Shattered Crown: Training montage

## Page 1

Part 6: Chapter 1

Asbel Sutherlin – Rebel Mercenary – Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

After his first night spent in the mill, Asbel awoke to the blurred image of a slice of bread dangling in front of his face, swinging back and forth like a delicious pendulum. And... Was that strawberry jam? He groaned and rolled onto his back to distance himself from the tempting smell, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Got your attention now, huh?" Erick’s voice. That little weasel. "If you want this bread, which someone was nice enough to bring back to the mill for us, you’re gonna have to get your sleepy butt off the floor. Almost everyone else is already awake and busy.”

“Shouldn’t you be whipping those rebel newbies into shape right now? Is that not amusing enough for you?”

“You bet it is. Which is exactly why you should eat some breakfast and join in!”

Asbel groaned his disapproval and Erick breathed a sigh, conceding defeat. “Agh, fine. Here’s your food. When you’re ready to act like a mature adult, you can come lend a hand.” Erick carefully set the piece of bread on top of Asbel’s face, jam-side-up, and took his leave. The bread mask made it a little uncomfortable to breathe, but he could probably avoid the inevitable for another ten minutes or so. If Erick expected a mature adult, he was going to be waiting for a long time.

Danor Arkaitz – Gunsmith – Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Before Danor sat a partially dismantled rifle; her new students’ eyes followed her hand as she moved it from piece to piece, and she explained the function of each as simply as she could. They seemed interested, thankfully, but Evelyn’s hand-to-hand sparring lessons nearby grabbed a few people’s attention every so often. She was a more forgiving teacher than Danor would have assumed, though that was probably easy when you were allowed to “accidentally” punch your pupils in the gut whenever they messed up.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice hardly caught a full hour of sleep that night. By morning, she had decided she was through agonizing over their situation; past all the worrying details, it was a matter of setting her priorities straight. If it meant helping her old companions, finding Doctor, and keeping an eye on Evelyn, she would do this. She wanted to. Lucas had agreed that they were officially too far into this to back out now, but she was beginning to doubt that they ever could have walked away from it. If they had, she was almost certain they would have regretted it.

From where she sat against the wall, Alice could see the entire main room of the mill, small groups training and learning different skills in almost every available space. Sunlight was just beginning to pour in from the high windows, and the dusty air was filled with voices. Alice had occupied herself with breakfast for the time being, and watching everyone practice was somehow relaxing, so she took her time. Once she was a little more awake, she would see what she could do to chip in.

Celeana- Assassin

Celeana is sprawled out on the roof of the mill enjoying the sun on her skin, she bites into the toast with the yummy strawberry jam spread on it. She still hasn't told the others about who she is, maybe she should today. She rolls over and peeks over the edge and watches silently.

Dimitry Popov - Worst Teacher Ever - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry sighed as he looked at the small group of rebels standing in a clump. He had asked for people from rural communities in the hope that he would get hunters or at the least the children of hunters, but no, he got country bumpkins and farm hands. And a couple of city dwellers, which in the end wouldn't matter.

"Form ranks! Present arms!" Dimitry bellowed at them, a leather strap in his hand.

The recruits shuffled and slowly took the form of a line and attempted to brandish their weapons.

He stalked down the line, unimpressed by anything about these people. Their weapons were ancient, many had muskets and one even had a crossbow, which may have well served in the first war of the wastes.

"I've been given the task of turning you lot into something more useful than semi mobile targets for the kings men. This will obviously take more time then we have, so I'll teach you how to be mobile targets that shoot back." Dimitry growled, pacing in front of the two dozen rebels.

One of them, a tall man, barely out of boyhood, said. "I've killed guards before, so loose the tone."

Dimitry looked at the fellow, stepped forward until he was uncomfortably close, and with a sudden, violent movement drew the rifle from off his back and used the stock to smash the back of the man's knee, sending him on his face. "The guards are barely more competent when compared to you all, it's not a achievement. The actual soldiers of the kings army, they'll kill you all. And the mercenaries... Heh, you'll die before you even knew you're in their sights."

He backed up and rested his rifle on his shoulder. "The single most important thing I will teach you is how to shoot someone from beyond visual range. Which for those who can't figure it out for themselves means that you're going to need scoped rifles. Unfortunately those are not available at this time, so I'll have show you how to do the other things light infantry are supposed to do. Now, crouch, and stay there. If you sit down in a battle you might as well shoot your self in the head."

Dimitry lowered himself near the grown, letting his weight rest on the balls of his feet. "In a pitched battle a few dozen marksmen, no matter how good will not do much worthwhile if they kill any old soldier, you can't carry enough ammunition to cut down the numbers. There are two weapons that must be used to their utmost, fear and confusion. Fear can be caused when your enemy doesn't see you, or your shots, just the effect, he will worry that every rocky outcropping, every dark grove of trees, every unlit window, every fold of the land contains of sniper. Confusion is created by killing officers, cutting the lines of communication."

"My da said snipers were cowards." A heavily tanned girl with a thick rural accent said.

"Then your da was a fool." Dimitry said coldly. "If you have a problem with that you can leave, maybe you'll be more useful as a vegetable peeler."

The girl seemed enraged and stood up. "You can't talk about my family and get away with it sand rat."

Dimitry smirked, drew his revolver and shot her in the arm with his revolver. "Really? Next time I'll use actual bullets, they tend to leave a more permanent reminder."
Dimitry had loaded his pistol with stun bullets made of glued together sand, it was painful, but rarely caused much in the way of injuries. If he needed to kill one of his students he would use his rifle, or knife them.

The farm girl ran off, possibly in tears.

"Now, does anyone else have a problem with the fact that you are all idiots when it comes to matters of warfare? Good. I have killed around One hundred people directly, and uncountable numbers of waste creatures." He didn't mention the several thousand people he helped kill, since that wasn't up for discussion.

"Now, I want all of you to go get all the equipment you think will be useful on a campaign, you've got twenty minutes." Dimitry said and waved them to leave. He was going to have to break these recruits, they didn't fully understand what war was, what it meant to follow orders, if they wanted to be real soldiers, they would have to train like them.

He went looking for someone interesting to talk to while he waited for them to come back.

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Matthew lazily sat in a shady corner and polished the barrels of his shotgun, once the police women stopped showing the rebels how to best give each other bruises he would ask her if he could do anything. He needed their trust, at least for the time being.

From his pocket he withdrew his watch, the only thing he really kept from his childhood and polished the glass face.

Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen poured over the papers spread all around her. It was like a maze, complete anarchy, at least three different separate expense reports on one piece of paper, and they weren't even in sequence, one was from six months ago, while another was brand new. Written by different people, sometimes scrawled over sentences from the other reports. And this wasn't an especially bad document either, there were several that she had no idea what the purpose even was.

And the funny thing was no one was going to read these. It looked like an attempt to legitimize the entire venture, but all it did was make a small mountain of paper. She would have to start from scratch, possibly rewriting everything. Well, that was impossible, she would just do the last three weeks, since that was when it appeared they really started producing paper.

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Abandoned Windmill, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon walked into the derelict windmill. Inside sat a man in heavy Grail combat armor and an assault rifle across his legs. "I'm here to speak for Popov, he wishes to speak with Darton."

The guard nodded and knocked on the floor and shouted. "The shadow thing is here, says his boss wants to talk to the big man."

A hatch slid open in the floor and another guard signaled him to come down. Tabaraamon did so, obeying the rules that humans had to follow when confronted with stairs, he didn't want to worry these people that much, they might convince Darton it wasn't a good idea to be in business with the Grail heretic and his pet night monster.

The windmill had a rather large storage basement, or was built on top of some old cave, he couldn't quite tell, it was much too bright.

Griffin Parrish – Rebel Officer – Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

The first thing Griffin saw when he awoke the next morning was Elizabeth’s stern face. “Here,” she said, shoving a piece of paper into his hand. “Hiram wanted me to give this to you.” Griffin, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, unfolded the paper and read: Gone to meet the others. Will bring back supplies.

Elizabeth continued. “You slept in.” Griffin peered around the room. Garth, Rocky, Tarrin, and Eldon were nowhere to be seen. He looked up at Elizabeth and noticed that she was dressed and prepared for the day.

