed by it. She merely digs in her heels, solidifying her defensive stance. It feels like she'll be next, if she isn't ready to fight at a moment's notice.

However, rather than being attacked... she receives an answer, direct and to the point. Unfortunately, it confirms what she already suspected from Id's earlier reactions to her. He doesn't know her either. The mysteries remain unsolved. And a new mystery is added, what is this 'list' he's talking about? Xantia only blinks blankly at that claim. But an experienced fighter would surely notice that her defensive posture also slips slightly - she may be strong, but a bit of confusion may be all it takes to enable her to be taken by surprise.

Confusion that's only deepened by Id's guess, though this one also causes clear irritation. "What's that supposed to mean?" And what does any of this have to do with having fun? ...Does he mean fighting? Despite what just happened with Fenrir, she did feel the impulse to fight just now. Not that this is particularly strange. That's always felt like a natural response to irritation.

She doesn't act upon it. Especially not after the reaction to Avril, which briefly takes her aback all over again. He knows something about Avril's past but nothing about hers? That's not fair!

She doesn't actually verbally react again until Id posits his question to Bart, however, adding in unbidden support: "Captain Bart is plenty strong!" And when Bart menions his friends and allies, she confirms with a smile, "That includes me, too!" It's not entirely clear whether she realizes these may be fighting words, but... Xantia being Xantia, she probably wouldn't mind it if a fight did happen. It's already been made pretty clear that she's not thinking too much about whether her current location is suitable for fighting in. 

<Pose Tracker> Fenrir has posed.

Id insults her. Insults her dedication, her motives, everything about her, but his grip on her arm is firm. She begins to speak up. "Don't talk like you know anything about m-"

And then Fenrir goes flying. She smashes into the dojo wall, covered in wood and bleeding from where it's punctured her. It's not much, but the impact itself has seriously bruised her, as Fenrir herself begins trying to push the wood out of the way. Trying to force herself to her feet, Fenrir feels the pulse of magic, and glances at where it's coming from...a human? A human of all people?! But it's working. It's helping. There's another low growl, as Fenrir tries not to berserk smash Lily on reflex. "Enough. Get out of the way. I'm going to make him pay for that."

And then Fenrir's out of the heap, and perfectly suitable for making more bad decisions! Until she wobbles straight into Lily because her balance is off and her legs are kind of bad from being thrown across town and impacting a wall. "Mmmg! Get out of my way!" 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

It just keeps getting worse. Id sees Sephilia but doesn't wave over to her or anything. On the other hand, he doesn't shove her over either. Inside his head, he considers a stuffed sheep that never hurt anybody.

Lily asks him why he helped her. He doesn't look directly at her. <...Siegfried and I are just old enemies. Luck. That's all. Don't throw it away.> He doesn't seem to be entirely honest here--he isn't looking into Lily's eyes which suggests dishonesty or uncomfortableness or both, but that seems to be about what he's willing to say right now.

I just walked into town. Id can always spare a thought for Nasrin. Got excited, kicked a ball.

Riesenlied agrees to talk with him. Id is surprised and he doesn't answer the offer right away in spite of coming here to ask for it. "You're too much like her." He mutters.

As he considers this, Xantia asks for further clarification. This does not surprise Id. "Oh I'm pretty sure you were cooked up in a lab somewhere," He says offhandedly. "I'm guessing Shevat since you use their style. Shevat Open Handed. Second worst people in the world." God he's glad to get that off his chest finally. The fake is so god-damned ignorant sometimes.

"Everyone knows who she is," Id tells Dean before looking to Avril. "Your people are very resilient. I met one of yours before coming here. She doesn't think you're really her...Avril the Ice Queen. Tell me, Do you have her? If you have her, and tell me where she is, I will leave right now. Priorities again." He glances back at Dean. "Oh if you think I'm a jerk..."

He lets that thought hang. "She won't," He tells Ida. "Could rip all her limbs off and she'd try to bite me. Ughh... I'm so tired of it." But he does give Ida a smile. Is...is that a social link up?? Corwynt arrives.

FEI PSYCHO 125

Hiro whispers to Corwynt but Id isn't thinking about Hiro at all right now. He looks right at Corwynt. He looks like he's about to go after Corwynt, but there actually is someone who holds something over Id right now, and he manages to restrain himself. It does not help the psycho meter, but there's clear anger and hate directed at this guy he just presumably met. He hates liars. He clenches his fists tightly before an idea occurs to him. He doesn't have to break the rules if Corwynt causes the problems, he can't be blamed, can he?

"Althena's Guard, the blind leading the blind." He shakes his head. "Religion's been a blight in this universe ever since the first charlatan thought of it."

"Alright," He tells Riesenlied. "I will ... talk with you."

He then turns his back to Corwynt, letting him get right in the blindspot, his guard down. He turns his attention onto Bart who confesses that he's strong but he says more about why he's strong. Agony churns inside of him as Bart says something as old as time itself.

"That is pretty strong, that strength can do some impressive things" Id admits before throwing a punch of his own, stopping the strike a centimeter away from Bart's face, looking into the pirate's eyes to see if he so much as blinks. That kind of strike might be familiar to Ida with how he moved his body with the arm.

"But my advice to you," He says to Bart. "Is that it's never enough." 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia blinks. "I-Ida? Is that...is that you? What...what's happened to you? Are you okay?" She looks worried. She looks very worried. Ida's been a stable force in her life since she arrived on Filgaia, and it's disconcerting to see her like this.

She sees others she knows - Lily, Ruby, Hiro, Bart...

Whatever's going on here, it must be big. Whoever this person is...but there's...not fighting? Not openly. Just...commotion, so far.

"Um...excuse me, but..." she says in a small voice. Probably too small to be heard. She feels very small right now. 

<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.

Corwynt clucks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I am disappointed in you, boy," he rumbles. "You cast your lot in with the Lord of Calamity, cast your spite in the face of the servants of the Goddess, and this is what checks your resolve?" He gives Hiro a sideways glance, then spares one for Ruby. "We are the children of Althena, Hiro. Through her, we can---"

What they might be able to do goes unspoken, because suddenly fingernails scream against the chalkboard of Corwynt's soul. He scowls angrily and turns his head toward Lily as she finishes channeling Ether; his fists clench tightly. Another one, he thinks. Like the flame-haired soldier during the assault on Adlehyde, the one he struck down before the boy in the jet-black Gear unleashed his rage.

But then Id speaks, and again it is like a scar on the world. The little martial artist snarls. "You stand upon a world which rejects the blessing of a Goddess, and see it crumble before you," Corwynt answers. "If you seek proof of your foolishness, turn your eyes to this godless land. There you will find all the blight you could ever ask for."

The Blessing waits, shimmering softly on the breeze as the Storm Fist gathers his strength, waiting. Just in case. 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Hooooollleeeeeee sheeeeeet.
 
 Truth be told, Bart... doesn't actually flinch. But that's more due to the fact that Id punched him fast enough that Bart didn't even really see it coming. He blinked - and with just one eye, a blink can be a heck of a thing. Especially when you're fighting some guy with this much power. And really, as far as Bart can tell, there wasn't much he could do other than let his head get taken off by this guy, if that's what he wanted.
 
 Which is why there's really only one way he can counter that punch. Part of him would like to go weak in the knees, maybe run away and hope that he can survive. But that part had been beaten into a tiny, immobile pulp in his head when he had watched most of his family be executed by Shakhan, and he had been personally tortured for long enough that it had all turned into a blur.
 
 And so there's not much more that Bart can do but reply with bravado. Even though it might not be the best idea.
 
 "I decide when it's enough," Bart replies in a level tone of voice. He congratulates himself on not letting his voice cracking the process. "Only got one life to give, and as long as I've got that to throw at my problems... I'm not beaten yet."
 
 He stares at that fist, and then leans to the side to look at Id. And he grins a bit insolently. "And as long as my friends are backing me up, I'll back them up. Only fair, after all."
 
 And with that Bart turns away, and just... brrrr. He shivers just a little bit, but he manages to keep most of that from showing. Hopefully other people are distracting Id, and he missed that. "Looks like he just wants to chat, and hell. If I fought everyone who wanted a piece of me just 'cause I wandered into town, I'd never get anything done." 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

If she were to opine on it, Neriah would probably admit to siding more with the Metal Demons on matters Filgaian, if only because of her contempt for the Guardian of Death.

