[they move swiftly, and Carac notices no sign of shardbearers that Grell would miss, no sign of a person at all. no traces of a trap that's exploded, or really anything other than the ruin it is. whoever it was struck hard in one blow that they made count - and despite her seething discontent, there's an efficiency she has to respect. her magic presses out more fire, and when she comes back to the others, she can feel her anger in her chest as a weight.
but Bellamy's question reaches her, and she whips around inhumanly fast to see the object he's holding with such disdain.]
Give me that.
[her voice is softer than one would expect, but she needs to see it, needs to confirm she's not hallucinating this.]
[His brow furrows for a moment, but it's clear the bear means something to Grell. He's hesitant to hand it over, if only because he's a little afraid of what it might do to her, if that's the way she's reacting already.]
[But Bellamy tosses it over, even though the distance isn't much between them anymore.] You recognize it?
[she catches it and looks at it in what light there is, grip tightening on the little bear before she rips the heart out of its hands and flings it with enough force to land in a patch of fire they hadn't gotten yet. the anger is almost radiating out of her, and she's holding the bear so tight she could throttle it.]
...You shit.
[the words are hissed towards the bear before she's so angry she could shriek, short but loud and hateful as she throws the thing into her bag to deal with later, turning around to scream her words into the woods.]
[Bellamy can't say he's had too much experience with stuffed animals, save Octavia's rabbit, but he's never seen anyone react like that to one either. It's what the bear represents he's sure, more than the fact that it's a bear. It's a message, one meant for Grell that she clearly understood, even if it doesn't give an answer as to who did this.]
[He looks at her both confused and concerned, his pulse is still racing with that same fury over the attack.]
[it takes her a second to hold herself in enough that she doesn't end up screaming the answer at Bellamy - whoever left the bear is long gone, but she still wants to scream until she found them.]
A month ago, someone stole something from me. Something important. And in its place? The same type of tacky calling card in the Seelie colours.
[it doesn't matter that she stole the Fleece from Clarisse's dying body. what matters is that someone then came and stole it from where she'd hidden it so well, and added insult to injury with the jacket the bear wore. that one was in Caer Scima, a visual reminder of what she had to avenge.]
[Bellamy is still as he listens, his shoulders taut and ready to strike as necessary, despite the assailant being long, long gone. But there are still fires around them, and Grell is infuriated. It's enough to keep him in a similar state, because anger is a familiar weapon, and the ruin around him is further fuel.]
So we don't know who it is, but we know it's someone on the Seelie side of things. [He scowls. He isn't married to the courts, he still hates the system of it all, but this attack feels so clearly a strike against both the Unseelie and personalized at Grell. It's the latter that gets to him most, alongside the fact that these six soldiers he'd come to teach and care about this much were attacked. It's exacerbated by the fact that they called him when they needed it, a kind of trust in him he doesn't take lightly.]
You don't have any other clues?
[There is a violence in him that, if the attacker were here, Bellamy is sure it'd be enough alongside everything else to push him over the line into murder.]
I'd have to pull through my memories, see what can be lined up with the facts we know - but hell.
[her fury chokes the words from her for a moment, and she instead lashes out with magic, suppressing flames and letting it course through her as something she could do and control.]
[While her magic is good on the fire, Bellamy is mildly concerned about the potential for her to let loose with her anger - which is hilarious, coming from him. He can't bring himself to tell her to calm down, not when he kind of wishes he could lash out in the same way, but they have to do something else, right? It's what Clarke would suggest.]
We need to get the rest of the fires out first, before it spreads, and before it draws any more unnecessary attention.
We'll focus on figuring out who was behind this later. And we will find them.
[that's as much as she can get out, too beyond eloquence in the anger and confusion at exactly how powerful this person is. slowly, she takes a deep breath, hands tightening into fists as she exhales. her rage isn't dimmed in the slightest, but Bellamy's right - the fires first. then what would need to be started to work on counteracting the damage.]