“Well, what do you expect? We did run a thousand miles yesterday.” Griffin ran his fingers through his messy hair and yawned.

“We didn’t run a thousand m—,”

“I know, I was exaggerating.” He rolled his eyes and threw his blanket from on top of him. Five minutes later, everything was shoved back into his pack. His hair was still sticking out at odd angles and his clothes were rustled.

Griffin, still tired, followed Elizabeth out of the mill. The bright sunlight forced him to squint. “Well, here we are.”

Lucas Oswald – Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

“You didn’t sleep did you?” Lucas was helping himself to some breakfast. It wasn’t a meal like he had become accustomed to, but it was enough. He sat across from Alice who was looking tired as ever.

Griffin and Elizabeth, whose names Lucas found out the night before, walked passed them and out of the mill. Griffin looked just as tired as Alice. He nodded to him as they made their exit. Hiram had left early that morning, no doubt to meet up with the rest of his rebel group. But Lucas decided he wasn’t going to strain his mind thinking about Hiram. He smiled and grabbed Alice’s hand and kissed it gently. It was a new day.

 Celeana -Assassin

She leans over the edge more and giggles with the girl got shot, slightly surprised that no one seemed to notice her. She licks her fingers clean of the yummy jam, fiddling with a stick in one hand, tempted to drop it on someone to startled them. She looks over her choices carefully.

-Tula Nikos-

Tula woke from her sleep to a familiar someone yelling down the throats of some youngsters with guns, and couldn't help laughing. She rose from her small bed and clothed her semi-nude body with just her torn dress shirt and pants and went to find him close, outside the mill. The Grecian woman took a sip from her canteen, gagging internally at the stale water, and whistled high to get her beau's attention after he fell back and quiet, leaving the rebels trembling.

--

-Ryouki Sato-

He rose with Erick that morning and laughed as he watched Erick set his harmless prank in motion. Ryouki stifled a giggle at Asbel's bread-mask and then handed the man a towel discreetly. "Let's get a move on then. My siblings woke before me this time...makes me wonder if they got the food or found a forge or something..."
"Actually, we did!" Taiyo's voice rang clear as she headed towards her brother. She embraced him immediately. "It's not much, but there's a shed right around the corner. Not technically a forge, but you and Kiko and Usami can build stuff in there...I-I think..."

Frederick Dermon - aka Boraci - Old Mill, Fairhaven

I had made a passing excuse the night before, catching maybe 2 hours in between transformations. The night was spent scavenging and scouting ahead. Few villagers had returned to their homes or places of business since the fogging. The air still stung a bit on the cheek. Because of that, hunting was not so successful. Gathered in a bit of blood from a feral dog (almost woke a family of refugees), ate a rat. Nothing substantial; both were bone-thin and lacked... something.

     The day started early, as all days did. The stomach of man empty. But it had been nice, watching the others wake up from the rooftops. The mill was a good a place as any for training, or whatever was going to happen. The red-haired girl - the one with the cloak and the sulking - seemed to be enjoying her peeping hole. That Erick seemed to attract all the problematic ones, didn't he? Carefully creeping behind her (my boots were strung around my neck), I snatched the cloak from off her back.

     "Do something useful, princess," I remarked, before jumping onto a supporting wooden beam, and sliding down to the ground, the cloak billowing dramatically behind me. I took a bow, noting the groggy Asbel and Ryouki's sibling. "I have arrived. Part of hand-to-hand" here I gestured to Evelyn's small group across the mill - "is brute force and passion. The other component is stealth, the element of surprise. Reason enough to wait until a reasonable hour to begin training."

     I put one arm under Asbel's armpit to lift him up from his corner, using the other to catch and rip the piece of bread in half. "Too bad it's not fried."

          eleana- Assassin

She gasps, "Hey! Give me back my cloak!" she growls out jumping down from her hiding place. "And I am doing something useful, I'm watching the dude outside the mill shoot newbies while munching on breakfast." Celeana crosses her arms, glaring then she mumbles. "Plus seeing what my skills are, I don't need to do anything."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick stretched his arms over his head, letting out a yawn as the last of his drowsiness subsided. He smiled at Ryouki, gladdened by his news. "So soon? Wow, that'd be impre-" Taiyo silenced Erick with news of her own and he grinned, his eyebrows arched. "You're kidding! That's excellent. You should let Evelyn know sometime soon; I'm sure she'll be happy." When he heard Boraci coming, Erick cautiously side-stepped away from Asbel, watching the following scene unfold and holding in his laughter with a hand over his mouth.

Asbel Sutherlin - Five more minutes! - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel tensed when he heard Boraci's less familiar daytime, human voice, but he held onto the paper-thin hope that he might somehow avoid detection if he kept still enough. Of course, he had no such luck. That didn't make it any less startling when he was suddenly lifted upward by the arm and bombarded with daylight in the absence of his makeshift sleep mask. He made a decidedly unflattering noise and stumbled to his feet, flailing wildly enough to slap Boraci in the arm a few times, which did absolutely nothing. With his sense of humor and most of his vocabulary still sleeping, all he could manage was a whine resembling the word "Why?"

"Good morning, you two." Erick tried to sound apologetic, but the smirk was a bit of a giveaway.

"If I had something on hand to throw at you, Bailee, I would."

When Celaena jumped down from her hiding place, protesting something Boraci must have done to anger her, Erick's amusement left him. "Maybe you should try your hand at teaching, then." He was smiling, but it didn't take a genius to realize Erick was scared that things would escalate between the two of them.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Boraci's entrance was, admittedly, a welcome distraction from the stress of keeping her students in line. It distracted some of them as well, including her "opponent" for the purposes of the lesson, and she took this as an opportunity. "By the way," she muttered, raising a fist to the young man's face. He spun around to face her, no longer laughing at Boraci and Celaena's antics, and furrowed his eyebrows at the fist aimed between them. "Contrary to what you may have learned from bar-fighting, it's best not do this unless you have something on or in your hand to hit them with. If you're going to punch someone, you may as well aim somewhere softer unless it's not an option. For example, that won't work against a knight."

"What would work against a knight, then?" Someone from the rear of her group spoke up, and Evelyn could only hope Alice hadn't heard him.

"If you're close enough to throw a punch, you're already in trouble. They're tough and powerful, but they're typically a little slower than guards, since they use heavy armor and weaponry. So, if you've lost the element of surprise, flee. In a fair fight, you won't beat them at swordplay or hand-to-hand."

She poked her "opponent" in the stomach, causing him to flinch and a few others to laugh. "Otherwise, there are all kinds of nasty things you can do to someone by punching them in the gut, and you're less likely to hurt your hand. Just be prepared to take a step back in case they lose their lunch."

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice honestly wasn't sure who deserved more sympathy - Dimitry or his new students. Then again, it was the first day, and everyone was probably still adapting to the new chain of command, as it were. Unfortunately, as little time as they had at their disposal, the learning curve was going to be dangerously steep.

Lucas' voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she laughed quietly at his question. "Not very well, no." After finding the fallen knight out in the fog, everyone in the mill, and then Hiram, there had been too many things to think about other than sleep.

Though the memory of last night had erased her smile, it returned when Lucas kissed her hand. He seemed to have made peace with yesterday's events as well, at least for the moment, which was a relief. Their strange reunion with Hiram certainly wouldn't have left his thoughts without a fight. Nearby, a rebel gentleman's cape-wearing theatrics caught her attention for a second or two, and she couldn't help laughing. "You know, love, I think we can make this work." She gave Lucas's hand a light pat, taking another bite of the bread in her other hand.

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Abandoned Windmill, Fairhaven/waste border.

Tabaraamon stood in front of Darton, the arms dealer was exactly what one would expect a weapons merchant would look like, Grail, scars all over his and an eye patch, though Tabaraamon had the feeling that the patch was more for effect, and his right eye was actually fully functional.

"What can I do for you, or rather, your employer? Is he still looking for work? Or does he have a special order?" Darton said with a sly grin.

"He's looking to broker a deal, several hundred rifles as well as ammunition, armor, and miscellaneous equipment that he has yet to decide on. And of course he wants his cut of the proceedings." Tabaraamon growled.