She leans back a little and folds her arms as she watches Lily take off to tend to Fenrir, confident now that she won't have to receive any punches in the face.

Lily might, though. Neriah sighs and touches two fingers to her temple. "I feel like I wasn't ready for today," she says to nobody in particular.

With a quick look around, Ida scans the litrle gathering for anyone she might call a friend. She draws a blank. With a sigh, she finally folds her arms under the curve of her chest, though she winces as Id throws a punch at Bart and stops just shy. She waits for a moment to see if Bart flinches or punches back, though judging from how he's handled himself she doubts he'll do either. Guys like that never show weakness. Bart shows more than she expected. She raises her eyebrows.

She leans back to watch Ida, biting down to the inside of her cheek.

Ida may find the way Neriah looks at her slightly unnerving, if only because she watches her pretty steadily and her pupils have dilated curiously. She looks like she's staring an intent hole through the disheveled naturalist.

The woman looks like hell, she realizes. Part of her wonders if there's something she can do.

'It'll be OK,' she eventually mouths across the distance between herself and Ida.

When she turns her gaze to Id again, Neriah clears her throat. "I don't know, I'm sure you're actually pretty OK when you're not demolishing towns full of innocent people," she opines. "Which you aren't right now, so plus to you. I mean, I don't have a problem with that."

Corwynt speaks up, and Neriah shoots him a look as he summons up his Blessing. She flicks her right wrist.

There's an ugly, curdling sensation in the air, and Neriah winces visibly as a whorl of unlight wells in her palm, then vanishes again. The sickening sensation quickly subsides. "You realize he's going to punch you through the planet if you try him, right, moon guy," she points out. "Plus he's right about religion." 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Riesenlied's eyes fleck towards where Lily hurries after Fenrir -- good, she thinks; she can at least try to sustain her... perhaps even keep her back if she tries anything in the state she's in.

        She watches Ida laugh, and-- she can't help but be confused. Absolutely perplexed. Ida can see it in her face; she doesn't understand it. She doesn't understand her, right now. It hurts her. It makes her feel helpless. She didn't want Sephilia to see Ida like this either. She feels guilty.

        She remembers Corwynt, from when she first met Avril. The way Ruby laments his coming isn't great -- but he doesn't appear to want to strike at present.

        She glances to Avril, then sets Mikaia down and pats her on the head, wicks a tear away from her even as she keeps sniffling. "Be brave, okay? I'll be right back. Miss Avril will keep you safe..."

        The littlest orphan with the tiny wings nods slowly, as she looks up at Noeline -- then hurries over towards the tent closer to where Avril is.

        The blonde Metal Demon finally stands and-- stops, when she sees Id try to fake Bart out with a punch. "... it is as Noeline says. Wayside is a village of peace and acceptance. If you are here to speak, then we will oblige."

        She tucks her head down gently. "Where would you like to do this? Outside, or at the inn...?"

        You have so much history with everyone, comments the frozen girl, as she tilts her head with a quiet chuckle from her frozen lips. Her cold, decayed hands are clamped tight over the seated Riesenlied in their subconscious space. You surround yourself with allies as you are wont to do, yet ever still you wish to put yourself on the line first and foremost... you coward.

        The frozen cross shifts gently, a cold shimmer ebbing in its wake. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

        For a moment, it looks like everything will be alright - well, 'alright' is an extremely relative term, but Id has stated he won't destroy Wayside and Fenrir has been temporarily thrown into a building. Crisis, for the moment, is averted, so long as your name isn't Riesenlied. Noeline can get to that part later; she doesn't begin to understand Riese's powers, so it's all she can do to stay where she is, maintaining contact with the other metal demon in hopes it provides some support.

        In turn, that lets her keep tabs on what exactly is happening around Id, though she recognizes she might have to have some words with both Fenrir and Ida later, especially when the latter bursts into rather unrestrained laughter. Noeline isn't entirely certain what's up with the Guild Galad woman - but she could start to venture a guess, and the laughter she's emitting is a dangerously unhinged sort that makes Noeline instincitvely draw in a breath and tense as if expecting the worst.

        --and, of course, that's when Corwynt enters the fray as well, and Noeline's eyebrows rocket upwards in astonished surprise. Wayside, were you just saving this all up to hit all at once? "--wh--" she tries, for once letting out a stunned noise before she shakes her head sharply. "More than anything else, he is a guest of Wayside. As are you at present, Mr. Corwynt. I would ask you--" she pauses, and huffs in clear and very wry amusement, "--and everyone else, to please calm down. As Riese says, this community as a whole has no wish to fight, and everyone is welcome here. There are children around," she adds, just a little more solemnly as she stresses the point aloud. Maybe a bad thing to say just as Sephilia pipes up, but-- she gives the girl an apologetic look, at least, having meant the Wayside Orphanage more than anything else.

        She pauses; Fenrir's yell is clear enough to hear, and Id's bravado meets against Bart's, and all of it prompts Noeline to grit her teeth decide that perhaps just getting the focus of attention out of the immediate way might be best. Still not quite certain she's doing this, she looks up to try to meet the Demon of Elru's expression, willing her eyes not to slide off the man's face. "... I suggest the tent just over this way," she offers, turning to begin leading Riesenlied in that direction. True enough - it's something of a meeting hall, though it's more a bunch of poles held up with guyropes with a cloth stretched over it. More than anything else, it's away from the immediate vicinity of the medical tent.

        Part of her is already sure that Riese and Id are communing, regardless of where Riese herself is actually standing. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

        She does pause, at least, to kneel down a little to the winged girl as she peeks out. "... it'll be alright, hm? Make sure Aki doesn't so anything silly," she directs - which at least seems to cause the orphan to puff up with the weight of responsibility, as if to bolster the girl. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida doesn't seem to notice Sephilia. She seems focused, for some reason, on the little cluster of people around her--especially on the man in the flightsuit. She tucks a lock of grimy hair behind her ear, and watches as Id throws the punch. If she blinked, she would've missed it, entirely. A tiny pang of worry for Bart's safety rises in her, but it's quickly smothered.

        Idiot girl. What are you doing, standing around? Go help Lily dig Fenrir out of the dojo. Go make sure Bart is all right. Go check on Sephilia, she must be terrified for you. Don't just stand there--unless you really are a sad waste of flesh.

        Ida looks back at Neriah. All she manages is a weak, broken little smile and a "Heh."

        Eloquent. Perhaps you should go and publically reject Riesenlied's aid as well, since there are still people alive who don't know what you're really like. Go on. Do it, you stubborn idiot girl. Do it.

        "Peace and acceptance," Ida says, mulling the words over in her head. "That must be very easy to do when your entire city is all of two months old." She turns to Noeline, her eyes hooding. "The orphanage? Rather quaint, I must say. But Mother always said that an orphanage is an awful place for a child to grow up, and she would know. Did you even bother to find their family, or did Saint Riesenlied just decide she was keeping them?"

<Pose Tracker> Corwynt has posed.

"A blind man could never truly know what makes us weep at the sight of a rising sun," Corwynt asides to Neriah, flexing his hands and clenching them rhythmically. "What does that make you, who clenches her eyes shut to avoid understanding?"

As for Noeline, he remains stoic. He isn't punching the evil in front of him. This, Hiro can tell you, is a towering level of restraint. 

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
"Understood ma'am." Hiro says to Lily instinctively. Maybe she just carried that air of military authority. "Be careful."
 
Ruby though sticks with Lily, staying on her shoulder, "Just stay with Lily and don't do anything stupid and maybe you'll make it out of this alive!" Ruby declares to Fenrir.
 
"You can be disappointed with me all you want. I'm not saying don't stand up to him, don't fight if it comes to that. I'm just saying don't provoke him." Hiro's jaw sets as he speaks to Corwynt. He looks a little livid, but mostly calm. "Have you heard what this guy did to Old Petra? You think I wouldn't want justice?"
 
Id is saying a lot, and he doesn't quite understand all of it, but when he gets to the Chosen of Althena.
 
"But if we start a fight here, I'm responsible for the lives of the people of Wayside. And maybe the lives of everyone Lucia is going to save too."
 
What Id says grates at him too- "You know I have my own problems with Althena's Guard and the Chosen. Heh. More than most people I think. But you know- maybe religion doesn't always do things the right way, but giving thanks to someone who gave us everything? That only seems right to me. It seems too right."
 
