[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

She's used to the way the land and everything that roams above it is minimized to the size of her thumb. Such is the constant view from the sky while astride her pegasus, flying through the cold air under the spectating clouds. In her eyes, the world is flattened to a map-like terrain where every remarkable objects are marked for her convenience. There still lie things she's not able to see from above such as enemies - usually archers - hiding under a forest's verdant covers, but being aware of the limitations is more than enough. The advantages and disadvantages are both important knowledge for a soldier to have.

Right now, she has no need to veer away from the forest. It's a friendly territory and it's not as if the country is in any war. Not in the last twenty years, no. She's free to roam and hunt like a hawk. It would do her training well, though that's certainly not the real purpose behind her current hunt.

Manabelle dives down to a lone figure she spots near the river. She hears the strong, familiar beating of the pegasus' wings while the wind makes fervent whispers to her ears. As she dives, the area she's locked on zooms in to her sight, the patch of land becoming more spacious and its surrounding tree becoming taller. The person becomes more than a moving stick as she recognizes a slim, womanly form shaped by dark clothes.

Her pegasus descends on the ground three feet away from the person, right in front of her as a clear gesture of wanting to stop her from her tracks. Manabelle doesn't dismount, speaking to the stranger from her winged horse.

"You! Are you an archer?"

redox-kun lol

[redox-kun]

third law of motion

Egao, Egao Everywhere / tactician / haha im a stefan

susan sits on a sun-bleached rock. it's rather comfortable, but she will have to surrender it too if she wants to keep travelling. there's a stream nearby, but she reckons that her food supplies will only last her for a few more days or so.

more importantly, susan tires of wandering the land aimlessly with her lords dying on her one after the other. not lords marked by kingship, but the lords are marked by the sharpness of their axe. not necessarily of their mind.

that's what she's for, isn't it? the brigands feed her mock flattery, but their greed will overcomes their sense of self-preservation eventually. it's just a matter of not getting caught in the crossfire until then. sometimes, she likes to look at the faces of the dead and imagine that they would have wanted her to fight for her next day and all the years that will follow. and a girl can't fight without a few sacks of buillion, vension jerky, and water pouches, can she?

susan stands up and pulls a strip of jerky from her sack. a constant mantra beats inside of her skull and almost out of her ears. it's not your fault, it's not your fault, it's not your fault. the world is divided between good and evil, and everyone is handed what they deserve. she bites into the meat and tears it out almost angrily. she had always wished she was able to believe in the sort of bullshit that audrey had always subscribed to.

there's a rustling in the trees, and susan's first reaction is the pull out the tome with the teal cover from her supply sack. judging from the sound, it's no fist-sized songbird. don't ever wander into an ambush by yourself. better yet, don't be ambushed at all. his voice is as clear as always, but even glass has the strength to pierce flesh.

the starved-animal expression remains on her face when the pegasus and her knight land in front of her. susan can't help herself. "what kind of greeting is that? state your damn business or get out of my face"

CODED BY DUCKIE OF GS

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

Manabelle appears taken aback by the reaction, but she isn't in the least offended - or apologetic. Quite the opposite, it wills her to smile, hoping to pacify the tension that seems to have exploded from her like a crushed orange. (She tries not to show too much teeth though; she's insecure of that one tooth that needs the evil magic of the dentist.)

"Hey, relax, I was just asking." If the stranger had picked between yes or no, things would have been much simpler. It tempts her to point out that she had plainly stated out her "damn business" but knows better than to act like a smartass.

Manabelle takes a good look at the woman's sack and estimates from its bulk that there isn't much put in there besides the necessities. The tomb on her hand doesn't go past Manabelle's attention either but she isn't alarmed by it. She isn't facing an enemy.

"I was just asking if you were an archer, but is something bugging you? You don't look like a traveler; you look too worn to be one." She looks at her eyes, seeing what she means in there.

redox-kun is that how you eat your meat too

[redox-kun]

third law of motion

Egao, Egao Everywhere / tactician / i'm not going to confirm or deny that

shit, doesn't she feel like a douchebag. (a tiny part of herself still resents the comment, as the boys from the village had always pegged her for a bowswoman or a mage thanks to her complete lack of stamina. the tactician is still rather bitter that she has yet to prove them wrong). okay, maybe slightly less of a crummy jerk. let's see how that even goes.

"no, i just so happen to be a woodland witch who enjoys the tears of young children and nosy pegasus knights"

well, if she was going to paint herself as a crummy jerk, might as well go all the way.

the other woman starts sizing her up, and susan feels her defensiveness creeping back into her brain. wait, no. this isn't the time for that. susan tells herself that she doesn't care for anyone's scrutiny, but that would have been a bold faced lie. she counteracts this problem by stuffing the rest of the jerky strip into her mouth. stress eating at its finest.

what on earth is she smiling for? the girls at the village had often smiled at susan before asking for undeserved favors. is this knight asking for the services of an archer?

"why yes, i would love to spill my secrets to a knight of unknown affiliations and intentions." god, how she hated those who believed that susan owed them her secrets. "in any case, i'm not hiding a longbow in my trousers."

CODED BY DUCKIE OF GS