World Tree MUSH

    Led out the back of Helio's palace in a hurry, the sounds of battle and clash of steel soon enough start to resound throughout the formerly lavish palace as the walls shake and the stained glass windows rattle and explode inwards. Castiel shields her face with a sharp cry as some shards cut her robes and her skin, but she pays her own injuries no mind for the time being- they are minor and already starting to slowly knit back together on their own.
    "Is everyone alright?" She asks as everyone staggers out the back of an escape route that had clearly been meant for Helio himself and his servants, into a hidden allweyway tucked between the castles outer walls and a grand temple.
    The sounds of battle are ringing through the city and the smell of smoke and the heat of fires burning way too close are easily palpable as Castiel covers her mouth with the sleeve of her robe.
    Hovering over the city in the sky... Is a figure of one too many eyes, one too many rings, and one too many wings raining down destruction while the voices of scores of knights and paladins pillaging the city can be heard.
    "... We cannot stay here long, we have to escape the city."

Windows erupt. Glass shatters. Itana is a second too late to draw her cloak up and shield Castiel from the worst of it. She takes much of it herself; a few chunks of glass slash across her shoulders and upper back, tearing her cloak in places and leaving shallow but bloody tracks across the skin under it. Wincing, she nods back down to the tiny angel without a word.

Castiel has been there for her again and again, even when she hasn't felt she deserved it. It's Itana's turn to guard an angel.

As they emerge from the escape route, Itana unshoulders her bow and brings an arrow to the string. The fires crackle around her. Memories tug at the edges of her thoughts like insistent phantoms.

    A menace from the sky.
        Familiar shapes in the sand.
            Unmoving.

"Keep close to the walls," she urges as she sweeps her arrow arm across Castiel, ushering her nearer to the wall of the temple in the hopes of losing herself and the tiny angel in its shadow. "If we can keep to the shadows, it should be alright."

She hopes. Angels' sakes, does she hope.

%tAs the windows shatter inwards, Illumiel spreads her wings, uses the pearl and gold plumes to shield Itana, and Matsu from the shards. The glass embeds into the spans, drawing grits of pain and wafting motes of pearlescent particles to escape from the wound sites. Once the danger passes, she flexes the wings, and sends the shards firing into a nearby wall, harmlessly away from anyone else.

    "I am fine, sister. We must not tarry." she states.

    "That horrid false virtue." snarls the Avenger, looking up at the monterous thing in the sky that mocks the divine forms of her home. Also a jab at the cardinal who set this devastation into motion. "Stay close to me." she asides to Matsu, drawing a crowbar from her belt, and limming it in Blessed Flame.

    Almost the instant after the shards cause Castiel injury, a wave of warm, healing flames washes over them; though Castiel may already regenerate, Matsu Shuzenji is not even giving the injury time to do so. The same goes for everyone else, as well. No injury survives more than a few seconds before being erased by Suzaku's healing fire. Thankfully, her own regeneration doesn't have to be tested; a pair of beautiful wings shield the young healer, and without skipping a beat, Matsu lays healing upon those as well, giving Illumiel a faint, worried frown. She does give Castiel a faint nod, her expression serious; then, a glance at everyone else. "If we do have to fight, do it without reserve. I'll keep all of you on your feet."

    She does, as requested, stay close to Illumiel; but even so, the miko keeps a few ofuda in hand, just in case.

    The last thing Dante wants is to have to run from a fight. It's just not in his nature, but unfortunately Helio has to go out with some dignity. That's his loss, really. Oh well.

    When the glass shatters, Dante tanks several shards, one particularly large on jabbing him in the chest. "Aw, c'mon! That's the third one this month!" Dante complains while yanking pieces of glass out of his chest and shoulder. "Everyone else okay?" He asks, tossing the shards away boredly while he makes sure he didn't forget anything.

    When they have the alleyway to venture through, Dante grabs his sword and rests it on his shoulder, calm but still alert in case of trouble.

    "Wish we could unfuck this, personally." Dante mutters. "This is kinda our fault, after all."

    For a moment, Castiel huddles in Itana's shadow, peeking up at the nomad with a pained look in her crystal blue eyes. Though she reaches out for Itana and Illumiel tenderly, ready to ignore her own wounds and tend to them first, the warmth of Suzaku's healing flames washes over them all, rendering everyone's injuries thankfully moot.
    "... Thank you, Matsu." Castiel says as she hunkers close to the wall on Itana's instruction.
    She glances up and makes a face at the 'angel' in the sky striking down at the city with rays of white light. There's another glance to Itana and a small hand takes the nomad's hand in her grasp, squeezing tightly, but then...
    It's time to bail.
    The party moves through the alley and hooks around the back of the temple. The courtyard is a warzone, with armored knights fighting the local guards and temple defenders to a standstill. It's not that hard to evade the action in the courtyard, but there are some moments once he party is on the streets where a patrol of knights almost spots the group before they make it to to the webway of streets and buildings that makes it much HARDER to tell where anyone could come from at any time.
    Castiel can't help but cough quietly from the ash and grit in the air as another patrol comes dangerously close--
    "What was that?" One of the knights grunts as Castiel covers her mouth with her hand.