"Right... What has he gotten himself involved with? Rebels? Loyalist militia? It's not an official group, if it was he wouldn't be coming to me." Darton said.

"That's unimportant, are you willing to deliver?" Tabaraamon asked.

"Not unless I know who the end users are. I can't give them out to just anyone, Grail internal security is ignoring me, but if I make a wrong move... It'll change I can't take that risk."

Tabaraamon laughed, which sounded like a wind in a canyon. "Wrong move? You really think I believe that? I'm sure the government is more irritated by the work we've done for you."

Darton sighed. "Fine. We'll deliver, depending on what he wants it might take a little while, like several years if he asked for more than a dozen rifles like that damned artillery gun he carries around on his back. Don't forget my offer to you."

"You've got nothing to offer me, but I appreciate the interest."

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry watched the recruits scurry away, at least they were enthusiastic, though that would change as the day wore on, though he had no idea when he would have the time to take them on a forced march through the night, which would show exactly who had the stamina to be useful on long expeditions.

Of course he would need to find a second in command, though not from the recruits, someone from outside the rebels entirely so internal rivalries wouldn't cause problems.

He heard a loud whistle and turned to see Tula out of bed. He walked over. "Good morning." He said simply and kissed her cheek. "I've got some bread and cheese left over if you need breakfast."

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-Tula Nikos-

She accepted the kiss and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "That would be fantastic, thank you very much, love." Tula returned the affection, straightening up and gently kissing the man's lips. "Did you have fun scaring those kids into shape?"

--

-Ryouki Sato-

Taiyo nodded. "Usami sent Kiko to go do that actually."
Ryouki sighed. "How dense of him..."
"I know, right?" Taiyo cocked one hip to the side as she shifted her weight. "She'll hardly get one word out. Poor thing."
"I can't do it!" The mentioned twin arrived and buried her face in Taiyo's little shoulders. The other girl comforted her sister in a soft hug and smiled gently. "Yes you can! You've spoke up to her before.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick turned to the twins and frowned slightly, lowering his voice. Either Usami wasn't paying much attention or he was making a point - like teaching someone to swim by shoving them off the edge of a dock. "Would it help if someone went with you? She'll be really glad to hear about you guys finding that forge."

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

"Well, since you all were kind enough to pay attention, let's switch to something easy for a minute. I'm going to go scrounge up some breakfast, so practice loading your weapons as quickly as possible and we'll have a race when I get back."

"What does the winner get?" Someone spoke up from beside Danor.

Danor rose to her feet, rubbing her temples. "What are you, twelve? If the slightly higher chance of not dying isn't exciting enough, don't bother learning all this."

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry dug through his bag and withdrew a piece of bread and some cheese and handed it to Tula.

"It's more enjoyable than wandering through the desert searching for thousand year old ruins, since the risk of dehydration is substantially lower. And for the amount I'm getting paid I can suppress any emotions about the likelihood of them actually being  effective."
Dimitry said in a low voice. Most everyone knew he was a mercenary, but he didn't want to remind all of them about that.

"So, what do the rebels expect you to help them with?" He asked in a some what less secretive tone.

Taiyo Sato

Tsukiko nodded, still holding tight to Taiyo. The younger twin reassured her sister. "Yeah, I can go with you if you want. Usami's so dense."

"N-No...I'm sure he's just trying to help me get past this..." Tsukiko responded quietly.

"Or, he's just really really dense. That's also a possibility." Taiyo grinned and peeled her sister up to get off of her and stand straighter. "Let's go then! She's literally right over there." She nodded over to where Evelyn stood, her hair flipping slightly in it's high tail

--

Tula Nikos

Tula shrugged. "Voce has me at the moment. Some of the kids don't know a lick of the common language, so I've been assigned to teach it to them for now." She smiled softly as she drank more stale water and ate some of her offered food. "Considering I've just woke up, however, lessons haven't started yet."

 Celeana- Assassin

Realizing she wasn't going to get her cloak back, she walks out of the mill heading down the street. Staying in the shadows so she doesn't get too much attention. She hopes her cloak will still be there and that guy wont go through the pockets. She walks further into town needing some fresh air and time alone to think.

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

"Well that doesn't sound easy. It took me years to reach the point I could have a conversation in this language, probably won't need to go that far, but still..." He trailed off, not really having anything else to say.

He rubbed his temples. "I did not get enough sleep last night, probably try and take a nap at some point in the day."

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Snow view, Fairhaven.

Matthew sat up from the bench he had been resting on and went looking for Evelyn, since she seemed like the overall ringleader, and he had a desperate need of information.

He didn't know if he was being followed, or somehow being tracked but he felt that the Grail mafia or who ever it was wouldn't be happy if he didn't find his target soon.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick's eyes followed Celaena as she left, and he felt himself beginning to lose focus. Even now, seeing her around felt strange - nostalgic and unsettling. Still, his smile returned before long, and he gave Tsukiko and Taiyo a discreet thumbs-up after their short exchange. "Go forth, brave siblings. As the bearers of good news, you have the upper hand. Besides, I'm sure there's a really sweet person hiding somewhere under all that condescension and muscle." This prompted a loud scoff from the eavesdropping Asbel.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

During a pause to answer questions, Evelyn noticed Mr. Barton heading her way and deemed it best to excuse herself from the "classroom" for a while. It seemed he might have something particular on his mind, and conversations tended to unfold very differently when there were a dozen strangers around to watch them. She told the kids to pair up and practice, that she would come back shortly to check on them, and removed herself from the circle of people. "Good morning, Mr. Barton."

Jack- Blacksmith- Fairhaven-

Jack sees Celeana, "Hey!" he calls out to her and waves. She walks over towards him, she seem a bit paler than he remembered and thinner.  "You okay? You don't look so hot?"

She rolls her eyes, "Yes I'm fine, just discovered a friend that I though died but didn't. Did you bring what I asked for?"

"Of course," He hands her a small box full of darts and bullets. "When have I ever let you down?"

She smiles a bit, "Never." She tucks the box in her back pocket.

 -Taiyo Sato-

Taiyo clasped her sister's hand firmly, leading her in Evelyn's direction despite the girl's whimpering protests. "C'mon, Kiko. You can do it!"
"I'm a total mess right now!" Tsukiko couldn't help whining.

--

-Tula Nikos-

"These kids don't even know basic words. It's quite interesting." Tula shrugged. "I suppose, it just made Enrico's presence around them even more commanding. Smart move on his part..." She bit her lip shyly and then smiled sweet yet concerned at Dimitry as he as she listened to him list his pains. "Let me know when you rest next. I'll join you if you want me to." Tula winked and clasped his hand in hers.

In her peripheral vision, she caught Enrico flanked by his second-in-command and two other Voce kids, who were on a walk out to eat and discuss plans for that day. Enrico's second had several handwritten documents with him, and from what she was able to tell, the group switched languages rapidly. Enrico, a loud one who spoke with his hands, was particularly distracting, especially when she noticed the man was bare-torsoed. His stained-glass design tattoo on his back displayed a scene of a mermaid rescuing a drowning sailor all over his back, and the design connected to a two large sleeves of roses and thorns that covered both his arms and ended at the wrists. The scars on his chest, just underneath each defined pectoral, were foreign to Tula. She felt her heart sink a level, and diverted her focus away, telling herself to deal with that can of worms later.

## Page 3

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Matthew smiled. "Good morning to you as well Ma'am."

"I wish to ask you about selling some of my loot to the rebels. At a reduced cost of course, well below the market value for such items. Your organization could sell it off at a much greater price and make a decent profit. Would you be interested in such an arrangement?"

He would lose some of the payoff but the money would come faster and he would have little or no risk of detection so it was a fair trade all in all. He had no interest in helping with this war, little gain, great risk, even training them, and he didn't have much to teach them. His great strength was successful branding, the name Black Bart struck fear in the hearts of coach drivers and passengers across the nation, and yet he had only killed three people and wounded five others, not many in the scheme of things.

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry nodded. "Well best of luck, I'll hope to talk to you soon." He gave her a quick kiss and walked back to his tree and looked at the rebels who had already gathered there.

Several had packed like they were moving all of their possessions to a new house, and in addition to their back packs they carried several smaller bags or satchels.

