Adventure Classic: Dungeon Crawling

[waterfell]

From her vantage point, the entire countryside opened up before the priestess Mercury. Mountainous terrain spread from there to the horizon, dotted by caves and carpeted with forest. The broad vista took in a pristine landscape.

The beauty of the scene was marred only by the keening and noising of what might be animals, They sounded thick, and primal, and not as distant as a traveler might have preferred. Mercury faced in the direction of the noise anyway, noting it carefully, before she turned to return to her camp. More distant still, too distant to be seen, was her destination.

There was a long way to go yet, and there were many obstacles between her and her goal. Yet she had taken on this journey and quest willingly. The sign that her plans were favored were her healing powers. She was confident, in this bright morning, of her path.

Comments

[one_one_se7en]

The admission that he had betrayed a lot more teams than he expected is strange -- and it makes John even more hesitant to let him go. Even though he was a prisoner, this being deserved to rot in some prison without a single way out, constantly on watch, and on death row. Had he chose to remain fighting, end him...

... And turns to Ami with the order to release him. After a second, he obeys, almost pushing him, showing his back to tell him he is not afraid of him. If he is waiting to trap them, he will destroy everything in their path. That is the fate of his enemies.

As Ami and John walk together, the focus on Cortana continues to linger on his mind. The thought that she is in danger - and that freeing their prisoner could increase it.

"Why did you let him go?"

/COUGH COUGH NO THERE IS NO HUGE GAP HERE...

[decaying]

Kanda didn't normally allow others to kick him around but John was an exception. He knew what the man was capable of and quite personally, he wasn't to getting himself ripped apart because of it. He let him push him gritting his teeth as he left, injured and hurt.

He'd go to Metalia, he'd give her the sob story Ami expected, and he would play his role perfectly. He only hoped the other two didn't screw up. Metalia wasn't exactly some normal woman, they had to be very careful.

I see no gap 8D /john yer up

[waterfell]

She doesn't know herself, why. No words come to her mind to shape themselves into the right form and order to make a good excuse. She can argue all she wants about practical reasons, but a part of her knows those weren't her real ones.

It was him. Something in her just hadn't been able to seek the worst punishment after all, if it was to Kanda. And she knows that was ridiculous. It was not merciful, or kind; it was soft and foolish and dangerous.

"He knows more about what's coming next. He's the best information to still find the mage." She doesn't call Cortana by name. "And..."

If John thinks an admission of her feelings will come next, he's about to be disappointed. "I just want to see what he'll do."

It's not as simple as that, of course. She's watching to see what he betrayed - and stayed loyal to.

[one_one_se7en]

The knight slowly turns to Mercury. Their rogue was indeed the best information to find Cortana, and he would have known better about what they would face. But they could barely trust him now, and the only way to feasibly make him help was by keeping him close.

"You just let a traitor go."

It's a warning. Traitors were the lowest of the low. Even knightly law was hardly merciful upon them. Someone that was willing to sell out their own side...