Corwynt may start yelling, and that causes him to flinch, but indeed this is a lot of restraint for him. "Believe it or not Noeline... I think he actually realizes that, which is why he isn't... doing anything too rash." Afterwards, he mostly listens to Bart, nodding. For the most part he agrees with his answer- but he's still on edge, ready to back him up to evacuate, or distract... or whatever may be coming.
 
B 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        Dean smiles at the Metal Demon warrior. "You're welcome, Malfi! I'd like that." He's glad that she turned out to be a good person like Riesenlied, too. Maybe they can talk later sometime about why she was attacking the Temple. For now, though... His smile fades as he looks back over towards Id, and beyond him, Fenrir, who is one Lily away from jumping Id for hurling her around and insulting her. "...I really hope things don't get worse." That Lily looks like she's got the situation under the control, but only barely, which is worrying. With Ida looking in an extremely bad way, Fenrir spoiling for a fight, and Avril face-to-face with a man who says he knows her past, who does Dean help first?
        
        But then Id tells Dean that *everyone* knows who Avril is, and this takes him thoroughly aback. "Huh? They do?" He looks at Avril, face one big confused mess. Avril the Ice Queen? Her people? Have her?? "Her who??" he wonders, feeling like steam is about to wail out of his ears. Then Id makes another remark to him and-- "Who's a jerk???" he utters. Does Id mean Dean? Johnny Appleseed? Someone else entirely?! "I don't get anything you say!"
        
        But at least it looks like Riesenlied is going to get this guy to go somewhere quiet and talk things out peacefully. Dean breathes out a long sigh, then looks back at Avril. "Are you okay?" he asks. "Did *you* understand anything he was talking about?" He then smiles down at Mikaia as Riesenlied sends her over to Avril, then invites Id to go elsewhere to talk. That's good, considering everyone seems to be spoiling for a fight, from that blink-and-you'll-miss-it near-punch at Bart to Corwynt... ... ...actually, Dean doesn't know what to make of him or what he's saying either, but honestly, he sounds like a jerk, so it still counts.
        
        "Yeah, Noeline's right," he chimes in, looking around at the collected people. It might not be his place to speak here, but he wants to help, so: "This is no place for anybody to start a fight, so let's just take a deep breath and calm down, okay?" Ida speaks up then, though--and beyond simply ignoring Dean (she seems to be ignoring a lot of people), she says something absolutely cutting to Noeline, so much so that Dean can only stare at her, taken aback. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily nods crisply to Hiro when he says what he does, apparently running with that relationship for now. "I will," she answers him.

"<That's not the time I meant.>" Still, he's looking away, and she can't force it. Instead she shakes her head and says, "<All right. I'm going to be more careful, or at least more clever.>"

There's a lot Id is saying that she doesn't get, that is strange. But first, Lily is occupied with Fenrir who gets to her feet. Lily can see the intention for Fenrir to attack her, even given how injured Lily is. It might be wise to get out of the way.

Lily moves a step back to brace herself, and then stands firm, her teeth gritted with the pain of Fenrir impacting straight on her ruined wrist. It's fairly obvious.

Lily's voice is firm, though there's no heat in it. "No, you're not." She lets that hang before she continues, "You're going to get people hurt, and not just yourself. If you want to get yourself killed that's your business, but not at the expense of others." Lily stares with one golden eye. "If you want your revenge, you're going to have to get a lot stronger first. I know firsthand." She knows vengeance quests, after all. Ruby's satement gets a glance from Lily, turning slightly her way. "...That's about where it is, even though it stings your pride. My pride is stung, too. I think you and I have some things in common."

She felt Corwynt's stare in the moment, and now she turns back to look at him in return, gaze cold. She does not look for very long; she makes the calculations whether she'll have to assist Hiro, from his rantings.

Not that she can do much in this state. Restraining an injured Demon is greater than her speed. But she can chime in for Bart, raising her voice, "I'm not surprised you're going that way. As long as it doesn't get in the way of my mission..." She couldn't see the punch. But in her way she can say they're on the same side.

She doesn't talk about what Ida said. 

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Most of what the Demon of Elru says is stored away impassively in the back of Ambrosius's mind. He doesn't really need to interfere unless a fight that'll threaten Wayside breaks out, and even then he'll mostly just try to intervene for the sake of damage prevention.

And then Id mentions something - or rather, someone - very interesting.

'Avril the Ice Queen'. His gaze rather pointedly focuses on Avril.

It wasn't possible, was it...? It's almost enough to cause him to backpedal slightly. He focuses rather intently on the conversation after that...particularly on Avril, to see how she reacts to that. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        The village, as Noeline mentions, doesn't have a wish to fight. There's a weariness in the eyes of the Tainted that have crossed the desert... yet, there's a resoluteness in their eyes too.

        These are the people who've had everything taken away multiple times from them. Whether it's Berserk's whims, or Alhazred's fancies, or the next onset of disaster from the Globe or from Arctican hazards--

        Old Petra was deeply unfortunate, but more to the point, it was nothing new for them.

        They're scared. Of course they're scared. But they know, beyond fear, that to be goaded into paralysis and do nothing ... is to truly give up.

        "... more 'n that," someone in the crowd finally breaks the silence in response to Ida. Her voice is like if someone mixed a lovely jazz singer's alto with a cement mixer. It's Val, the bartender lady with the fridge for a torso. "More 'n just two months. We been bandin' together like cockroaches for centuries, girl. This tiredness, this wish for it to stop, it don't come overnight."

        "Yeah. None 'f us here wanna fight. I'd say me bones're too tired for that, but I had to get 'em replaced a while back," says the guy with accordion tubing for legs.

        "You can call us Tainted, broken, a blight on this world, heretical... whatever you want," speaks yet another one, a quadripedal demon that's seen better days, given that it's supposed to have two heads but... has a stump for one. "Doesn't change what we desire."

        The buzz is starting to pick up a little, as the Tainted start to chime in. None of it sounds angry, or aggressive in tone; but there is something approximate to drawing a hard line on the sand there.

        They're not hostages here, in their own village. They're not willing to be.

        They stand in solidarity. Through thick and thin. This is more than just Riesenlied's will, or the Ebony Wings' mission; it's also about their battered, humble, but unbroken community spirit. 

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia was expecting Id to have responded to her as much as he was going to. That's how it's always been. She asks, but nobody knows anything for sure. This time is different. Id elaborates on his guess, making it clear he knows her fighting style... and everything changes. Her eyes fly open. "Shevat...?" She fails to process everything that was said immediately, but that part about her fighting style... it stirs something. She can't know if it's right, but it feels right.

Being told this seems to effectively cause somewhat of a mental shutdown. Xantia drops out of her fighting stance, letting her arms droop. Continuing to stare ahead, but without seeing anything. She's trying - in vain - to arrange this puzzle piece to help complete the full picture of her memory. It feels like it should be so easy from here. And yet, she fails in connecting it to anything. Like this piece is part of another puzzle entirely. Why is it always like this?

During this, she notices nothing else going on around her. For all her claims in Bart's support, she misses that confrontation entirely. It's not until after it ends that she suddenly moves again, looking about in bewilderment, frantically searching for where Id went. As soon as she spots him again, she starts to run. Uncontrolled, clumsily, tripping over her own feet before she gets to him. Though the resulting fall looks painful, it doesn't deter her.

Her position at Id's feet seems only fitting, given the desperation in her eyes when she looks up to him, and in her voice when she pleads, "Please... tell me more. Tell me everything. About Shevat, about my fighting style, everything you know! Please!"

She won't just let him walk off. She'll grab his legs if he tries, not even considering that may be a bad move. She doesn't care in how much trouble she gets, or how pathetic she looks right now. This is too important. This is more important than anything. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

        A number of things transpire, rotating in an apparent orbit outside the realm of Avril's immediate focus. Fenrir is simply flung aside easily. The fake-out swing at the blond-haired man in the eyepatch. Noeline's plea. Corwynt's response to Id. She hears Ida and Dean's exchange, Dean's concern for Ida. Xantia flinging herself before Id. She notes all of this with the passive remove of a stenographer. It all seems to settle around her, as if it doesn't -- can't? -- touch.

        Her focus is on Id as he addresses her. He says...

        "My people?" she echoes, blinking. She's since drawn up to her full height, posture no less than rigid. And yet, her breath rises and falls as easily as ever. "...The Ice Queen?" Her gaze lingers a fraction of a second more before she shakes her head, silver hair aflutter over her shoulders. "I don't know what you mean. I--"

        Her? Where she is?