Dimitry sighed inwardly. Randomly choose one of the recruits, pointed and asked. "What did you pack?"

"Uh... My bed roll, my canteen... Lots of dry food. A fire starting kit. Ammunition, four days worth of clothing. Um... spare boots." The woman responded.

"Alright. Stand by." He turned to one of the rebels that had several bags. "What did you pack."

"Plenty of clothing, rain coat, food, water, bullets, a little bit of firewood, hatchet, weapon repair kit, bed roll, tent, cooking set, oh and a camera. Also my grandfather's cavalry saber."

Dimitry groaned. "Alright. In my pack I have one pair of spare clothing, six pairs of socks, dehydrated food, water purifying tablets, ammunition, medkit and a bed roll. That's it. The rest of my equipment is either in my vest, ammunition belt, or pants pockets. Everything else is either ammunition or explosives. You only need one extra pair of clothes, the pair you sleep in. Change after the march and once you wake up change back into your marching clothes. Pack extra socks, if you don't you will get blisters the size of golf balls."

He pulled the straps on his pack tight and smiled thinly. "No we will run around the mill several dozen times in order to demonstrate the necessity of packing light, and distributing the weight across your body. Do not dump any of the equipment until I tell you that you may."

He broke into his half jog half run, the rebels trailing behind him.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn's eyes lowered, her polite front slipping. Despite her earlier insistence to the contrary, money was probably going to become an issue at this point. If she didn't start acting more cautiously, she could end up in hot water before long. "I'm interested. Unfortunately, supplying all these people with weapons is, obviously, very expensive, and the United People's Army has been..." She met Barton's eyes and grimaced. "Prudent - as far as their money goes. Your answer will depend on how much they're willing to chip in.

"For a deal like this, though, I'm almost certain their leader will be interested, so I'll have a talk with him. If he is, I'd be glad to accept your offer." She didn't bother scanning the place in search of said leader; as short as his tether was to the mill, she was bound to spot him sooner or later. "Fair enough?" Why couldn't all outlaws be this reasonable? To the man's left, just within Evelyn's line of sight, she noticed the Sato twins approaching, and was about to shoot them a smile when she realized one of them seemed a bit distressed. Was someone injured already? "And a good morning to you two," she offered, the tiniest hint of confusion sneaking into her tone of voice.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Finally managing to find herself some breakfast and the time to eat it, Danor left her students to their own devices and tried to enjoy her meal after going to bed hungry the night before. So far, no luck. She couldn't tell if her unease was caused by the fact that she hadn't spent a night away from home in years or the possibility that she had just made the biggest mistake of her entire life. Danor knew every rule of this kingdom inside and out; in her line of work, she had to. And just by standing there, eating these people's food, training their men, she was breaking enough rules to justify half a dozen executions in times like these.

And with that cheery thought, Danor decided it was probably best to find some company aside from her own thoughts. After a bit of wandering, she came upon the small, injured young woman - Katherine? - from yesterday, who was seemingly drowning in a sea of paper. "Do you mind if I ruin your focus for a minute?" She shot the girl a smile. "Looks like they're keeping you very busy."

Tsukiko Sato

She felt her heart pound harder as Evelyn addressed the two of them and looked to Taiyo for help, then at Evelyn's piercing eyes. "U-Usami found a uh...a shed...that we can start forging some weapons in...maybe..."

Taiyo clarified for the mumbling, anxious sister. "We can start working in there once he and anyone who wishes to help him and Kiko clear out the old things and start setting up shop and looking for materials in there. From what Kiko has told me, there's quite a bit of scrap metal and a decent enough area we can use to make the shed into a proper forge."

Tsukiko nodded. "Yeah...that." Her eyes flitted to the ground, and her face flushed a scarlet colour.

 ae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun drummed his fingers on the cover of his tattered sketchbook. He glanced around the mill, taking in the different activities going on around him. Nothing overly exciting; recruits running around, weapons purchases, etc. He sighed, sitting up and grabbing his bag. He placed the notebook that was on his lap into the bag, and then closed it. Jae-Hyun lightly brushed his dark hair from his face and stood up somewhat akwardly, stretching once he was fully upright on his feet.

To be honest, he was just a bit impatient on some family matters. His older brother had told him a couple days ago that he was going to be in town, to check up on him. Which, kind of pissed Jae-Hyun off, because he was more than capable of taking care of himself. He rubbed his face and then slung the bag over his shoulder, making his way towards the mill's door.

Chase Frost - Waste Dweller - Near the Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Three weeks of walking around Falcon's Reach before finally making it here, to Snowview.

To be honest, he'd kind of lost his sense of direction around cities after living in the Waste for awhile. It was really frustrating to have to ask where to go, especially since not everyone was nice enough to point him in the right direction and not steal the few things he had. But, he had made it. The only problem now was that he had no idea where his brother, Jae-Hyun, was at. The town seemed a bit lonely and desolate, with some activity here and there, but not much.

He'd come here in hopes of keeping Jae out of trouble. Chase was worried about his brother's somewhat reckless nature that he had devoloped over the year, ever since Jae-Hyun 'ran away' from home. Chase hadn't seen his brother in a couple years, but had made sure to stay updated on his whereabouts. And knowing he had joined rebels didn't sit well with Chase, even if he had grown a bit distant from Jae.

So, here he was.

Griffin Parrish – Rebel Officer – Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

It felt strange trying to teach a group of unskilled townsfolk how to use weaponry. Griffin’s group was all highly skilled in their own ways and he never had to instruct someone on how to properly hold a rifle. So, needless to say, his teaching skills weren’t on par.

“You’re not being rough with them. Smack them around a bit.” Elizabeth’s words of advice didn’t help either. It just wasn’t in his nature to yell in people’s faces. Maybe he could send his group over to Dimitry, he seemed like he could whip them into shape.

Griffin looked out over his disgruntled group. There were twelve of them, all miles away from where he wanted them to be. He heaved a sigh and brought himself to stand in front of them. “Alright, we are gonna give this one more shot and we can be done for the day.” With that, he set to work, trying his hardest to be harder on them.

Lucas Oswald – Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

The afternoon sun hung overhead. The smell of the gas from the previous evening still hung in the air. Lucas could still feel the inside of his nose burning. Flashes of dead Knight’s bodies, images of Hiram, and the Second War flashed through his mind. They really had come far in those last five years. It was hard to not think about the past when it all had started coming back in a huge wave. All that thinking was beginning to give him a headache.

Lucas tried to distract himself by watching all of the training going on around him. It looked like Griffin wasn’t having any luck with his group. He watched as he failed time and again showing someone how to shoot a rifle. A slight smile found his way onto Lucas’s face.

He wished he could be of help, but he doubted his archery skills would come in handy. Everyone had started using guns now. Granted, he did have explosive arrows. He just liked the feel of a bow in his hands.

Tula Nikos

She watched Dimitry go off with his students and, looking back, figured she would return to hers. Tula turned on one heel and strode over to where Enrico was with his second-in-command, and a few other members of Voce, who had now sat down to talk and eat. Enrico sensed her presence almost and turned sharply to face her. He smiled crooked up at her, eyes glossing over her body. "Good morning, sirena."

Grimacing, she immediately walked away, not wanting to deal with that this morning. She heard Enrico faintly get up and start to follow her. "Hey, look, I'm sorry! Too early for a little teasing?"

"Yes. Yes it is, Enrico." Tula sighed upon turning around and couldn't help gasping slightly as she saw him from the front, the scars on his chest more visible. There was a stunned silence then between the two of them as her eyes couldn't leave the new detail until Enrico coughed to get her attention. "You always called me out for staring at your chest for too long..." Her eyes flitted up to meet his, and she saw that he was blushing softly. "I suppose it's hypocritical now that you're doing the same." His green eyes bore into hers a little and he immediately shifted the conversation topic. "Your boyfriend's busy whipping the weaklings into shape, so I suppose you came to join us to eat, yes? As you'll be the kids' teacher soon..."

"Y-Yes." Tula stammered. "That's why I came over here."

Enrico placed a hand on her shoulder and led her over to the group. "Then get your ass over here! You need to meet your students somehow. Eis, here, knows the common language already, but Shiki and Theta here really only have Grecian as a common language. I tend to not speak the common tongue with these kids since I've been able to learn their languages and it's just easier to share one than reinforce a common...or I'm lazy."

