Celestia - Lendose Running

[Domina]

*Cel groans as she wakes up on the table next to the map of the Dasarian movement. Her head hurts and her armor laying near by is covered in blood from humans, demons, and Canites. She adjust the hip on her fatigues from Tyrak's Temple and moves off the blanket that was cast on her by who ever decided to do so. She felt sort of bad passing out and she looked around to gain an assessment of what was going on. Cel realizes she is still holding the quill in which she was checking different outpost with.*

She notices Larren Baraan with the corner of her eye and blushes deeply as she tries to make herself look less like she had been to hell and back. After a moment of doing so she smiles sweetly to him and gets up to get a drink from Angus. One of these days she would swear to ask him out...

The front of the tavern is quiet today. Two patrons are sitting quietly in their poverty with a drink and Angus spits in the glass as he polishes out blemishes. She grabs a quick drink from Angus and sits next to Sullivan, a human tactician, as he shuffles a deck of cards repeatedly as he formulates his next war plan. He nods to her and she smiles kindly. The drink was mild but she didn't really care. There was still some dried blood on the table from which she operated on Edie. He lived, but would be out of active duty for a few days granted she did have to open him up. Cel takes peeks up at Larren occasionally until she finishes her drink and rubs her face.

Cel spends a few hours marking on the map and planning ideas with Sullivan. Afterwards she takes the troops on a run to save some hostages and make sure the bridge was still able to be used. Sometimes Canites liked to sabotage it.
Her team made sure fort Bastion was stocked in supplies also as she escorted a few shipments.

When her shift was over she passed out some goods and food she saved in her bag from behind Ravenwatch to a few of the soldiers that are around until she runs out. She makes her way to bed in the inn and groans as she lays down. Though this day was not as horrid as her first, she was still exhausted and it took only seconds for her to pass out.

One day at a time...

[Domina]

The sunrise is a beautiful sight in the frustration of the battlefield. Between two failed ambushes and almost getting in one herself, it had not been a good night. Another Black Dragon that had given itself to Canas' cause tried again to over run the base near Dasar. She sent a report to Vanguard on the lines to watch for any Blacks wandering for Canas' cause. Though she did find Gerdwarg Stonehammer being launched like a ball by the dragon had a sort of black humor...heh...

Thankfully she was the only one to approach the dragon afterwards as the rangers volleyed with arrows so no one else had to get hurt by it. The soldiers were badly battered by the front ranks of several Canites though and she only had so many supplies and energy to treat and heal so many. That was the hard part to accept...the limitations she held and the lack of supplies. She could have saved Carter today if she had one more damn bit of energy to pump into the artery of his leg...if only.

The fields were not so brutal after that day. A good three days out there left her feeling annoyed at the number of undead that had approached. Some of the lines were weak enough for her to turn a mass amount of them at once, but she was only one person to expel so much energy at once. Her regiment did well to follow the style of defense Fyvre had shown Cel a good while back and it increased everyone's life span exponentially. And like her, Cel liked being out on the field more than planning over the map. It made her feel well that she was out there with other Tyrakians, Champions of Light, Agents of Ishtar, Druids of Ki and who ever more were pushing for the greater good of their homes.

Once off the field she drops her armor off in a room in Lendose she makes her way to the back-room to sip one of the ales she bought for the guys back there. She spends a bit of girly time staring at Larren Baraan like a horny school girl as her cheek lays on an arm holding her head up. Sullivan make a comment about her tongue hanging out and she grumbles with a deep blush while going back to work on the map for coming plans. She works there for a while and slowly begins to pass out again with quill in hand next to the war map.

Little by little...

[Domina]

*Cel wakes up in her bed in The Burning Troll. And again she was married to that quill in her hand, but if she could save lives and encourage better movements then it was okay of she lost a few hours of sleep. Turns out its already was nearly noon and this was frustrating to a certain degree. Cel didn't bother to "Pretty up" since her first thing today was to hit the battlefront.

