April Rosevolt
Sharye beamed at her proposal, the prospect of interaction adding to his already bustling enthusiasm. April frowned in response, genuinely perplexed as to how the boy so freely offered his aid. In Altheim, it was more often the case that you needed to pay people before they provided any service. Quickly he began back peddling as a fiendish expression appeared on his features.
"Touya said 'size doesn't matter, and she's perfect for me'," he smiled before laughing aloud.
“And here I was thinking he just had a thing for punishment,” April mused smartly. The slim smirk that etched into the hybrid’s lips spoke for her as she caught Touya’s blossoming red cheeks.
"Alright, that's enough of that," Touya intervened, gently restraining the youth before further humiliation could be incurred. "There's still plenty to do, more so with you tagging along now too."
Sharye laughed again and disappeared into the tent’s interior as he went to go fetch the technician. "He feels like a child to me,” Touya said once the youth was outside of earshot. He sighed exhaustively before turning to regard her. “To answer your question earlier, we're planning to leave at the end of this week. There are still many clans that are supposed to be coming, so they are waiting for those clans to get here before we make our move. This gives us plenty of time to train you as much as possible and also to have word reach Reginald and Damea."
“He certainly is boundless,” April observed, offering her partner a queer look, “The hybrid facility is firmly secured in the heart of Altheim. Near Glendale Prison. If you move out in force, and in the open, the people will panic and retaliate in kind. From what I heard, Victor already has public opinion under the sole of this thumb. I know it’s fruitless of me to hope, but I want to prevent this war from escalating anymore than it has. If we act brashly now, we could wind up in a long-term conflict. When you do have a meeting to discuss your plans, I'd like to be there.”
The familiarly gruff voice of Grashath startled her speech as they re-entered the technician’s home. He waved her to sit imperiously. No greeting, or any form of expected courtesy welcomed them as they entered, and this time April didn’t have to understand therian to know that the man was displeased. She sat down as instructed, frugally shirking her jacket so not to impede his work, and positioned herself as comfortable as possible. Once again the two older therians exchanged a few incomprehensible words before Touya translated.
"He said to try to keep it to scratches only," he recited, "He'll be done with this very shortly than we can head over and get you some new weapons. I'll see if I can explain how to draw out your blades too. It's a natural process, much like how you just tell your body to move forward. If you want it to happen, it'll happen."
“This isn’t even my own body anymore,” April grimaced before sighing, “I’ll try my best to keep the injuries to a minimum anyway.”
Not that she knew what else to expect from Bordal’s training, especially after their first session. The apprehension she felt was strange in hindsight. April had experienced several wars over her career and hundreds of fights, but now that she’d changed, everything felt different. “From what I can say though, I’ll certainly be needing a new weapon.”
Damea Reese & Abigail
"Oh ho, really? That should be my line," Damea said haughtily, though with undercurrents of antipathy. She could almost pin point the moment he remembered their second meeting and grinned as he clapped his swords together. Flames sparked to life in response and swiftly branched out to cover the length of his blades. "I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, though. As to what's bothering me..."
"A lot bothers me. Most importantly, the lack of confrontation from the hybrids," he explained, adopting a fighting stance in tandem to hers, "And also the fact that we haven't heard a word from Touya and April yet. Something's going to happen soon, I can feel it. It's too damned quiet."
“You know, this city has been awfully quiet lately,” Abigail admitted but said nothing otherwise. Damea was fast and sure footed as he came at her, swords thrusting at a blistering pace, but Abigail had no intentions of fighting the straight fight. She zigzagged with unnatural swiftness, avoiding her would be opponent like an adult keeping a ball from a child.
“It may very well be that Victor has decided to move out, in which case that would explain the lack of recent hybrid activity,” Abigail said, pinching her fingers and extinguishing his flames once she was far enough. “Boring. You’re path of attack is too predictable if you assault me linearly.”
She said this, but Damea was still fast approaching, and she was about to hit the boundary. “Usually there would be a public announcement in the event Altheim’s forces were dispatched. Getting your people to support the war is half the battle. But Victor knows we still have enough numbers to threaten him. He’s desperate to find us and hide his weaknesses at the same time.”
Abigail puffed out a breath of hot air, twisted and sprang off the wall. Her trajectory carried her well over the mercenary’s head where she landed in the middle of the room with a gracious back flip. Spreading her arms, she waved them in and out mysteriously before concussive air blasts hammered Damea consecutively from both flanks.
“In which case, your friends might already be fighting,” she told him cordially, “And we’re missing the perfect opportunity to strike the hybrid facility. Or it could be a trap to lure us in.”