So that's why...Enrico isn't one for cruel strategising, I should have known. Tula thought. She smiled as she greeted the kids, who appeared to be both around the age of 12. "Kaliméra!" ((Good morning!))

Shiki and Theta nodded and responded in almost unison. "Kaliméra."

"Páo na eínai o dáskalós sas. To ónomá mou eínai Níkos Tula." ((I'm going to be your teacher. My name is Tula Nikos)) Grecian started to come smoother to Tula, feeling natural in her mouth again after so many years of having not used the language.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn smiled at the twins, genuinely surprised. This was good - definitely better than an injury. However long they had to use this forge before the time came to move forward, this would be the perfect time to stock up on good weapons. Once they started the journey toward Hydris, that would be nearly impossible. "Well done. If there's anything else you need to make the place usable, speak up and I'll see what I can do."

Evelyn had more or less caught on to Tsukiko's difficulty in speaking with her, but she wasn't exactly sure how to respond. She didn't like making people uncomfortable by accident. "Uh, by the way, you two, be sure to pay close attention to your surroundings whenever you leave the mill. This place may be under rebel control for now, but we don't know how long that will last."

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

"Now, I understand that, given the reason we're all here, I'm probably not your favorite person in the world," Alice began, casting a knowing smile over her students, and immediately regretted it.

"What clued you in?" Someone chimed in from the back, their voice dripping with disgust, and another soon followed.

"I like knights a lot more than I like traitors."

Admittedly, the attempt at humor was probably in poor taste. "Right! Let's address that, then." Alice's smile dulled. "My loyalties have shifted, but where they land is my own business. If you actually pay attention, you'll find this information useful, and that should be the first things on your mind - not gossip. I plan on teaching you what to expect when the Fairhaven military comes charging at you - the literal and figurative chinks in their armor, common strategies, etc. Are there any questions?"

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

It didn't take long to Jae-Hyun to find his older brother. Well, actually, he estimated it took about 20 minutes of walking down a straight path to find him sitting down beneath an orange hued tree a bit off from the road. He walked up to him, and cleared his throat, grabbing his brother's attention. (And these are the times when he wondered who the older one really was, because, honestly, his brother had been making little stick houses in the dirt.)

"Chase..."

A smile broke across said person's face, followed by a cheerful, "Jae! How've you been? I was looking for you!"

Jae-Hyun rolled his eyes, before replying.

"I'm fine, Chase, thanks for asking-"

"You're welcome."

"-but I have to ask how you ended up here, when I told you I was in the Old Mill." Jae-Hyun finished with a raised brow.

"I got lost. You know how my sense of direciton was before," Chase sighed, "but it's gotten worse since I've come back from the Wastes. I had to ask about 30 people where to go since I left."

Jae-Hyun snorted, not surprised, "Well at least you found me without injury."

"Well..."

"Don't answer that," Jae-Hyun cut him off before he could finish, "and since you're here, we might as well head back, you're gonna catch a cold."

As to prove him right, Chase sneezed, "Yeah...okay." Chase stood up, stretching his back before nodding to his brother, "Alright, lead the way!"

Jae-Hyun patted his brother's back, as he said, "You're so lost without me, brother."

"That's not-"

"Let's go."

## Page 4

Kristen Mernoth - Noble Accountant - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen rubbed her fingers, they were covered in tiny paper cuts from the hundreds of loose sheets of paper, she had a decided to work backwards, starting with the most recent reports, which were somewhat organized, simply in the way they were stacked.
She had once thought her family's affairs were in disorder, but this, this beat any mess her siblings had created with their flagrant spending. At least it didn't look like anyone was trying to sneak any money, which her older siblings had been very good at.

A voice snapped her out of her paper induced trance. It was the Grail women with the eye patch, the one who didn't fit what she thought of Grail. "Oh, sorry. Yes it's alright." Kristen stammered, distracted.

After she regained her composure she answered the second question. "Well, yes, they are indeed. It's not a very good system they have going here, and by that I mean no system what so ever. I would expect that a dive bar in a slum would have a better hold on its finances. Well the bar wouldn't, I mean the owners. Sorry. I've been sort of distracted." She smiled thinly.

Jessica Stuart - Ambassador - Grail embassy, Fairhaven.

"Any direct action we take will be deemed as hostile by either royalists or the rebels, and will likely increase international tension. However I request that I may be involved in the planning of covert operations to increase effectiveness. Respectfully, Jessica Stuart."

Jessica's secretary nodded and read the letter back to her.

"Send it. I doubt they'll let me into the loop, but maybe they will see logic for once." Jessica sighed.

"Yes ma'am." The secretary nodded and left the room.

At least no one had decided to publicly assassinate any more of the kings guards with Grail made sniper rifles, since that was very bad for her efforts to keep Grail-El out of the upcoming civil war.

Celaena- Assassin- Fairhaven

After Jack and her talk for a while catching up on each others lives she starts to head back to the mill, "Why don't you join me for a while? Its been entertaining, plus I need someone I can trust."

"Don't you trust that old friend of yours, Erick?" Jack questioned.

"I do but its been so long, I'm weary.... I don't know what to say. Of course I'm happy he's alive. Its just" she sighs, "Its hard to explain."

"Nah I get it" Jack shrugs and  puts his hand in his pockets. "I'll go back with ya and help, got nothing better to do. Plus the knights found the camp and destroyed everything. Arresting people and killing some too, I was out when it happen so I only saw the after math."

"Oh dear....I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad your okay though." They didn't speak to each other a lot after that as they head back to the mill.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor raised an eyebrow at the girl, struggling to follow her somewhat drifting train of thought, but returned her smile. "I can't blame you for that. I would offer to help you, but, unfortunately, I'm distracted with something else." She lowered herself to her knees so as not to strain the girl's neck, using one hand to pull a bite-size piece of bread from the other. "To be honest, I'm wondering what exactly I'm doing here - and whether I should stay. I mean... Other than being disorganized, what do you make of these rebels? Somehow, they're not what I had expected."

That probably had something to do with the fact that she was still alive and unrestrained, but they also struck her as a little... Amateur was the best way to describe them, she guessed. It was kind of difficult to believe these people had scared the King so badly. Up close, they were intimidating, but could they really be turned into a halfway effective army?

Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen nodded slowly. "I know what you mean, I heard that the people's army was among the most dangerous, and vicious of the lot. I can't really see that, unless this is an outpost, or some sort of place for..." She glanced from side to side and lowered her voice "The rejects, or the fresh recruits."

She didn't have any evidence that would support that idea, but it seemed like there had to be something she was missing, some other part of the equation.

"That being said it's impressive how much they've gotten done despite so little organization." She was no expert on military matters, but what she had seen of the kings army did not make her feel comfortable about the outcome of any large scale conflicts in the near future.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor sighed, her eye lowering to the floor. "That is true. Maybe there's more to them than we're seeing here. Maybe I would just feel safer in a more organized alliance." She smiled. "I guess that's why we were brought here. Vicious can only take you so far if you plan to invade a place like Hydris. I mean, the entire city is almost like a fortress."

Still, she wasn't a teacher; she didn't even like explaining things to people. It took too long, too much patience. Besides that, she needed as much training as most of these rebels did. She could shoot, and she was skilled enough in fighting to defend herself from a run-of-the-mill petty thief, but this wasn't her forte. If she planned on staying, though, she guessed she would have to make it her forte, which might turn out to be an amusing challenge.

"Well," she added wearily, shooting the girl a sympathetic look. "It doesn't seem like you exactly chose to side with these people, but if it helps, I think this is a relatively safe place to be for now." Relatively safe for now - what kind of consolation was that supposed to be? Oh, well. Lying probably would have been a worse choice with this one.

Chase Frost - Waste Dweller - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven
When Jae-Hyun entered the mill, Chase in tow, the first thing Chase thought was: wow.
Well, sure, the place did look a bit...old. And the rebels didn't seem very organized either, seeing as when Jae-Hyun started giving Chase a tour it looked as if most of the rebels were learning how to pack light, shoot, etc. It seemed that the rebels had a cause, but they didn't know how to fight for it.
On the other hand, it seemed very lively. It was nice, to see people together and united. Preparing to reach a common goal. It was quite impressive. Chase smiled at that thought, and then froze. He quinted as he studied the people teaching the rebels things, and people milling about. Some of them seemed...familiar? No...that was impossible. But still...
"Chase, you okay?" Jae-Hyun asked, snapping Chase out of his thoughts.
"Uh yeah. Just...thought I saw people I knew," he laughed, "I must be losing my mind."