The battlefield was madness today as there was a wave of vampires who decided to make their move through the bridge. Cel caught word from those with the perception to spot them and she took a regiment out and they make decently quick work of them once they were prepared. After that she spent time with the troops to comb over some of their territory for any other stragglers with only a few to count, but each one counted.

Cel made a visit to Fort Bastion and spent some time talking to the soldiers and Tyrakians for a few hours. There was quite the attempt to raise their spirits with smiles and just being around to help with injured troops.

She sent Vanguard Calken out on an assignment today also to hunt some undead, but that didn't go so well for him so she intervened and they took out the undead squad. At least it got done so she didn't have to redirect some of the trading routes on the count of there being undead. Better for everyone in the end.

Finally she was already worn out from lack of sleep. So she decides to sit with some of the guys and converse a bit. They start playing a card game, but Cel declined and started to stare at Larren Baraan while leaning on her arm again.

"Isn't he so dreamy..." *she whispers*

*Sargent Gerdwarg Stonehammer comes over to tease her and mimics her leaning gesture.*

"Aye, ain't he be soooo dreamy, lassy."

Cel frowns and mutters in annoyance...
Sullivan pulls a card from his hand and shows the Queen Of Hearts as Sargent Gerd and Edie begin laughing and Cel shows some frustration as they tease her for the crush. She scoots over away a bit and Gerd comes over pat her back in good favor. Cel ends up playing a game and ends up losing anyways...

She makes her way up to the room and falls face first into the pillow with some grumbling. A good half hour of crying some of the stress from war, Cel turns rolls to her side and holds the pillow tightly. Slowly the little blond falls asleep with the stress of war on her body and holds the Relite charm from her necklace in her hand while she sleeps...

Utu will guide me...day by day...

[Domina]

"You ain't going to leave me behind today, Captain. No offense." Edie, the elite sniper, says.

"We are taking the area just past Dasar today as a major operation. Do you understand? We need a break near there or we aren't going to do much waiting out this constant line. Sullivan and Sarge are already on the field arranging the troops and have begun the battle. Are you sure you feel ready?" Cel asks with some concern.

"Never better."

They head out to the battlefield where the chaos is already in action. Several squads already are slamming against Canite lines and battle it out. Cel frowns as the disorder is felt in her and she takes a deep breath and takes her squad in also. The battle lasts for what feels like hours as blades clang, humans scream, canites explode and fall over with shrills of re death.
Sargent Gerd Stonehammer spins with his massive axe and wipes down an opening for some more troopers to slip through. Part of the canite line is now split with Cel, Edie, Sullivan and Gerd right down the middle as the other two sections are pushed on.

Sullivan shouts orders back as Cel does to complete the issuing. Those in the center begins to form a sort of rectangle of shields and swords while the other squads press on the two separated canite sections. Edie fires from behind the outer portion of the rectangle along with his fellow archers. Gerd is splitting those who manage to break the line and reforms sections of the guard.

The canites get pushed back as soldiers shout out and curse along with blade of steel or shield crashing along the canite lines.

"HOLD THE LINE!"
"FOR DASARIA AND HOME!"
"STAND YOUR GROUND!"

They push and Cel shouts as a wave of energy releases to bring down several random undead which the soldiers take full advantage of. Her squad keeps pressing through as a diversionary force to separate and weaken the canite line. Gerd takes an arrow to his shoulder and bites part of the arrow off with his mouth.

"Ye never seen an angry dwarf before, 'ave ye?!"

He charges in and swings as those in his way regretted their existence. Other Dasarian commanders lead their own squads through the now faltering lines as no number of undead made a difference this day. They all fell and there was nothing that anyone could do to slow down the Dasarian charge.