        A nasty, cold sensation has begun to crawl its way up her spine. Briefly, her gaze breaks from Id's to meet Dean's.
        She's at an utter loss. It's there in her eyes, her silent answer to him.

        "...Who do you mean?"

        A child -- Mikaia, Avril thinks, without glancing down, it's Mikaia -- hurries across the gap towards her. Without even thinking twice about it, she extends a hand to cup the back of the girl's head. But her attention, her attention remains elsewhere.

        And finally, by inches, Avril's expression shifts from off-balanced shock to something... more grim.

        "...If I knew of who you were speaking, I would release her to you immediately if it would mean you would leave this place. But I do not. I have no memory of her, or of anything else you speak." She takes a breath, her shoulders leveling out into a straight line as she stares Id down. Protectively, gently, the fingers on her hand splay out across the back of Mikaia's head.

        Her chin lifts, almost imperiously. "...Do not bring harm here." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        I can't believe you just said that. Worthless, arrogant girl. These people have been through more than you could possibly imagine, and you spat in their faces. You never wanted for anything. Everything you had was given to you. Everything you think you earned was given to you because you were born with the name Everstead-Rey. Everyone who loves you does not know who you truly are.

        Val, the woman with the creepy lazy binocular eyes, addresses Ida. Her entire face twists in a look of distaste. "I wasn't talking to you," Ida says.

<Pose Tracker> Fenrir has posed.

As she falls onto Lily, Fenrir tries to force herself up and keep moving, but the other girl's in the way. "I'll destroy him. The town will be fine." Despite an attempt at confidence, Fenrir's voice...falters, a bit, as if she's not entirely sure of that. She's mostly just rage, but she doesn't attack Lily, even if she tries to forcibly push the girl aside. "Are you saying I'm not strong? That I can't take him?!" She snaps at the other woman, a crunch of her hand. "I've trained every single day since Old Petra...I've made sure I'll be strong enough to kill him, even while my other arm is gone. That I'll be strong enough to avenge everything that happened there, to avenge myself, to smash him into the ground for what he did to my people. I...I can't let an opportunity get away. I can't let an opportunity to fix things get away!"

Fenrir glances at her arm as she tries to push again. The missing one. Her statements are pretty much rambling, as she's only sort of listening, her frustration and anger taking hold. "I'll prove myself to every single one of you that I'm not as weak as you think I am. That I'm not Tainted!" It's not exactly a yell, but anyone near the dojo can probably hear it, or anyone with good hearing. Fenrir's voice is a mix of anger, light disgust...and desperation, as she finally moves to strike Lily, before staying her hand and realizing, having been walled off, exactly what she's doing. Fenrir pauses for a moment, having just vented to a complete stranger, and stares at Lily's eyes with an almost hollow look in her own as the realization dawns. 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

With a pensive frown, Neriah peers at Noeline for a moment. Something's ringing a bell and she's not sure what it is.

Then Corwynt starts sassing off, and Neriah tilts her head to blink at him. A faint, sardonic smile crosses her face.

"It makes me the Devil," she says pertly, before once again flicking her wrist and calling up a little spark of ugly-feeling unlight that dances among her gloved fingers, before she closes her hand and swallows it with a grimace of suppressed pain. "Besides, the rising sun never did anything for me, and if there is an all-powerful god, whether a Granas or an Althena, the fact that I was born is proof of either their incompetence or the fact that they're jerks."

She begins to move away, then, circling away from Id and finding herself a spot closer to Ida. Of course, the townsfolk have more to say than Neriah ever could. Stopping halfway to Ida, she just crosses her arms again, letting her breath out and burying her chin in the folds of her scarf as if she could somehow curl into herself.

Even misfit Metal Demons have such strong feelings of solidarity and people to support them when they're in trouble, she realizes bitterly. The most she has is K.K. being all goddamn cryptic at her.

She just continues to watch Ida with quiet sympathy, though soon she's glancing back to Corwynt again, lifting her chin once more. She leaves it at that, though.

It's not her place to pick fights, after all. Especially not in front of kids. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia speaks a little louder. "Um. I don't...I don't understand what's happening here but...but...can we all calm down a little bit please?"

She's looking...very upset. "I know that something's wrong, and that people are upset, but...but there's kids here, an', an' people whose home this is, even if they're a little different, they're still people, an' I mean...this is...this is crazy. Ida, what is going on? Why didn't you answer me? And..."

Sephilia starts to cry a little bit. "I don't like it when everyone's fighting and being unhappy!" 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id reflects that Bart is strong but, more importantly, not an idiot. He has resolve. He can respect that even if it means stumbling into the same trap over and over and over again. "I already figured," He says. "That I wouldn't be able to dissuade you. Next time we meet, I'll put it to the test." He pauses and very seriously clarifies this. "Whether it's in Wayside or not." This is a ceasefire not a peace treaty.

Just old and cursed It wasn't exactly meant for him, but Id thinks it automatically.

  1. 882ily clarifies. This time he lies more overtly. <You're very lucky.> He says.


Hiro lectures at him about religion. "Oh come on--How good can Althena be, if that's the people she calls her own?" He jerks a thumb over to Corwynt, but there is no real energy to it like it was before. It's not going to work, he thinks, the guy is just sensible enough.

FEI PSYCHO 135

It's really kind of depressing. Ida is rapidly rising in Id's esteem but the question about that is whether or not it's a good thing. "Heh," is his comment to all of that. ARE Riesenlied and Noeline thinking these choices through? He couldn't say. He didn't even know there were adorable orphan children here until he showed up and also--to be honest--he doesn't really care. He's killed plenty of kids.

"That's more like you," Id tells Avril. "The way you're talking." Not how she's handling the kid, obviously. He doesn't try to clarify for Dean anymore. It's probably frankly better if he doesn't find out in the first place. "Well if you don't know where she is, then maybe you don't have her, or maybe you aren't faking amnesia after all." Id admits. "But sadly, that means I'm stickin' around for a bit longer." He throws her a mockery of a friendly wave.

Id has something in common with the Tainted. It doesn't come overnight. It takes centuries. Id reflects. Fenrir might say she's not one of the Tainted, but it's already creeping up on her, isn't it? Social pressures are not unlike brainwashing. She will adapt or she will die. Id is okay with either option.

Id's legs are seized by Xantia. "You give a mouse a cookie," He says, half to Xantia and half to Riesenlied. "And it's gonna want some milk." He surprisingly doesn't try to kick Xantia away or anything like that and Xantia has a pretty damn firm grip so it's not like he can just keep walking with her on him. Well he CAN but it's kind of a hassle. He pauses to crouch down by Xantia, pressing a hand on her head. He stares into her eyes. "Same as mine, though I've made some adjustments with the Demon Fist style." He jerks a thumb over to Ida. "Very strong. Shevat's full of dicks, don't trust 'em, and if someone knows a lot about you, you probably should kill 'em." Pause. "Just friendly advise." He gives her the kind of head pat Riesenlied wants from Siegfried before pulling free. He'll push Xantia over if he has to. She's better than this and it's distressing to see, even for an asshole like Id.

Sephilia NO FIGHTINGS but Id is already not fighting, not really, he's being an asshole but he is what he is. He won't be some false self just for the sake of smiles all around. He shrugs in her direction helplessly.

"Inn works. Some privacy. Bring your sweetie if you want." He tells Riesenlied and will start heading that a-way. If Xantia grabs his legs again, she's coming with him. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

        The twintailed demon pauses - and turns to offer a terribly pleasant smile towards Ida, though one that is tinged with a rather wry expression. "... I did, in fact. I even got to look over the manifests of coaches going into and out of November City, checking any that had gone missing. Unfortunately, in this day and age, no-one seems quite bothered to be stringent with their records. You pay a handful of Gella, you get to sit in the back, cramped and pressed amongst everyone else. If something should happen, well... who will miss a couple of poor families?"

        "... if you would like to tell them that, feel free. If you would like to house them instead, feel free," she adds, her voice suddenly sharp; in her defence, the last fifteen minutes probably class this as an extremely long day. The fact she even shot that off seems to rattle her slightly, though, and she catches herself to sigh as a hand goes to her forehead, not used to being quite so spun out.

        Patience is in short supply, but she manages to pull some together regardless. "... but rest assured, Miss Everstead-Rey, we will do our best for them while they are here. If the time comes they would be better off elsewhere, well, we will figure that out." The village comes together in answer - and she chuckles, a little lost, as she realizes she would never have expected her life to take this sort of turn even a year ago. "... I do not know what has happened to you, but-- let that be a comfort, I hope, rather than anything else."