 Jessica Stuart - Ambassador - Embassy, Fairhaven.

Jessica watched as a large airship came down over the embassy, the reinforcements she had requested had arrived, but they weren't the ones she had really wanted. She had asked for additional security troops, skilled at non lethal takedowns and defusing tensions. Instead she got riot breakers, chosen from the tallest most physically imposing members of the military, covered in black armor, their faces obscured by night vision capable masks with glowing red eyes. They looked like demonic shades and lead attack dogs that looked suspiciously like hellhounds.

This wasn't what she wanted. Every single one she saw was at least six five, and the leader was a massive woman who looked like she could beat a bear into submission with her bare hands. "So you're the ambassador. Good to meet you." The leader said in a voice that sounded like sand ship treads grinding a building to dust.
"We'll make our move at night. Should be able to chase them off before morning. Probably less."

Jessica opened her mouth to complain and shut it. She wasn't going to say anything, her post had become another political battlefield for the council.

Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen nodded. "Its better then trying to get Leif and I to a place on ourown, without money to pay for shelter, and no protection from bandits other than the fact we don't have anything to take."

"The only comfort I have is the number of veterans from the war of the waste, I think out of the group we traveled with, almost everyone was a member of that group the king sent. And if they weren't in that group, almost everyone else knows someone who did. And if anyone is qualified to help turn a war around, it's them. Not to marginalize any of your efforts." Kristen said with a weak smile.

She knew that her work wasn't that important at least, not right now, it wouldn't be helpful until after the battles had already been won, and someone had to pay the mercenaries, repay debts, provide money for the spouses and children of those who died.

Celaena- Assassin-Old Mill

Celaena and Jack walk into the mill together, they find a place to sit and talk with each other. Celaena ignores any looks she got.

"So have you used the guns I made for you?"

"Not as much, You know me Jack I'm a knife gal," She giggles a bit, "but they are quite nice, I use it when the other opponent out guns me. Since I haven't been making a lot of money because of my current mission, I can't pay you back right now." Celaena sighs.

"Hey, not a problem~ Since I'm gonna stick with you for a while you can pay me back whenever no interest." He leans back in his chair putting his hands on his head and grins at her. She rolls her eyes but gives him a small smile in return.

## Page 5

Boraci (aka) Frederick Dermon - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

I couldn't help dropping off near Asbel. There wasn't much to be done except get reacquainted with the newcomers and my shoes could always do with some breaking in. There were a few blisters to be broken in.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked the scarred man, noting a somewhat blustery appearance.

 Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor waved away the girl's reassurance, breathing a small laugh. "No, I agree. I would guess they have a better reason to dislike the King than most, and I doubt he's quite as threatening as a mad sorceress, so they're almost definitely the most qualified people here - even if some of them don't look the part. And if the public finds out that they're on the rebels' side, I'm sure that will sway some people toward them, after that whole 'saving the kingdom' business.

"As for me, there isn't much I can do until I have some real weaponry and equipment to work on. With what most of these people are carrying now..." She shrugged. "I hate to sound picky, but those guns would be a waste of time and tools. So, for now, it looks like we'll just have to bide our time... Um." She paused, wincing slightly as she struggled to remember the girl's name. She knew it was in there somewhere; she had definitely heard it the day before. Kar-Krrrr... Katherine? No, she knew that wasn't it. Eventually admitting defeat, cursing her poor memory, Danor shot the girl an almost pleading look.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick looked on with obvious amusement as Alice adjusted to her new role as teacher, already cracking embarrassing jokes and chipping away at her students' patience, until the sight of a handful of people entering the mill caught his interest. "Huh." One was definitely Celaena, but who were those other three? "One sec," he muttered, casting an unsure smile at Ryouki, and made his way toward Celaena. Even once he had approached the assassin and her friend, who were now seated by themselves, he hardly made an attempt to hide his suspicion toward the man. "So, Celaena, we're all clear on the whole 'secret base' concept, right? Because - and I know I'm a little edgy today, so humor me here - it kiiind of looks like you left alone and came back with three total strangers."

Erick made a haphazard motion toward the man next to her, his hand narrowly missing said stranger's face. "Please tell me this guy is your extremely trustworthy best friend who hates the King." His eyes wandered to the other pair of strangers who had entered the mill ahead of her. They didn't look all that familiar. Except - holy shit. Without thinking, he shouted at Chase, throwing his arms out to his sides. "Hey, you! You're still alive?!"

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel heaved a sigh, fussily straightening his clothing until a question from Boraci caught his attention. "Oh, about as well as you might expect." His absent smile returned, and he seemed to catch himself. He didn't like being cranky, but mornings made it incredibly easy. "What about you?" He paused, considering his friend's nightly transformations, and corrected himself. "Stupid question?"

Celaena- Assassin

She blinks at Erick and rolls her eyes since he got side tracked by another guy, and resumes her conversation with Jack, who glances at Erick then looks back at her.

Chase Frost - Waste Dweller- Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Chase snapped his head up to catch whoever had yelled. It seemed to be directed at him, but he wasn't su-oh. Oh...He froze on the spot, his jaw hanging slightly open as he stared at the man who had shouted. The man whose name was Erick...who he knew. Well on the bright side, you're not losing your mind. Chase deadpanned to himself. To be honest, he had no idea what to say, or do. He hadn't been expecting to meet anyone that he knew, especially not from the Waste expidition.

Oh god, how he wished a certain someone was here to morally support him. Well, as much  moral support one can get from a being made of rock...

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun glanced at Chase as he turned to see the man who had called out to him. He noticed that Chase seemed somewhat distressed.

He figured that a good brother would pat him on the back, guide him away from the scene, or reassure him. But he was neither a.) the type of person to get involved in other people's problems, b.) in the physical condition to deal with other people's problems, and c.) a good brother. So he ended up pushing Chase towards the man until they were perhaps a foot or so away, ("Jae-Hyun...? Jae-Hyun! No...wait...!" Chase squeaked.) patting him on the back, and then walking away.

He threw a glance over his shoulder to see that Chase was now standing akwardly in front of the man with a nervous grin on his face. He heard Chase say "Hi...Erick. Uh...how have you been?" before walking to the other side of the mill.

 Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen nodded, not noticing the Grail woman's distress. "Well the mercenary with the shadow monster said something about getting Grail-El weapons, so that should help matters, for you at least. For everyone else, well, I think all the rebels will just want to play with their new toys, maybe attack immediately. I don't know, it seems like something they might do."

She glanced out a cracked window as a panting rebel tried to duck the angry swings of the Grail mercenary's first, a long string of curses sprayed from Dimitry's mouth, mostly aimed at the man's "Shade like speed and stupidity." As he batted the man across the back of the rebel's head with a gloved hand.

"Well that's a sight you don't see every day." Kristen said, smirking slightly. It was interesting to see, she had seen her father's personal bodyguard training the town militia how to fight, and he used similar methods, though lacking the raw violence of the mercenary.

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon formed in the shade next to the building and went looking for Dimitry to speak with him about the weapon deal. As he walked toward the entrance of the building he spotted a familiar face. He approached from behind the unidentified person next to Chase, as to not disturb them. "Long time no see." He simply said, figuring Erick had already asked questions about Chase and his companion.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor let her unspoken question slip away with a smile, a mouthful of food pushing against one cheek. In order to give the girl's remark a quick response, she rushed through chewing and practically inhaled her food before excitedly chiming in again. "It does, doesn't it? It's worrying. Once those weapons get here, then, I'll see what I can find out about our plans; if you like, I'll keep you updated."

The mercenary's curses, enough to place Danor on a fine line between laughter and cringing, caught her attention shortly after the girl's, and she found herself unable to look away from the man's "unique" teaching tactics. She also made a point to remember some of the more colorful insults for future reference.