Suddenly one canite wearing what looked like a cloak of human skin rides up on a horse and cracks a black whip, clearing several canites and Dasarians out of his way. He rode through his own lines and crashes up on Cel's squad. The horse falls over and the mysterious canite rolls to his feet and the cloak is thrown off. Their rectangle now broken and they are left to the battle and its chaos. Cel charges the Odd Canite and he draws a spear of odd proportions as it is longer than most she had seen for the body size ratio. He swings once as it mows aside several people and undead to slam into her shield and throw her down. Edie shoots several arrows to several points in its body and it looks over with red eyes and lunges the spear forward, extending and piercing him on his right side torso. He shouts and falls down.

Cel throws a sound blast that knocks it back long enough for three dasarians to put a blade in him. A waved arm throws them back as they move away to rearm themselves. The three blades in his back remain untouched and it screeches loudly. Several of the troops fall over. The massive spear is pushed Cel's way and she hits it aside with her shield and moves in. Suddenly the spear grows spikes and stab out suddenly and she is pierced through her arm by the thin black tendril, but keeps going at the Canite. Her blade glows and as she dives and takes the arm of the canite. The monster drops the spear and draws a sickly looking sword and Sullivan cuts that arm off with a shout of fear and determination.

The canite turns its head to Sullivan as it takes in air to shout at him. Sullivan holds up his shield and shuts his eyes, but Cel hops on the Canite's back and aims its head upwards as a visible crushing wave of sound is launched upward instead.
Cel jams her blade in its back and splits it upward in half as divine energy slips in its form and it crumples to the ground and powders to dust.

She smiles weakly to Sullivan and he gives a shake-ish nod and takes a moment to regather himself.
Hours pass and the battle winds down as the canites make a retreat call and the squads make a shout of victory while throwing spears and shooting arrows to blanket the canite retreat with final attempts at kills.

Cel runs to the medical tent where Edie is kept with haste. She stands over his body and is practically unattended due to the mass amounts of people that need treatment. He smirks up at Cel and whispers...

"We got em, Cap?"
*Cel makes notice that his wound is worst than she has the ability to handle with her condition as the spear had gone through his body. Tears fall and she takes his hand.*

"Yes, sweetie...we pushed them back..."
"That is...damn...good. You all...get some... kills?"

Sullivan and Gerd nods their heads, sadness in their faces.

"That is...damn...good...." his eyes close slowly and his hand falls from Cel's.
Gerd removes his metal helm and holds it to his chest. Sullivan looks away and down...

Cel cries and her hands begin to shake visibly. She shouts out loudly and cries into Edie's shoulder. His life extinguished by the ravages of war. The sounds of war all shut down and she can hear nothing at all, not even her own crying or feel the hand of a friend on her back.

Pure Silence...

A ping echos and her eyes suddenly widen. A sound echos in her mind and she stops shaking. Two distinct pings echo together in the empty of her mind...

She awakes from this odd moment and looks around. She is laying down in her room at The Burning Troll. This causes her to panic and look around sharply at what could have possibly happened. The breathing slows down after a moment as the room is recognized and she rises up. She is partly in her armor as her top and boots was removed. Cel makes her way down stairs to the back room and looks in. Gerd and Sullivan are sitting at the table with cards in their hand and Larren stands there looking on the map. Everyone looks to her for a moment...

Cel holds her arms and retreats...
She makes her way back upstairs to her room.
As she sits on the center of her bed, her knees are pulled close and she hides her face in them.
Tears run down her face and nails dig slightly into her skin.

Cel screams into her legs loudly as night comes over the land...

[Domina]

*Cel recovers from her temporary steep into depression after Sammil Card finds the way to relate to what she's feeling and encourages her. Sam goes on his shift and Cel makes her way upstairs.

She sits there on the bed holding her legs to her chest as she replays the whole two weeks of war in her head, trying to find where there can be sparks of hope and light in the ravages and darkness of War's nature. She can hear the echos of Melodies shutting out and she stops remembering for a moment. It was almost the end of the two weeks she promised to stay before reporting to the Champions of Light for more missions. The two weeks really showed her the desperation of the war and the harshness of its reality.