        From underneath her hand, her gaze settles on Corwynt, and there she just offers a quiet nod of-- something like thanks, mixed with recognition. They've housed one Althenan preacher here before; Noeline would probably deem the man in front of her an 'inquisitor' instead if she were being absolutely honest, but even then, she doesn't seem about to turn him away, certainly not in this situation. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Riesenlied hurts at Ida's words. Of course she does. She's never been one to take harsh words unflinchingly. "... I won't deny it can't replace a family -- their family," she admits, as she flecks her gaze to where Mikaia's run off to be by Avril's side. At where the redhead with the pigtail's peeking behind the medicinal tent. At where Janey's... off in the skies riding a Dragon at present. At where Emily's found a Skeleton head that's landed in front of her a while ago to play with.

        "But neither would I leave them to their fate, out in that desert, where Filgaia has deemed fit to take their parents away from them..."

        She looks concernedly to Sephilia, and-- bites her lip, stepping closer to pat her on the head. She looks like she could cry too. A bit lower, so that the littlest adventurer can hear it: "It's okay, Sephy... it's okay. Would you help Miss Ida for me? She's hurting... and I know you can reach her. I'm counting on you."

        She flinches just for a moment at Xantia; her heart goes out to her, really, but there isn't anything she can do for her... though the mention of Shevat does make her curious -- where is that?

        His comments to Avril are also something of a curiosity -- and something that doesn't go unnoticed. She thinks of the warning from the Temple of Rejection. 'If the Ice Queen finds out...' Just... what was its connection to her?

        Id touches her head and-- gives her a headpat.

        ...

        She bites her lip, looking for all the world like she could shed a tear. Something she's wanted all this time, genuinely, earnestly, yet... it's so mockingly done, in its own way...

        ... but she isn't a child.

        "Noeline, please," she requests of her partner, holding onto her side as she walks gently towards the inn. She's suddenly feeling quite fatigued, and their day's just started.

        What does the future hold in store for them? 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Bart lets out a long, slow breath as Id walks away. "Yeah, next time," he growls quietly. He doesn't want to make a big deal out of it, especially at this point. But that part of him that taps into his magic... whatever it was, it was screaming that this guy was dangerous.
 
 If he was here to talk... well, Bart would always, gladly pick a fight if he felt he needed to. But on that same note, this was someplace where a lot of innocent people could get hurt, and Bart wasn't going to start a brawl that would lead to THAT, no matter how much the part of him that dealt with fight or flight wanted to lean HARD to the 'fight' side at this point.
 
 He watches Id walk off, and then turns to look at Lily, Xantia, Hiro, and the others. "...well, if this is the sort of guy who wanders into town regularly, I'm surprised you've still got a city left," he states, trying to shake off the sense of dread and fear with some humor.
 
 It's the best he can do for now. But for now... well, if needs to find a drink. At someplace other than the inn.
 
 There's always a chance the nearest safe drink is back on his sand ship. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        Dean asks Avril if she's okay, if she understands, and she can only stare back at *him*. And while Dean might be clueless about a lot of things, that lack of comprehension in her eyes is clear as crystal as him. She doesn't understand any more than he does. Then, none of this sounds at all familiar to her. Does that mean that this guy's just making stuff up to mess with her? He didn't say anything about Johnny Appleseed, either. Dean's expression sets with determination, and he rests a comforting hand on Avril's shoulder as she in turn comforts Mikaia and chastises Id. Whether Id's telling the truth or not, he'll stand with her no matter what.
        
        He's just glad that Fenrir has Lily, and Ida... *seems* to have Sephy? Though 'glad' isn't quite the word for it either. They're both hurting, and he hates to see people in pain, even if, in Fenrir's case, he doesn't know her at all. 

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.

 
Ruby stares down at Fenrir. "All she's trying to do is keep you and the people around you alive. It's not about strength! And it's not about weakness. It's about life and death. Who cares if you're able to prove you were strong if everyone around you had to die to do it? Who are you proving it to if everyone is gone? Yourself?"
 
Hiro looks upon the residents of the village, he's even more sure that not doing anything rash was the right thing. One guy had accordion tubing legs for the love of Althena.
 
Whereas when Id says that- Hiro rubs the back of his neck, "Well nobody's perfect. I think any Goddess knows better than to expect perfection out of humans- but he's got his good points." "No he doesn't!" Ruby calls over and Hiro ignores it, "His loyalty, his dedication. Sure he takes it to zealous extremes but..." He takes a deep breath, "...I think he's a good man underneath it all."
 
He's tense as he watches Xantia seize Id, but the response... he exhales once in relief. Then watches Id go. He's still worried but- "Be safe Riese. Noeline." If anyone can handle a parley with this guy, it's Riesenlied.
 
As Bart breaks the tension- "Wanna go get a drink? I've got the feeling we should stick around though... just in case trouble does start."
 
Spoiler alert: Hiro doesn't mean an alcoholic drink.
 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        REALITY CHECK: Riesenlied head still not patted!! That was Xantia. News at 11. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia nods to Riesenlied. "I'll do whatever I can, if...if she'll listen to me," she promises. She looks over to Ida, then approaches. "Um...it's me. Sephy. You...you don't look so good, Ida..." 

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

 Bart looks at Hiro for a moment, and shrugs. "I can do with a drink. Let's see what we can find. First time I've been here, so I'm not sure where the local watering hole is. Can you help us find the way, Lily?"
 
 Hiro might not mean an alcoholic drink, but that's not going to stop Bart. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Val -- the same lady who spoke up earlier -- looks to Bart to gesture towards the inn, which at least has separate sections for the tavern. It's the place called 'V4L-H4LLA', which doesn't take a genius to figure it's named after her. "Over there, big guy."

        A pause, then she just pops open her fridge hinge and hucks a cold bottle of beer over at Bart. "First one's in me. On me." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Yes, that's it, go tell off one of the people who helped you out of the kindness of your heart. Very charitable of you. Very loving. Maybe you could convince Lily to give you back Devil's Due. You could strip all the Fossil material out of it--you have replacement parts--and give it to Riesenlied.

        And then you could tuck it under your chin and pull the trigger and blow your own head off. In front of Riesenlied and Noeline. In front of those children. I'm sure they could make a lovely pauper's grave to put your body in, and you wouldn't even deserve that. But it would be worth it, wouldn't it? It would be worth it to see the look in that poor, saintly woman's eyes before you pull the trigger.

        The unity of Wayside would be inspiring it it didn't make Ida want to vomit. It does not feel genuine to her. It feels engineered. It feels like a cheap plaster patch over deep gouges in ancient stonework. It can't be that easy. Ida turns to look at Sephilia, but she says nothing--tears just well up in her eyes. She looks away. The shame does nothing to dispel the emptiness. "Of course. You couldn't leave them to their fate. Good Saint Riesenlied must shoulder the burdens of others, even it it means destroying herself in the process." Noeline might be justifiably angry, but all Ida sees is ignorance of how she truly feels. She tried to tell Noeline. She tried. She tried to describe the deep black pit she's now sitting in, but...

        "Go on. I'm sure they'll turn out well regardless, considering they're seemingly all right mere weeks after their families were murdered. I'm sure you can do no wrong, Riesenlied. I'm sure. Everyone loves you. Everyone adores you, despite you being one of them. Everyone loves you, and it makes me want to vomit."

        Ida looks down at Sephilia. There is nothing more she can say.

        Are you done having your tantrum now? You're a terrible influence on her. You've always been. She needed someone to look after her, and you've barely been there for her. You've treated her like an ignorant bumpkin child, when she's wanted nothing more than someone to look up to. Go on, shoo her off. She's better off without you.

        Ida keeps looking at Sephilia. She's shaking.

        Go on, do it. Stupid, willful child.

        Ida looks at Dean. Her hands clench into fists as she turns back to Riesenlied.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia's always been a glutton - it should be no surprise that giving her a cookie is going to make her want an entire cow's worth of milk. Thus she hangs onto Id's every word, as well as his feet. She just knew there was a connection of some sort, and now she knows there's at least one: another fighting style that is similar to her own. And the name of the main connecting factor seems to be 'Shevat'. Not a place - if it is a place, it sounds like one - that she knows of, but that's not particularly strange for someone with amnesia.

