COURTESY CALL | CAPTURE THE FLAG / RAID

[mordecai]

This wasn't ideal. It really, truly wasn't, and the fact that Frederick still wished to go through with it made him grit his teeth, but he supposed he could understand. Even if he didn't,  Mordecai didn't see this altercation as a battle to win as much as an act to partake in. Win or lose, he would be getting what he wanted out of it. As much of a pain in his ass as following through would be, he didn't leave Frederick's side. When a strike came for the sovereign in the form of the blade swung by Thomas, Mordecai lunged forward to intercept with his own weapon, bringing it up in a sharp arc as an attempt to catch Thomas' blow.

"[color=#6E7F80]You've brought the ire of children upon us. Are you scared?" He shot lightly in Frederick's direction. Mordecai didn't really enjoy talking in these situations - especially so arrogant when they were as outnumbered as they were - but he forced it anyway.

[roman]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 600px; text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt;"][color=black]Shit, a raid. After the nation's split, Mare had hoped that the conflict would come to an end. Hoped. Sometimes she thinks that she should stop being so optimistic and naive, but can anyone blame her for wanting the peace to return? The young woman is so tired of war. She just wants to go back to those lazy days in the fields with her cattle dog relaxing beside her as they monitored the herds in the distance. She misses the comfort of a rifle in her hands in the face of danger. Times when famine and war and pollution did not rule their lives. As the curly haired girl observes the tense interaction between King Frederick and the raiders, her fingers slowly inch towards the hunting bow on her back. It's not quite as comforting as her rifle, but Mare makes do with what she has. Not to brag, but she's gotten pretty good at it. You know...like archery and stuff.

Even so, Mare must admit that the Blackfall leader and his little band of thugs are downright terrifying. She just wants to run and hide. She doesn't want to fight. Not really. Would it be bad if she just runs away and hides? Would they blame her? Would they hate her? If she is going to be honest with herself, Mare does not wish to give up her life fighting for a country she does not pay any loyalty to. This is just a pit stop in her journey, really. She has no friends and no family, and the only thing keeping her in Griffingate is a roof over her head and food on the table.

This is what she loses herself in thought about when the fighting begins. Startled, the young girl begins loosing arrows almost by reflex. "Oh god, oh god, oh god. Fuck, shit, crap--" a long stream of curses and exclamations escape her (vulgar) lips as Mare begins to realize what she's gotten herself into. Seriously. There is a girl slinging fire around. Fire! And that Cain guy? He has electricity or something. Sucking in a deep breath, she notches an arrow, aiming it at Amren's torso. "I swear to God, Mare Young, if you die...if you die I will kill you really dead," she mutters under her breath. Somehow, yelling nonsense at herself fills her with an odd sort of confidence. Mare is clearly more concerned with staying alive than actually harming the other person in any way, but she feels somewhat obligated to at least try and defend Frederick or whatever. He is pretty hot. It'd be a shame if he kicked the bucket before she got a chance to accidentally bump into him or something. 

[Orion]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 600px; text-align: justify;"]THE FEAR OF FALLING APART
His hit was intercepted by Amren and her flames coaxed him in, causing him to get burned on his neck slightly. Frederick reeled back harshly and pulled his sword away, only to thrust it forward again in her direction. Her words were clever, but not enough to distract him. The ultimate goal was to break the rebellious minds of those here and then resume the regime as it once was, yet that was very unlikely. What was done, was done...

Even so, Mordecai's word did hit him. All he did was grumble underneath his breath and wait for Cain or Amren to move further.

[CAIN]

[ guess who is dumb and drafted their response instead of posting it
it me ]

Cain grinned in fierce amusement as Frederick stepped forward, rolling his shoulders back as he shifted his stance. He carried no obvious weapon, and his hands were empty as his sharp gaze tracked that sword. Sure, he was well versed in the typical combat of knights and kings, but that was no fun, was it? Not at all. His body tensed and relaxed, ready to spring backwards as Freddie lunged forward, but it would seem he wouldn't get the chance.

Amren. He let out a laugh, unable to help himself -- look at his little spitfire, betraying the fact that she cared. Cain knew his people were loyal to the cause, but he wouldn't have put Amren at the top of list of those jumping in front of a sword for him. (Tommy boy was a bit more predictable.) Nevertheless, he'd wanted the king for a reason, and he couldn't leave her at his mercy (and to the mercy of those fucking arrows). Not that she couldn't handle him -- he knew she could -- but Cain wasn't going to taunt Freddie and then back off.

"Easy, Reni," he called with a grin, his fingers curling around her wrist as he jerked her back a pace, towards him and out of the way of Freddie's thrust. Electricity crackled through the air in front of the two of them, a brief warning at Freddie to keep that damn thing away from the girl. He released her wrist as soon as he had her out of the way, because she would absolutely burn him, and added, "Let him at me, yeah? What's the worst this old man can do to me?" He winked at Mordecai, evidently not very bothered by the comment or threatened by this brief standstill.

© MADI

[Orion]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 600px; text-align: justify;"]THE FEAR OF FALLING APART
'What's the worst he can do to me...'

Frederick only grinned. What couldn't he do to Cain? Lord, the thoughts he had for Cain's punishment were overwhelming, but here on the battlefield, that did not matter. The sovereign was here to end it quick. Though, seeing that Cain did have no weapon, it would go quicker than expected.... or so he thought.

Whether Amren was pulled away or not, he would still have his sword thrust in her direction, only to pull back when the damage was done/the attack was missed. "You'd be surprised," he mustered up finally. His grip tightened on his sword. Once again, he dove forward towards Cain and aimed to release his blade's full force upon his chest. If hit, his blade would wound Cain's pectoral area with a deep gash. Though, if his attack was unsuccessful, he would be prepared for an attack from Cain. 

[Orion]

bumping

[Amren]

[color=#414a4c]✴ ✴ ✴

Every muscle in her body tensed, black hair flying around her as she whirled on a heel to nimbly dodge the arrow. She expected it to hit her somewhere - perhaps graze her hip and send her momentarily reeling as she adjusted to the pain. She was okay with that. Pain made her feel alive and sometimes, a creature as terrible as Amren Archeron needed to be humbled. She expected the sword too, expected it to impact her somehow, someway. She had never been afraid of injury, of agony. No, she relished in the chaos of it: it fueled her. But before any of that could happen, before her tiny figure could be harmed in any way, Cain was tugging on her wrist. She felt the arrow move past her, catching on her exposed hip (because of course she would wear a crop top to a raid. Just because there was fighting didn't mean that she was suddenly going to change her wardrobe). Blood appeared rather quickly, staining her gray attire crimson. She only blinked idly at it, too aware of Cain's touch and the fact that he was calling her 'Reni'.

She swore that she lost ten years of her life every time he used that wretched nickname.

He was smart to remove his hand when he did, the flames once more igniting in her palms and causing her skin to heat up substantially. If they were in the privacy of the Blackfall docks, maybe she might have burnt him in that wickedly playful manner of hers but here, surrounded by enemies, she could only think to use her powers against them. [b][color=#414a4c]"Fine," She practically hissed, her eyes narrowing, [color=#414a4c]"But the girl is mine." Mare. The one with the arrows. She fixated her attention wholly on her, the flames at her disposal rising and rising until they danced in the smoky silver of her eyes. In typical Amren fashion, she cackled before attempting to increase the temperature of the air around Mare. While she'd love to get to the point and simply try and kill the girl, there was something mildly entertaining in putting on a show first. [color=#414a4c]"Pesky girls with pesky arrows are handled accordingly. It isn't so nice being on the receiving end now is it?"