Fires first. Then I need ashes. This is going to take some time.
[it at least gives her something to do, a sense of petty accomplishment to smother the fires, and from what's burned she can get the ashes she needs. fire magic might be gone from the Drabwurld, but it's the use for marks she needs.
Carac follows her again, and other guard members take up position around the area Lilias is keeping warded. when the largest danger has passed, then they can discuss who's sleeping where and what to do about things to come.]
[He knows what sort of protections had been placed on the outpost, and while it should make him a lot more wary about who found it, who destroyed it, it just makes him even angrier. It makes him want to be better.]
[Bellamy gestures for Ascelyn and Tobin to use what little ice magic they have too, keeping close to the warded area, while he sets out to use his own. It surprises him how much stronger it's gotten, especially when thinks about how he'd been so focused on the fire magic initially.]
Ashes for what? [He sounds gruff, but it's only because of the situation, and his sliding concentration as he tries to summon a larger portion of ice down on one of the bigger fires, smothering it and stopping it from spreading even further.]
[by the time she comes back from her work with the fire, pressing them down and gathering what she needs, the backs of her and Carac's hands have light coming from them, Sol marked out. it'll be enough illumination for the night. too hot to make a fire, and in general it'd draw too much attention outside the remaining half of the place.
the rage is no longer streaming out from her, but it's easily seen that she's just keeping it in check for now, tightly contained so that they can move to what's more immediate.]
[He might've hesitated to offer out his hands to her if it were earlier, if it were another situation, but he's on such a similar page to Grell right now that it's easy, especially once he notes the light coming from her hands; it's not a hard conclusion to make of her plan.]
[But the worst of the fires are finally out, dimmed, and the ruined parts of the outpost are down to smolders like the forest around it. Patches are covered in ice, but it keeps the area cool, and it'll melt into water besides.]
[her touch is surprisingly gentle as she places Sol on the backs of Bellamy's hands, the ash lighting up along the rune's line, and she moves to those who're remaining on the ground to offer them the same. those who want to stay in the trees don't need the light to alert anything.]
Right then. We're all fortunate this visitor didn't rid us of the place entirely, else I'd say we'd have to start making our way to Azure. It'll be a tight fit, but I can start drawing up the plans tonight for replicating what magic we channelled into the structure to avoid damaging the trees while we built. The last thing we need is angry dryads on us when we're trying to rebuild.
[He's not really used to other people using rune magic on him, but at least the sensation is familiar. And now he's got a light, a flashlight without batteries.]
[He nods along with Grell's plan.]
We'll need to make sure the remaining structure is stable enough - it doesn't look like it was hit, but I wanna check on the magic still in place anyway. [A beat.] I can stay overnight, if you want an extra person here.
They're probably not dumb enough to come back, but you never know. At least they didn't hit the half with the food in it.
[it's so calm and mundane in spite of everything that Ascelyn ends up laughing, quickly looking embarrassed about it before they can draw up a plan. guard duties as usual for the ring, with either Bellamy or Grell with them as well. doubling up on beds, and in the morning they can make a list of what's been lost in the destruction. everyone's to keep their weapons at hand, even if they're resting.]
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but Bellamy's question reaches her, and she whips around inhumanly fast to see the object he's holding with such disdain.]
Give me that.
[her voice is softer than one would expect, but she needs to see it, needs to confirm she's not hallucinating this.]
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[But Bellamy tosses it over, even though the distance isn't much between them anymore.] You recognize it?
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...You shit.
[the words are hissed towards the bear before she's so angry she could shriek, short but loud and hateful as she throws the thing into her bag to deal with later, turning around to scream her words into the woods.]
Who are you? Who the hell are you, you bastard?
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[He looks at her both confused and concerned, his pulse is still racing with that same fury over the attack.]
Familiar taunt?
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A month ago, someone stole something from me. Something important. And in its place? The same type of tacky calling card in the Seelie colours.