Itana looks over with pursed lips, all too aware of Illumiel trying to do for her what she's doing for Castiel. Her eyes soften just a little, and she manages to send the avenging angel a tiny smile - but a genuine one.

Castiel, ever in tune with her thoughts, brings Itana back into focus with a touch. A hint of colour reaches the nomad's cheeks. She gives the angel's hand a little squeeze before darting along just behind her, keeping moving as quickly as she possibly can without stirring up too much noise.

So much for that. An angel sneezes. Itana bites her lower lip and begins to reach for an arrow, taking note of which way the guard is turning. She draws the arrow to the string.

There is a sudden clatter of steel on stone. An arrow hits the wall across the courtyard and clatters to the ground. The noise is sharp, sudden - and on the opposite side of the yard.

Itana's shot wasn't aimed to kill. She fired it along a line of sight that'd take it /behind the knight's field of view/ to hit something on the opposite side of the yard. An attempt to generate noise away from the group and draw the patrol off.

>> SUMMARY[Itana el-Zayl] >> DISTRACTION ARROW

    Illumiel isn't the most stealthy of creatures. She does follow Itana's lead and keeps her head down, using one of her wings to cover the little healer... It's when her sister nearly reveals their location that Illumiel's grip on her weapon tightens, ready to leap out if the patrol comes looking, but Itana has the distraction in hand.

    Dante's the least stealthy of this bunch besides Illumiel probably, so he just hangs back and lets the rest of the gang do their thing. He does however keep his eyes open for trouble. And trouble finds 'em quickly enough as Castiel sneezes and possibly triggers a knight. "Crap." He mutters softly.

    A simple cough from one of their own is enough to bring Matsu to a complete and total halt, a silently alarmed look in her eyes. She grimaces, but does not move - other than to keep a tense hold on her ofuda, and pray that Itana's distraction works.

    Castiel grimaces, an apologetic look in her eyes as she glances up, hand still over her mouth.
    Itana launches an arrow- it misses the knight but the man was never the nomad's target, and when the arrow DOES hit, it impacts with a potted plant hanging from a chain. The chain snaps, the pot falls and shatters--
    "It came from over there!" The knight says gruffly before he and his squad head off in the direction the plant had fallen.
    Castiel heaves a quiet sigh of relief and the group is able to move again.
    The streets are absolutely dangerous, between the raging fires and patrols, and there's another harrowing moment where a large squad wanders right by the group, completely blind to the party, which can take the opportunity to move in their wake.
    Castiel darts into an open archway, cutting through a demolished market. A chicken wanders by in the chaos.
    "THERE. GET THEM!" A roving paladin spots the group-- only to grunt and collapse face down in the dirt unconscious.
    "False alarm." Kyner Dorsett calls over his shoulder to the others that were likely alerted. "Droban was seeing things in the smoke!"
    The young paladin quickly approaches, a grim look on his face.
    "You all need to get out of here. The other knights have blocked off all the entrances by land, but... There's probably a way to get out by the river or sewers. I'll buy you time."

Itana breathes a sigh of relief too. Last time she shot someone in the face in this branch of the World Tree, Castiel yelled at her. Making an angel sad and angry is not something she's eager to repeat.

Streets of danger lie in wait for them. Itana darts to and from cover, keeping a close eye on the pair of angels and their entourage. Dante in particular is someone she's fairly sure couldn't sneak unaided if it came down to it.

She's not sure about the angels, either. One is too soft and fluffy. The other is too angry and avenging.

Itana el-Zayl, token rogue.

They move through the archway. The paladin calls out. Itana whirls and grits her teeth as she reaches for an arrow--

Unnecessary. Itana blinks up at Kyner, uncertain for a few seconds before lowering the bow. "You have to call them off," she says tensely. "We came here to try and mediate this situation, not open the door for an invasion!"

    "Finally a bit of excitement, I was getting tired of all the sneaking around." states Illumiel as someone spots them... only to be denied glorious battle by Kyner. The young paladin earns a look from the angel, her pearl and gold plumes shimmering as she folds her wings. She nods to Itana, but then sighs softly. "I fear his voice is too quiet to sway the masses, his heart is pure, but his strength will not be enough." She looks to Kyner again, reaching back to pluck one of her own feathers and offers it to the man. "Take this token, that true Divinity may shine through you... and lift the veil that blinds your brethren."

    There's a quiet look of relief when the arrow distracts the knights who almost discovered them; Matsu gives Itana a quiet look of gratitude, then moves to continue on. It's harrowing, especially for someone who's not particularly physically gifted, but she's able to keep up at least.

    Then, however, there's Kyner, covering for them.

    She gives him a long, unhappy scowl, looking him straight in the eye for several seconds before offering a few words - spoken softly, but with a deep, soul-wracking hurt.