Though she could not change it, she reduced casualties rate by 60% for her runs and managed to make several pushes, but now it was for them to hold and fight as she went off to do some directed good from her Ladies of Light. She considers some things before her final day…*

"I'll have to do something nice for everyone here. They deserve a chance to release tensions like I have and deserve the moment of joy it could bring to their Melodies. I will go to Ravenwatch and gather some things tomorrow and see what I can do. "

*She lays back in the pillow, her knees still up as she massages her legs*

"Sarge and Sullivan have been an excellent help also. I couldn't have done it without their help and advices. They are ambitious and full of life that is strong enough to breath hope into those around them. I will be sure to visit them and give them some special equipment before my exit."

*Cel gives a romantic sigh as she thinks on her crush*

"It was nice to see Larren Baraan almost every day. He's sooooo dreamy. Sam teased me pretty hard about that. Is it THAT obvious? I mean, really? That's it! I've decided that I err…will send him a letter! Right! A letter! Maybe it will be cute…hum… anyways, that's the last thing on my list of things to do."

*She grows serious and thinks on the pings she heard…more so the new one that came to her*

"Was Edie's death so dramatic that I shut out the whole world long enough to hear my own melody fragment? I could almost feel it physically, like the sound came from inside me. Should I be worried about the idea that it took that level of pain or rejection of the land to be able to see inside myself? Was it that I cared so much that I only wanted to try and hear his melody one last time before he died? Was it denial?
I don't understand it all but I need to figure out what it takes to still find my True Name…
I have to find my own Melody..."

*Cel puts the pillow over her head and sighs deeply into it and just pulls the covers up as she begins to fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion. *

>>>>>>>>>>>*<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

*Cel sighs as she makes her way down stairs with a small bag of her things. She looks to Angus and smiles sweetly to him and a wave to the bard on stage as he preforms. She makes her way to the back room and looks on Gerdwarg Stonehammer and Sullivan with a loving smile. They look up from their card game and Gerd slams the table with a hardy laugh and hops on the table to give her a hardy pat on the shoulder…she buckles slightly.
Sullivan nods with a smile and offers her a hand shake. She swallows a breath to keep from crying.

"For you, Captain." He passes her a card face down and gives her hand a peck as she takes it.

"Aye Dar! That be da captain ye be making a pass at! Show some 'spect there!" Gerd chuckles and sits Sullivan back down.

"Thank you two for everything…It means a lot to see you all fighting hard and you can all come back here to laugh and make jokes. I know I was really depressed and upset, but I care about all of you."

"It's what we do, captain. Try not to be sad about those we lost, but don't forget them. Know when to play the cards and know when to slip one from the sleeve. Remember, Captain, you can always change the odds."

*He slips a card from his sleeve and Gerd slams a fist on the table in frustration. Cel laughs and looks at back of the card she was given, waiting to leave before seeing what he gave her.
She builds up courage and makes her way to Larren and give a salute with a warm smile.

"Thank you, General Larren for having me here. I hope things keep up and i'll come back soon to help everyone again, I promise!"

*Then Cel leaves a letter on the table for him with a blush as she makes her way out of the room's cloth door.*

Sullivan and Gerd: "Lightbringer Celestia Domina."
*they salute and Cel runs up to them, giving them hugs with some watery eyes.*

"You two behave, ya? Or ill come back here and drill you!"

*They all chuckle and Cel makes her way out of the inn.
She stands there in the afternoon cloudy weather as her eyes draw down to the card in her hand.
Cel slowly turns the card over and tears weld up in her eyes as she begins to cry.
She can't help but laugh as tears run down her cheek.
Celestia begins down the road to Ravenwatch holding the... Queen Of Hearts.


Remember, Captain, you can always change the odds.