[it doesn't matter that she stole the Fleece from Clarisse's dying body. what matters is that someone then came and stole it from where she'd hidden it so well, and added insult to injury with the jacket the bear wore. that one was in Caer Scima, a visual reminder of what she had to avenge.]
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So we don't know who it is, but we know it's someone on the Seelie side of things. [He scowls. He isn't married to the courts, he still hates the system of it all, but this attack feels so clearly a strike against both the Unseelie and personalized at Grell. It's the latter that gets to him most, alongside the fact that these six soldiers he'd come to teach and care about this much were attacked. It's exacerbated by the fact that they called him when they needed it, a kind of trust in him he doesn't take lightly.]
You don't have any other clues?
[There is a violence in him that, if the attacker were here, Bellamy is sure it'd be enough alongside everything else to push him over the line into murder.]
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[her fury chokes the words from her for a moment, and she instead lashes out with magic, suppressing flames and letting it course through her as something she could do and control.]
The bloody coward can't even face us.
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We need to get the rest of the fires out first, before it spreads, and before it draws any more unnecessary attention.
We'll focus on figuring out who was behind this later. And we will find them.
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[that's as much as she can get out, too beyond eloquence in the anger and confusion at exactly how powerful this person is. slowly, she takes a deep breath, hands tightening into fists as she exhales. her rage isn't dimmed in the slightest, but Bellamy's right - the fires first. then what would need to be started to work on counteracting the damage.]
Fires first. Then I need ashes. This is going to take some time.
[it at least gives her something to do, a sense of petty accomplishment to smother the fires, and from what's burned she can get the ashes she needs. fire magic might be gone from the Drabwurld, but it's the use for marks she needs.
Carac follows her again, and other guard members take up position around the area Lilias is keeping warded. when the largest danger has passed, then they can discuss who's sleeping where and what to do about things to come.]
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[Bellamy gestures for Ascelyn and Tobin to use what little ice magic they have too, keeping close to the warded area, while he sets out to use his own. It surprises him how much stronger it's gotten, especially when thinks about how he'd been so focused on the fire magic initially.]
Ashes for what? [He sounds gruff, but it's only because of the situation, and his sliding concentration as he tries to summon a larger portion of ice down on one of the bigger fires, smothering it and stopping it from spreading even further.]
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[by the time she comes back from her work with the fire, pressing them down and gathering what she needs, the backs of her and Carac's hands have light coming from them, Sol marked out. it'll be enough illumination for the night. too hot to make a fire, and in general it'd draw too much attention outside the remaining half of the place.
the rage is no longer streaming out from her, but it's easily seen that she's just keeping it in check for now, tightly contained so that they can move to what's more immediate.]
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[But the worst of the fires are finally out, dimmed, and the ruined parts of the outpost are down to smolders like the forest around it. Patches are covered in ice, but it keeps the area cool, and it'll melt into water besides.]
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Right then. We're all fortunate this visitor didn't rid us of the place entirely, else I'd say we'd have to start making our way to Azure. It'll be a tight fit, but I can start drawing up the plans tonight for replicating what magic we channelled into the structure to avoid damaging the trees while we built. The last thing we need is angry dryads on us when we're trying to rebuild.
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[He nods along with Grell's plan.]
We'll need to make sure the remaining structure is stable enough - it doesn't look like it was hit, but I wanna check on the magic still in place anyway. [A beat.] I can stay overnight, if you want an extra person here.
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They're probably not dumb enough to come back, but you never know. At least they didn't hit the half with the food in it.
[it's so calm and mundane in spite of everything that Ascelyn ends up laughing, quickly looking embarrassed about it before they can draw up a plan. guard duties as usual for the ring, with either Bellamy or Grell with them as well. doubling up on beds, and in the morning they can make a list of what's been lost in the destruction. everyone's to keep their weapons at hand, even if they're resting.]