The girl's comment nearly sent the gunsmith over the edge, and a short burst of laughter escaped before she was able to contain it. "Look at that! He's having more fun than the rest of us combined." Danor was beginning to consider a whole new approach to this "teaching" business. She motioned toward the window with one hand, resuming eye contact with... Kristen! Excellent. There it is. "I present to you the rebel cause's one and only hope of survival."

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel saw Boraci's shoulders rise and lower in a subtle shrug. "Given where we are, it could have been worse."

Asbel's eyebrows furrowed, his voice lowering. "Well, on the bright side, I can't imagine we'll be staying here for much longer." As much as he found himself dreading it, he reminded himself to have a proper discussion with Evelyn about that - soon. Once they were properly supplied, they would probably start moving, but he was still almost completely in the dark as far as her plans went. As business partners went, she wasn't the most communicative. "Though, the quiet is kind of nice."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick blinked at Celaena, his shoulders sagging. So she wasn't with those other two after all? He sighed, his face flushing in embarrassment, before hesitantly returning his attention to Chase, who was now slightly past the borders of Erick's personal bubble. "Great, thanks. I mean, aside from the whole 'wanted for treason' thing." He breathed a quiet laugh, crossing his arms. "That's a bit of a drag. But hey, life goes on. So, you, uh... Decided to come back to the city, watch all the excitement?" He didn't dare ask about Nowaki, what with Shades being brought to the brink of extinction and all. For all Erick knew, Nowaki could be long gone, and the last thing he wanted to do was poke a nerve. When Tabaraamon appeared behind Chase, Erick gave a slight jump but said nothing, acknowledging his presence with a smile and a small nod.

Chase Frost - Waste Dweller- Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

As Erick spoke, Chase proceeded to take a couple steps back (he figured Erick liked his own personal space). As Erick finished talking, Chase became aware of another prescence, Tabaraamon, that is. Whose entrance veered Jae-Hyun off course to the other side of the mill, as Jae-Hyun jumped back in surprise before adjusting himself and proceeding to walk away with a small huff.

"Yup, it has been a while, hasn't it?" Chase replied to Tabaraamon, smiling slightly. He then turned back to face Erick, his smile being replaced with a concerned look, "Well, I didn't come for the excitment, mostly to keep an eye on my brother. But, more importantly, 'wanted for treason'? I thought-I mean, I assumed-you were the King's knight? Or advisor or something. Why would you be wanted for treason? You're the...well, one of the most loyal people I know!"

Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen smiled. "That doesn't make me feel that confident."

"I'm sure our time to be useful will come, I'm quite certain you'll have to teach most of the rebels how not to break their new toys and I'll get to figure out how much money the rebels actually have so we don't have to worry about a bunch of weapon dealers coming to collect what is owed. I have a feeling they don't like getting ripped off, and will probably make a example of us. At least, that's what they always do in those cheap novels." She said with a slight smirk.

She ruffled a stack of paper. "I don't know, but I feel like someone decided to make sense of their money a few months back, then quit, which doesn't bode well for me I guess."

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon glanced around before saying softly. "Are you sure you want to be here? I mean, if they find out who you are... Your chances of getting out of here are less than great... Sorry didn't mean to pry."

He had several reasons for this, one of them being he didn't need Dimitry getting caught it the cross fire, since it would be very much like him to get involved, and second, he sort of liked Chase, despite what Dimitry thought. He was a strange fellow, but he seemed to be somewhat less agitated by his presence compared to everyone else, or at least acted like it.

And well, of the rebels found out that half of the people here were friends, or at least friendly acquaintances with the son of the king... It wouldn't end well for anyone involved.

Chase Frost - Waste Dweller- Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Chase turned to face Tabaraamon as he finished speaking. To be honest, he didn't really know if staying at the Old Mill with these rebels was the best idea. Tabaraamon did have a point...if people found out who he was he would be in big trouble, not to mention the rest of the group. Chase also did not want to go against his father, even if he had become crazy or something, he was family. But so was Jae-Hyun, who he knew for sure wasn't in the best state of mind, and who Chase had come for to look after.

"No it's fine. But, I'll admit that this probably wasn't the best idea, although I don't see an alternative to keeping my brother safe..." Chase let out a sigh before continuing, "I think I'll stay. I promise to not cause any fuss, as long as you or anyone don't open your mouths I'm sure it'll all go great! (At this point Chase was being a bit sarcastic)". He finished speaking and smiled softly at Tabaraamon, "Thanks for the warning. And thought. I know Dimitry isn't very fond of me."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick's face flushed and his eyes lowered at Chase's mention of his work, and he nodded along in agreement with Tabaraamon's warning. He wasn't exactly sure how Dimitry would react to this, but the People's Army definitely couldn't be trusted with the knowledge of a royal in their midst. Still, it seemed Chase's mind was already made up. "Well..." He smirked, finally prying his gaze from the floor. "Welcome back. Best idea or not, at least you've got a good reason! The higher-ups won't hear anything from me."

Erick directed a telling nod toward Celaena. "As for my loyalties, I have family and friends here, and I'm sure the King can find another bodyguard like me. It's nothing personal." In truth, personal was all it was. Whether out of fear, pity, or a mixture of both, part of Erick still felt like he was doing something deeply, morally wrong by betraying the King. The word implied wrongdoing, after all. But, on the other hand, the King had bought his loyalty. It was nice to have bodyguards whose devotion ran deeper than their wallets, but that was hardly the status quo. People like Ryouki, his family, Celaena, Alice - they were the ones he really cared about.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor was, in spite of herself, reassured by Kristen's words. The girl had a point. As for the paperwork, given the average age and experience of the people around here - heroes aside - she was willing to bet that some of the problem could be attributed to human error, which was good news for someone with a decent head on her shoulders. "Maybe not, but the fact that it hasn't driven you insane yet is an accomplishment by itself." She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, once again indicating the nearby window. "My advice: Do to that paperwork what he is doing to those rebels. That's the trick."

## Page 6

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Snowview, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon shrugged. "Thats what I'm here for. Mildly useful advice, ancient history, and being the only one that can move around with total secrecy."

He didn't mention that he was also essentially Dimitry's attack dog. He also didn't pry into what Chase was doing here, it was probably private, and even if it wasn't he didn't really care.

He glanced at the smaller boy who had been with Chase, he didn't say anything, since there wasn't much of a point.

He turned to Erick. "Where's Dimitry... Oh. Wonderful. He has them running laps." He said as he watched Dimitry laying about with what looked like a large stick, beating on the recruits.

 Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen snickered. "I wish I could just scream at and physically abuse the paper, might make my job a bit more challenging."

"I wonder if they are going to give us lunch, breakfast was sort of pathetic, so I'm still pretty hungry."

She sighed. She would probably have to check on Leif, who was most likely in a foul mood, though he was never the friendliest person his containment in the cast seemed to focus all his energy into animosity. She was also aware of the fact he got bored easily, at least he wasn't bellowing for food, or water, what have you.

Celaena- Assassin

She blinks at Erick when he spoke about his loyalties and her face turns a bit red. Beginning to wish she had her cloak on again, as she now stares up at Erick. Studying the events that unfold before her. Jack blinks at Erick then it dawns on him and whispers to Celaena, "hey hey, is that the dude you were talking about??" Celaena gives him a nod for a answer.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor had all but forgotten about their living situation - or lack thereof - in the mill, and Kristen's observation worried her somewhat. "You're right. What they gave us is hardly enough to work through an entire day. Maybe I'll ask someone about it." She guessed she could gather up a few people herself, ask them to help her bring some things back - at least for their little group. It hardly seemed like something she would get into trouble for as long as she was duly cautious, and she would have a handful of hungry, angry rebels backing her up if someone did confront her. The odds of success seemed favorable.