    "When I was still little, I watched nobles from my world kill my parents for what they considered a 'good cause'. Those people you're working with? They're going to make a lot more little girls like me today. If you're half as good as you tell yourself you are, you'll stop helping them. I don't care if you die or flee, as long as you stop."

    That's all the tiny Shuzenji Clan head has to say, before moving to keep going.

    "Nice shot." Dante claps Itana's shoulder as he passes her by when there's a chance to keep moving. The knights are distracted sufficiently, which means they can at least pass by unnoticed for a moment, a moment's all they need. Dante books it across the street. Once they're spotted, Dante grips his greatsword and prepares for a fight until suddenly-

    "Kyner!" Dante storms up to the Paladin, "What the hell are they doing? We were gonna do this diplomatic-like, why's it suddenly open season on Helio and his people?" He stops short of grabbing the paladin by the shoulder and shoving him against a wall, but he thinks for a moment about possibly giving him a bloody nose at least. To make it convincing.

    He thinks better of it. Kyner doesn't seem like they let him in on this little massacre. "If you got any loyalty to your oath, you'll try and call off the fighting. These guys are gonna burn the city to dust if they're not stopped. And you know that."

    He then takes off with the others.

    It's a very pained expression that crosses the young paladin's face.
    "I... Can't call them off." He says, eyes turning downcast. "I didn't even know you were going to be used that way. Everything was kept from me until the march on the city. I thought the least I could do was help you all get out if I could find you." He says, sullen as Illumiel places her feather in his hand. He stares down at it, unable to look Matsu in the eyes.
    "I can't stop them. Not now. And I won't be helping them anymore, now. But there is still something I can do to help you all. Meet me at a small town called Last Light as soon as you can. Just get out of here alive." He says before ducking back out the archway from whence he came, casting one last pained look back at the group.
    With the city entrances all cut off by land, that just leaves...
    Castiel motions for the group as she crouches by a sewer grating.
    "I doubt this will be pleasant. But we have little choice at this point."

    Dante's breath hitches in his throat for a moment before he sighs. "Alright." At the very least, they have a place to regroup with Kyner. This will /not/ go unanswered, not on Dante's own honor.

    He cuts the sewer grating open with his sword, partly out of anger at this whole situation and partly out of expediency. Dante kicks the grating off, before he leads the others in. "Let's get this over with. Gonna be burning this coat when we're done."

Itana draws her lips together and looks back towards Matsu. Her expression is unreadable for a moment.

When she looks back to listen to Kyner, it's with furrowed brows, but no immediate words. She eventually looks out and past him, off into the dust and smoke of the conflict beyond. Her shoulders sag perceptibly before she stiffens them and nods slowly. "We will make it."

And then he's gone, and they have a duty ahead of them.

A smelly, damp, disgusting duty. Itana looks down at the sewer grate with mild trepidation.

Well, what's left of it. In they go.

Itana hangs back just enough to lay a light hand on Matsu's upper arm. She squeezes faintly and offers up a muted, sad sort of smile that reaches her eyes.

    Her thoughts drift back again.

    "Upon my Father's name, we will be there." states the Avenger, before parting from the young paladin, and following the group into the sewers. She moves to Castiel, clasping her hand reassuringly, before resuming her vigil as Matsu's bodyguard, a small hand placing upon the young healer's shoulder for a moment.

    For a few seconds more, Matsu keeps her eyes on Kyner, before she silently continues on. It's... it's something, at least. He won't be helping them, anymore.

    As the group leaves, a pair of hands fall on Matsu. Arm, shoulder, it matters little; she freezes for a moment, then turns to glance at both Illumiel and Itana. "...they're long gone. There's a reason I accepted a position as a noble." Her words are practical, but the look in her eyes... for lack of better terms, it's bitter. Hollow. She's long accepted the cruelty of the world.

    Meanwhile, she doesn't so much as flinch at the sight of the sewer grating. "I'm sure the clan tailors will complain endlessly, but I was a commoner until a couple years ago. A little sewage doesn't bother me."

    Kyner takes his leave. Likely to help other pockets of people trapped in the chaos escape from his own brothers in arms. Castiel heaves a silent sigh. A worried look is cast Matsu's way but Itana and Illumiel reach the phoenix maiden before Castiel can, so she opts to not crowd the girl.
    Dante hacks open the sewer grate and the party piles inside the sewers.
    It's unpleasant.
    But it's a way out of the city.

    No complaint from Matsu, no look of disgust or hesitation. She makes her way through the sewer with quiet focus, and then once everyone is out of the city, she'll even stop and make the time to use some purification on the other members of the group. Infection is no joke, and she can purify mundane infection as a matter of course.

    Dante'll complain later. Right now they gotta get outta here. He keeps an eye out for trouble, in case sewer goblins jump out at 'em or something. The purification is appreciated, if unnecessary. Dante's got a strong enough immune system he'd chew up any disease and spit it back out. Still, maybe it works on cleaning his clothes!