And... a place that doesn't have the best of intentions, by the sound of it. Even if she's talking to someone who in the past can't be said to have had the best of intentions himself, she yet has no trouble believing those words. It makes her feel, not for the first time, like she's been going about things all wrong. She never considered that it might be a bad thing to encounter someone who knows a lot about her. Maybe she lucked out by avoiding those people so far? ...What if she was trying to escape from them in the first place?

It's a lot to process, and she has many questions remaining. But her attempt to ask one only gets as far as, "...Then, what should I--" before she's unexpectedly headpatted. That works to fluster her enough to easily pull free. Xantia doesn't attempt to restrain Id further. She just stays there, on the ground, feeling... she's not sure how she's feeling. She'll probably get up... eventually. 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

A part of Neriah can't help but think Ida's right about a lot of what she's saying. But those are the kinds of bitter thoughts she wouldn't associate with someone like Ida, a woman who seems to have a lot of friends and well-wishers who love her.

Someone completely unlike Neriah, in other words. She looks away with a frown as she draws that comparison, once again struck by the fact that even this village would probably want nothing to do with her.

But then, nobody in Filgaia wants me.

I hate how much they love each other. All of them care so much about one another. But nobody feels that way about me. Not even Metal Demons.

I hate it.

Slowly, she looks up towards Ida, then down towards sad little Sephilia, watching the young girl cry. Her pale blue eyes slip closed as she ruminates on those bitter little thoughts. When she finally opens them again, a beat has passed, and she watches Riesenlied and Id beginning to move off.

"You know," she finally says in a low voice as she turns towards Ida, adjusting the brim of her hat and pushing it back to keep a shadow from getting in the way of her eyes. "Maybe I'm just that person who keeps weirding you out with my stuff. But I understand why you're bitter. Everything is awful. Filgaia is rotten. People are bad.

"I also understand that there are at least a half-dozen people here, and probably more, who are looking at you with worry," she points out quietly. "And that they care about you even though something's hurting you."

Neriah begins to turn away. "People care about you. I can't say that. No matter how hurt you are, I still wish I were you." 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia just stares up at Ida, lower lip trembling. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"<I'm aware,>" Lily replies to id's obvious lie, which is true except that it has little to do with what she asked and what she said.

Still, Lily is not in a position to pat Ruby at her words, so she vocalizes a soft, "Mm," and listens. The residents behind her all have a lot to say. This place is important. ...And she appreciates it.

She doesn't talk to Bart for now, or to Hiro. She focuses on Fenrir, who demands her full attention, even as Riesenlied has Id handled. She can avoid making it worse, despite her injuries. Even as Ida...

Doesn't matter for now; Lily is staring at Fenrir as she tries to push her. Once again it hits straight on her wounded wrist in the sling, and once again it does not move her despite obvious pain. 'Are you saying I'm not strong?' Fenrir snaps at her, and Lily waits. She says nothing. She just stares, her single visible eye shining gold scrutiny at the Metal Demon before her.

The next push sees Lily hold firm again, stone-faced. Fenrir continues with her anger. She vents, and shouts, and Lily hears the desperation. She can feel it, she's fairly sure, somewhere under the noise of Id. And when Fenrir moves to strike her, Lily doesn't so much as flinch. She keeps staring, until that hollow look appears. She waits through it. Only then does she speak.

"I do not think that you are weak," Lily corrects, calm and even. "I think you're a soldier. I once had almost everything taken from me in battle against an overwhelming foe," she says. "Right now, I suffered these injuries in another lost battle. But I don't doubt my strength."

"Some battles require more than strength. They require patience, and cunning, and a sharp focus on what you need to do to get them. And more to the point... They require you to accurately assess the resources you have as a starting point."

"You're not going to defeat him today. But that doesn't make you weak."

Lily stares straight at Fenrir. "...Because I understand. I do. That day ruined my life."

She lets out a breath... and hears Ida behind her. For the record, she's not giving those weapons back. Instead, she speaks sharply, "Ida." She pauses, still looking at Fenrir, "Get ahold of yourself." 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id lets out a low whistle as Ida keeps going off on Riesenlied. He doesn't seem inclined to try and stop her. It's nice to know he ain't the only one who noticed these traits in Riesenlied. When two people of mindsets like these find affirmation in those dark feelings, it can be pretty dangerous. "People don't really change, huh?" He asides to Riesenlied. The happiness of Wayside doesn't feel genuine to him either. Why blow it up? It's already on borrowed time. He's not here for Wayside. He is here because Riesenlied did something rather reckless and now she's doing something rather reckless again.

As Ida's internal monologue, this man begins.

She knows, you fucking idiot. She knows and it's going to get her killed, just like how you get everybody killed, Ida isn't any different, the metal demons aren't any different, Bart and Ida are like literal clones of his ancestors. They'll make the same mistakes. They'll lose everybody they loved. They'll die treading water. The only way things change is if you break them beyond repair. People remember Elru. They'll always remember Elru. Their only saving grace is that no matter how fucked up they all are, they're not as fucked as you. Your only saving grace is you know you're fucked up. You talked to Neriah for a minute and now she's lapping up the darkness like it's candy, what are you going to do now, asshole? What are you going to do to Riesenlied? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO!?

He looks back towards Xantia briefly.

Did you destroy her life and forget her too? What kind of prick rips off someone's arm and forgets who they are?

He looks back forward and keeps on, not looking back again. Not at Avril. Not at anyone.

He shuts off the internal monologue. He isn't going to be Fei.

He is going to be Id. He is going to be action. 

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

        "... it is a surprise to us, believe me. ... and yet, somehow, we have found a way to manage thus far," Noeline rather drawls in response to the Sand Pirate as she bows her head; she's stepped close to Riesenlied to take her hand, heaving in and out the biggest of all possible sighs as somehow the tension seems ever so slowly out of the air. "Though-- on that front, I would like to have a word later, if that is alright. ... Val can show you the good stuff, I'm sure," she amends, unable to resist a little in the way of wry comment.

        She pauses just before she follows Riesenlied - glancing first towards the ruined dojo where Lily and Fenrir are stuck amongst the wreckage as if to check on the both of them, and then towards Dean and Avril and the latter's suddenly ironclad resolve, and then Hiro and Ruby as they stand off against Corwynt, all as if to etch it into her memory, just in case.

        Ida's words pull her up short, however - and she turns to the noble girl who looks nothing of the sort right now with what is a rather cool smile. "--well. I will give you the whole 'destroying herself in the process' part, I suppose," she sighs abruptly as she flicks out some of her hair. "... but rest assured, we have more than enough targets painted on Wayside as it is. If only everyone did love us, perhaps I would not have to be quite so worried about the future." It isn't the right sort of thing to say, and Noeline's aware of that much - on the other hand, she doesn't begin to know what the right words actually are, and perhaps from her position there aren't any.

        Instead, she turns back to Riesenlied. "... I'm with you," she promises quietly, though this time she's got an arm around the horned demon's waist to help support her, sure that Riesenlied must be getting pretty wobbly just being in the Demon of Elru's presence. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

        Someone like Rebecca probably would have tried to soothe the child now standing before her.
        Someone like Dean might have tried to distract the child now standing before her.

        All Avril has is what she has learned: people have limits, thresholds. Protect, guard, but do so without excessive force; a gentle but firm hand is sometimes all that is needed. It's all she has to give.

        That sounds... more like her?

        Hesitation alights -- however fleetingly -- in Avril's gaze. The fingers of her other hand -- her free hand, her hand not resting protectively on the back of Mikaia's head -- curl lightly inward. But she doesn't take her eyes off of Id for a heartbeat. Not until she has a response.

        "...I see," she says at last. "Then, you shall remain here after all," she states, quite simply. "Then you must abide by the rules." Silence patters out for a moment. "..." Within that silence, she stares at him, right in the eyes.

        Right up until the point where he moves to pat Riesenlied on the head. As they break off, apparently headed to speak in private.

        Her gaze breaks as if uneasy, tilts over towards Dean where it briefly blooms into gratitude -- he's still standing at her side -- and from there, shifts to... Ida.
        Shock, this time not so personally born, blossoms onto her expression. "Ida, are you...?"

        'Alright'? 

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

...Interesting. So she didn't know, or she was a very good liar. Ambrosius had thought Avril seemed interesting...but it seemed she was quite a good deal more interesting than he had initially thought.

He may perhaps be the only one present here who truly knows what the Demon of Elru is referring to...but he isn't about to tell anyone. No, for now, it would probably be better to keep this to himself. Gather information so that he could later deliver a proper report.

It would be unwise to press the matter here, however, and it does not seem like he is about to learn anything further at the moment. He has seen everything he needs to, and would not feel comfortable eavesdropping on Riesenlied and their 'visitor', even if it would be for her safety.

With a swish of his brightly-colored poncho Ambrosius turns to depart, leaving the rooftop without a trace. 

<Pose Tracker> Fenrir has posed.

As Lily replies, Fenrir tries to think of a retort. She tries to rationalize something to keep her anger going, but she can't. The other woman is right. In all ways. Fenrir raises her hand as if to interrupt, but fails to. She tries to say something, but can't. In the end, she takes a breath, and looks to glare at Id. "You said today. Hah...hahaha, you're right. I have time. I...I can pick my battles." Fenrir grits her teeth in that painful way again, forcing herself to say these words that are uncomfortable to a different part of her, as her arm starts to deform. She wants him dead. But she can't now. She doesn't have the resources, and the town will be destroyed. But that doesn't mean she can't do it in the future. That she can't track him down and rip him apart. "I am Fenrir, the Metal Demon, and I will kill him. Mark my words, human!" A step back, as Fenrir moves to glance at the wrecked dojo, leaning against part of the non-broken wall, before turning to Lily. "...You healed me. What is your name?" She's certainly not happy, but...she can't go deal with Id. Even walking over to him would likely do something terrible. So instead, she'll distract herself with this human. One who is pretty smart, and probably worth having a duel to the death with someday. And anyone who could snap her out of that...can't be the worst person to know the name of. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Wayside lives on borrowed time.

        In truth, there probably isn't a Tainted that didn't know that... save for the orphans. It was reckless, certainly, to draw them to a place that lives on such borrowed time. A place that was just a ticking time bomb, unable to do anything but continue living in the shadow of those that may seek to destroy it.

        Kindness can be most cruel, sometimes.

        But then again... do the Tainted know genuine happiness? They come from a culture where happiness is defined in terms of one's self-perfection in martial prowess.

        Riesenlied doesn't have time for that right now, and all she can do is... shrink into herself, as Ida continues to unload on her. She looks like she she could crumble at any moment, her expression withering as she bites at her lip.

        She feels Noeline's hand on hers. She holds her hand. She thinks of old promises that they spoke to each other, in private, tender times.

        To stand together, to smile at the reaper when it comes, to face the entirety of the world together.

        It wasn't going to be an empty promise.

        She looks up towards the inn and gestures towards the door. "Through here." She was going to do something foolish, but... she was not holding onto the promises and hopes of more than just her own wishes.

        She will show Equites that her promise was not going to be empty, either. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        Dean remains by Avril's side, and he smiles at her with reassurance when she gets her answer and their eyes meet. He nods to her too, removing his hand then from her shoulder, and the both of them look towards Ida. Riesenlied looks like she's taking those words hard--but she's still moving forward, dealing as Id as she must, while Noeline is barely fazed. Sephy, meanwhile, looks more and more crushed by Ida's behavior, and Neriah--though Dean doesn't know her, much less her name--points out to Ida that even though she agrees with her, there are people here who are worried for Ida.
        
        Dean listens to all of them, watches all of them, and then takes a deep breath. When Avril asks after Ida, he walks toward her, not stopping until he's immediately in front of her.
        
        "Hi, Ida," he says, looking up at her. "I don't know what's going on with you to make you say all that stuff, but it's obvious you're hurt and taking it out on Riese for some reason. I know you know that's not okay, so--" He looks over at Sephy and nods to her, then to Avril, then to Neriah, implicitly inviting them all to help if they so choose, "--why don't we get you a hot meal, and a hot bath, and some fresh clothes or something? I'm sure that won't solve whatever's going on with you, whatever that is, but I know *I* feel a lot less grumpy when I'm fed and clean, so maybe it might help you a little too. Okay?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "Don't you dare walk away from me, you coward!" Ida's voice erupts from her, furious and desperate. "Don't you DARE! After everything you've done to me, don't think you can just--" Ida's dirt-caked nails all but bite into her palms.

        'And they care about you even though something's hurting you.'

        Ida's eyes cloud over with tears. She looks down at Sephilia, and does not answer her--can't answer her, perhaps. As Riesenlied makes for the inn, Ida takes a step towards her, hands still clenched. Go on. Do it. Hit her. You've done it to better people, haven't you? You did it to Kalve. Show her what you're really like. Show her what you really think about everything she stands for. Liar. Brute. Grave-robber. Apostate.

        'Get ahold of yourself.'

        "You don't get it," Ida says. "This town. All of it. All of it exists to gratify her own ego, to show everyone what a saintly person she is. It's only a matter of time before someone decides to get sick of it and wipe it off the map. She's like that. The only reason she's supported me is because--because Kalve and I slot into her neat little world where everyone loves each other and kindness solves everything." Ida's hands clench and unclench. Her eyes are wild. She looks like the exact opposite of the cool, composed warrior who fought Fenrir the other day. What happened?

        'Ida, are you...?'

        "DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M ALL RIGHT?!"

        Ida tries to breathe. "I've been TELLING YOU for the past week, no one's LISTENED."

        That's a lie. Noeline tried to aid you. Lily listened to you. And now you've driven both of them away. You're going to be alone. You're going to be alone, and you're going to deserve it, and everyone's going to be better off without you around, manipulating them. That's all you do. You don't have friends. You have people you keep for company, and you manipulate them.

        Dean is looking at her. He makes an offer.

        Lovely. Now you're going to have to go to the inn. You're going to have to deal with the terrifying refrigerator woman with the lazy binocular eyes. Why does she not have a torso? What happened? Go on. Answer him. Tell him you can't do that. Open your idiot mouth and say something, you stupid child.

        Ida looks like she's struggling for words.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia just...hugs Ida. Tight. She doesn't say anything. She doesn't let go. She shakes, crying. Crying silently for her friend. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

        Ida is not all right. That much is clear even before she shouts her response.

        Given the way things are going tonight, it's also likely that Avril ends up with an orphan wrapped around her leg. Crying optional.

        As for Ida, Avril's lips part, as if taken aback. Her one free hand again lifts, hovering there before--

        People have thresholds. Do not push where someone does not want to be pushed.
        But sometimes, a little force can be helpful.

        "Here," she says, in the wake of Dean's offer, as Sephy flings her arms around Ida. She can't move towards the woman with the orphan clinging to her, but she can at least offer what she has.

        Her free hand, fingers uncurling towards the heavens.

        "We can all go over together." 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily does not share her feelings on this little town that has taken her in for a little while. She does not speak for the things she's been able to do here, or the relative quiet here away from the city.

She doesn't speak of the orphans.

Instead she watches Fenrir, committing to her task even as it draws something out of her, shows her some of that same anger. She knows how to control herself.

Fenrir says she's right, and Lily inclines her head. "Yes. You can." She is willing to wait, to hear Fenrir introduce herself, and sees her take her step back. "Consider them marked."

She healed her. "My name is Lily Keil. ...Of the Black Wolves." Lily sees Fenrir glancing at the dojo, considers.

"I'm too injured to spar with you, but I can help you train with my sorcery. After I get a drink and check my bandages." A lift of her hand, flick of the fingers. "...Dealing with soldiers like you was part of my job in the Army."

Lily takes a step back. "I'll offer you a drink." She says it entirely seriously. Maybe Metal Demons don't need to drink, but, "Among humans, that's a sign of respect for another soldier."

She glances and sees Hiro gone with Bart, and so she reaches up to bring a hand near Ruby's hand. "...I'll get you a snack.

She eyes Ida. She looks at her, and nods. "Ida," she says. "Regardless of what I get... Remember what I said. After he's gone, sometime, we can talk." She looks to Fenrir again to see if she'll come, and starts off. 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

Neriah glances after Riesenlied as the woman reacts to Ida's accusations. Her eyelids lower a shade as she diverts her gaze away, back towards the village proper and a few of the villagers, then down to her feet. "This place is so saccharine I keep expecting sugarplum cuccos to start spewing out of the chimneys," she mutters to herself, folding her arms tightly across her ribs and hunching her shoulders, pushing her scarf up until it swallows her chin.

As Dean comes sauntering up to join in the conversation - roping her in with a glance, Neriah hunches her shoulders a little more. Rather more pressing is the fact that Ida is melting down completely.

Neriah takes a step forward and rests her left hand on the small of Sephilia's back. She's learned from her run-in with Amelia not to touch people with the right one. At first she doesn't say anything.

"We're listening now," she points out in a much calmer tone as she raises her eyes from the sad girl, trying to find Ida's.

"I realize that nothing I say is going to get through to you," she admits. "That compared to those two, all I am is worthless human garbage and the people here who don't hate or fear me only don't because I'm unimportant. And yeah, maybe people are cynical. You have every right to be mad."

Neriah lifts her head away from Sephilia's shoulder. "I feel the same way you do a lot of times. Almost all the time, honestly. But you can learn to live with it if you have to. Otherwise, the people you're mad at win."

With a glance at Dean, she lowers her head again before lifting her eyes to Ida once more. "C'mon," she says. "I know it feels patronizing. But at least you'll get food out of it, right?" 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        "...What's wrong with a world where everyone loves each other and kindness solves everything?" Dean says quietly, still looking up at Ida. "I think that sounds really nice." He pauses, then takes a deliberate step to one side, putting himself in between Ida and the tent Riese left for with Id and Noeline. "Um... Does Kalve know you're here? I don't know who that is, but if they're someone special to you, we can bring you to them."
        
        Then Ida screams at Avril, and Dean flinches. He really hates these kind of emotionally charged situations--he just wants people to be happy. But he can't just walk away when Ida clearly needs help, too. She helped him in that abandoned town with the Welses, and then they all worked together to clear it of that machine. Though, even if that weren't the case, it's just not in Dean's nature to ditch someone in need.
        
        "I'm sorry. I wasn't around for those other times when you were saying you weren't okay," he continues, shaken internally but doing his best to hold it together on the outside. It helps, somewhat, when Sephy just latches onto Ida a great big hug; it makes him smile and feel a little calmer, at least. His smile widens when Avril offers Ida her hand, even as she has an orphan latched to her leg, possibly crying. "Ummm... If you really don't want to stay *here*, Ida, that's okay!" he adds. "Me and Avril are staying at a place in Little Twister, and I don't know if you'd want to stay there for very long either," considering the strong words she had earlier for orphanages, "or if you'd rather go with Sephy somewhere, but either way, we can still help you get a bath and something warm to eat and stuff, and then we can all help you figure out what you're gonna do from there. Or you can just rest for a while! That's okay too."
        
        Neriah pitches in, and Dean stares at her. "Uhhh... I don't hate you? I don't even know you," he offers. "And I don't think you're worthless, if that helps?" It probably doesn't, but Dean has no experience at talking to people with critical levels of self-hatred. All he can do is his best. "But, um, thanks for trying to help Ida out... I think?" He's *pretty sure* Neriah's trying to help, anyway. 

<Pose Tracker> Fenrir has posed.

...Of the Black Wolves? That actually causes Fenrir to laugh a bit. What an odd coincidence...person who calmed her down is also a 'wolf'? Fenrir hmfs at the training with her, but doesn't reject it, even if she has no idea how sorcerors work. Instead, Lily gives her an offer. A drink? Fenrir doesn't drink, or really even spend much time with other people. But 'it's a form of respect', and Lily has been surprisingly a person of words she can accept. "Alright. I'll take you up on that."

Fenrir made a...friend? No, that can't possibly be it, it's just a fellow soldier who is willing to train with her. Not possibly Fenrir being able to form any sort of non-murder each other relationship at all. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida freezes up as Sephilia hugs her. Her entire body is tense, as though she's trying to work up the energy to shove Sephilia away and escape, and can't quite manage it. She does not want physical contact right now, unless the someone involved is Kalve, and he's still not here.

        Worthless, willful child. Are you going to turn this down? Are you going to go back to your little cave and sulk some more? Maybe you should. That way, no one would have to deal with you. Disgrace. Coward. Ida looks over at Fenrir and Lily. She caught the last bit of that exchange, and it lodged in her like a splinter under a fingernail. See? Even Fenrir is a better person than you are.

        "Please let go," she says, to Sephy. "Let go, now."

        Then Dean picks up on Kalve and Ida feels like she's been punched in the gut. Tell him no. Kalve doesn't deserve to be seen with you at all, least of all like this. He's endangering himself. Tell him no. Dean keeps talking. He makes offers. Ida realizes just how horrible she feels, physically--she hasn't eaten anything other than biscuits or crackers for the past few days, and she hasn't gotten much sleep. "I can't go to November like this," she says. Tears start to stream from her eyes again. Going back to Little Twister is out of the question for her, and for good reason. "I just--I'm so tired. I'm sick and tired of everything."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "Kalve is a friend," Ida lies. "He... lives here, sometimes. He may be out. I haven't seen him in days."

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia lets go, looking hurt, confused, tearful. "Ida...Ida please don't do this. You...you're my friend and...and I want you to be okay because you look out for me when I'm not okay and I can't do that as well as you and I'm sorry I hugged you without asking and I just...I just need you to be okay because if you're not okay then I don't know what to do here I'm trying so hard to keep positive and strong here but I miss home Althena I miss home so much and just...just I don't want to be alone when I'm hurt and scared and you shouldn't be either, so let's be hurt and scared together so that we're less lonely, okay Ida?"

Sephy is basically babbling, the words coming out fast and breathless. She did let go, though. 

<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.

"I appreciate it," Neriah answers Dean with a little shrug, tilting her head to one side.

Then she looks back to Ida. Her eyelids lower as she realizes the woman is ignoring her.

She wants very much to bury her head in her clothing layers right now out of sheer embarrassment right now.

"I'm not even getting through," she says in a flattened tone, defeat creeping into her voice. Turning away, she stuffs her hands into the pockets of her jacket, hunching her shoulders and lowering her head so that the brim of her hat hides her eyes. Shooting Dean a look of silent apology, she begins to slouch off at a slow pace, seemingly just giving up on the whole affair.

Because I'm no help, as always. Why'd I even come to this stupid village? They all hate me anyway. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

        Dean winces again when Ida tenses and tells Sephy to let go. Sephy does at least let go and battles on about how she wants Ida to be okay and offers for them to be sad and awful together so at least they don't have to be alone. He feels in his gut that this is not the answer--but gut feelings aren't always correct. Neriah interprets Ida not responding to her as ignoring her and so elects to leave, and Dean meets her look of apology but doesn't understand it until Neriah starts to leave. "Um--thank you for trying!" he calls to her back. "I hope you feel okay later--I'm going to keep trying here!"
        
        Then he looks back at Ida, who tearfully admits that she's tired, sick and tired of everything, and that Kalve is a friend but she has no idea where he is or if he's even in town. Avril, meanwhile, has to deal with a now definitely-crying orphan, and Sephy is pretty much a wreck herself. Dean's gotta deal with this himself. Oof.
        
        "Uhhhh--Sephy, um, please don't cry?" he tries first. "We're going to help Ida together, okay? I don't know what I'm doing either, but if we work together, I'm sure we can all help. Uhhh--" Okay. They can't stay in Wayside, they can't go to November, and Ida didn't say anything out loud about Little Twister but Dean doesn't think she'd want to go there. Dean doesn't know a lot of other towns in the area, and it'd be hard at best to get a hot bath and a hot meal outside of a town... but not impossible. If they just had a Gear...
        
        "Ida, do you still have your Gear?" he asks. "Is it okay if I borrow it, if so? I'll use it to get some water from here in Wayside, and then we can take it out of town, make a campsite, heat it up, and use some of it to cook and some of it to let you wash up. Sephy, you can help Ida take her bath, and Avril and me can take care of clothes and dinner. Does that work for you, Ida? If you can't make a decision, then we'll just go ahead and do that, but you ought to have the chance to say no if you really don't want to."
        
        He pauses. 'I just--I'm so tired. I'm so sick and tired of everything,' she sobs. Needles of fear lance through his veins, that this is something he can't help with, that he's in over his head. Maybe Neriah saw her own limitations and decided not to make a bad thing worse, and that's why she left. But... Dean just can't give up. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. "I really don't understand how you feel. I don't want to lie to you by pretending. But... if it helps, I still like you." He nods to Sephy and Avril. "We all do," he continues, possibly putting words in Avril's mouth. Dean truly believes what he says, though. "And that's why we want to help."

Retrieved from "https://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2017-09-30:_If_You_Give_A_Jerk_A_Cookie&oldid=4438"