"Hm. I'll figure something out," she added quietly, almost as if to herself, before returning her full focus to Kristen. "In any case, I guess we should both be getting back to work." She smiled, discreetly pointing a thumb toward the rest of the room. "I'm glad we had a chance to chat. It's always a little uncomfortable, being invited to a get-together where you don't know anyone."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Following Tabaraamon's question, Erick turned to scan the room for any sign of Dimitry, and spotted him shortly after Tabaraamon had. He couldn't help but laugh, seeing Dimitry's newest task for the trainees. "Well, they'll either toughen up or run home crying!" Erick fought to compose himself, but he just couldn't do it. The past couple of days had been so damn gloomy that the sight of Dimitry torturing these wannabe fighters was one of the most uplifting things he had seen all week.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the something-or-other - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

As it turns out, teaching something to people who can't stand you is much more easily said than done. Still, Alice's cheesy comebacks were slowly but surely dulling her students' barbed senses of humor. In fact, they were slowly giving up on trying to get under her skin altogether, which came as a great relief. Yes, this was doable! She hadn't punched anyone yet, so the worst of it was probably over. She had trained people before, but this was truly a challenge worthy of her near-infinite patience.

Part 6: Chapter 2 -

Griffin Parrish – Rebel Officer – Snowview, Fairhaven

Griffin’s eyes followed his breath as it slowly ascended. The autumn air was getting colder by the day, threatening snowfall. Winter would be there soon, and they would have to be ready when she came.

“So,” he breathed, breaking the silence between Lucas and him. “Do you think the king will try to take back the city?” They both looked out on Snowview from one of the rooftops. It was quite peaceful, despite the dead bodies that still littered the cobblestone streets below.

“No.” Lucas paused and peered down the street at a group of people walking. He could only guess they were rebels. After a few seconds of silence he continued. “Not this soon anyway. Plus, we plan on attacking them before they even think about taking back Snowview.”

Griffin sighed and stared at the group of rebels wandering the streets. They were turning over dead bodies and checking their pockets for anything valuable. “I don’t know how well that’s gonna work. Those trainees aren’t easy to work with.”

Lucas smiled and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. “We should head back to the mill. They will want to know about more rebels in the city.” Griffin nodded and gave one last glance at the small group. They were laughing amongst themselves, and for some reason their laughs didn’t seem at all friendly.

 Celaena- Assassin

She looks over at Jack, "wanna go out front and spar?" after Jack responds with a nod they got up and walk out front.

"Its been a while since I got in a fight, take it easy on me, my lil Assassin." Jack chuckles.

Celaena hisses at Jack, "Don't say that, they don't know what I am yet. I'm not going to take it easy on you." She grins at him as she stretches, getting warmed up. "Ready?"

"Of course, princess" He gives her a smirk.

They sparred nothing two flashy, kicking and throwing some punches. Blocking when they can but not making contact yet. Celaena round house kicks Jack to the face but stopping her attack before it touches him.

Chase Frost - Waste Dweller- Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Chase let out a breath of laughter as he observed Dimitry beat the recuits into shape. Literally. He shuddered at that thought. It was strange how Dimitry could be horrifyingly amusing. He glaced over to Erick, who seemed to be leaning to the 'amusing' part, if his unending laughter had anything to do with that. Though, he figured that with the bounty on his head, he probably had had little time to actually enjoy himself and even catch a break.

"Well, it's been nice to see you, but I think I'd better catch up to my brother. I came here to keep an eye on him after all." Chase said, nodding to Tabaraamon. He then patted the laughing Erick on the shoulder with a small smile.

"Take care. And I guess I'll be seeing you around."

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snoview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun leaned against the outside of the mill, contemplating the town and the changing landscape. He had no idea Chase had friends here, and was honestly quite surprised. That, and the fact that they knew that Chase was, well, the King's son. Jae- Hyun was too, though of a different mother, but even so. The fact that Chase had trusted them that much...he was a bit jealous. He had never been able to trust anyone like that.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick found his composure just in time to hear Chase excusing himself, and raised a hand to wave goodbye. "Right, right. See you later, then!" Chase's brother would certainly need looking after if he ended up in one of Dimitry's classes. He sighed, still catching his breath, and raised an eyebrow at Tabaraamon. "So, I think I'll put that one right between Hiram and Alice on our list of unlikeliest reunions so far. Sound fair to you?"

It took him a few moments to realize that Celaena and her friend were no longer behind him, as quiet as they had been - but realize he did, and it soured his expression somewhat. He hadn't gotten a definitive answer from either of them, so that left him with a choice: either push his luck by tracking them down again at some point or risk the unraveling of their plan at the hands of Celaena's mysterious friend. Well, he didn't see the harm in pushing his luck a little. If he didn't do it, Evelyn eventually would, and the last thing Erick wanted to see was a fight between those two.

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel had just turned to leave, hoping to slink away and have a nap on this rare, non-violent occasion, when he heard a quiet "Hm!" from Boraci, who appeared to have been surprised by something toward the center of the crowded room.

The resulting frown seemed to instantly age Asbel's face. "What?"

"Hm," he repeated, though it was almost as if he hadn't heard Asbel's question.

Asbel's voice shrank. "Do I even want to know?"

"I'm not sure that it matters, actually."

Helpless against his curiosity, Asbel moved to stand next to Boraci, following his line of sight. He didn't see any blood or hear any yelling; so far, so good. Upon closer inspection, he saw none other than Chase Frost, immediately recognizable, walking away from Tabaraamon and Erick. "Oh! Yes, I see what you mean."

Celaena- Assassin // Jack- Blacksmith

They fight each other, picking up their speed bit by bit as they warm up. Still not making full contact when the other cannot block their attack. Somehow at one point, Celaena ends up behind him and puts her finger to his throat indicating that she could have killed him with a knife. Jack smirks and grabs her wrist and throws her over his shoulder, which Celaena rolled a bit before quickly getting up and charges at him again.

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon nodded. "It is strange to see him after so long. I mean, I knew he was put there, in the wastes, nothing in the wastes escapes the knowledge of the seven. Though I mostly ignored him, didn't want to cause any additional problems. I wonder what happens next? Is Anya going to appear and try to eat people?"

He extended his hand and his great sword appeared I'm his hand, dripping with condensation. He slowly ran his hand across its length before dropping it. Once it was out his hands it vanished. "Got to keep you weapons in good order you know?" He said with a shrug.
The less he drew his sword, the harder it was to form, so he normally did this every few days.

"So, you probably know the king better than any one else here. What do you think he'll do next?" Tabaraamon asked Erick.

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry yelled "Halt!" And stopped in his tracks. One of the recruits didn't slow down quick enough, and Dimitry tripped him. The others all bunched up behind him. "Now, we are going to do more runs, but this time you can leave what ever you don't think you need. Oh, and you won't get any food from anywhere, but your own backpacks."

He could see the shock, and in several cases, fear in the eyes of his recruits as they started pulling spare clothing, cooking equipment, books, keepsakes, and other odds and ends and dropping them.

"Now, you are only carrying your own equipment. That will change soon enough. Once we get heavy weapons, we will need to carry those, and ammunition for them, medical gear, explosives, probably an extra twenty pounds. So you may want to try to find boots that fit."

He walked over to one of the recruits, probably the largest of the bunch, a massive lad who was probably two heads taller than Dimitry. Regardless of this Dimitry clenched his fist and punched the recruit square in the jaw. The boy fell on the ground holding his jaw and moaning. "Always be ready for a fight. The kings men won't be nice enough to use their fists."

Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen smiled and nodded. "It's been good talking to you too. I wish you the best of luck getting food. And yeah, it feels like there are a bunch of little clubs, and we aren't invited in any of them. Oh, and if any of the people you train are being difficult, hit them with a broom or something."

She said all of it lightly, but she was sort of agitated by the splits in the rebels, to start there was the survivors or the second war, then the people's army, and woods men. It wasn't good to have such differences.

## Page 7

Griffin Parrish – Rebel Officer – Snowview, Fairhaven

Their original plan was to head straight back to the mill and report new rebel group sightings in the city. But as always, things didn’t go to plan. Almost immediately, a deep voice interrupted Lucas and Griffin’s silent pondering.

“Looks like we got a couple of stragglers.” A large man with a bald head and messy black beard stepped into their path. Griffin quickly glanced around and realized they had been surrounded. How had he not heard them coming? How had Lucas not heard them coming? He supposed that they were too deep in thought to pay attention to anything around them.

Lucas spoke in a polite tone first. “Excuse us gentlemen, we’re just trying to get back to our camp.” Griffin was surprised how calm Lucas was. He supposed after fighting in the Second War, some thugs wouldn’t be any threat to him. But as for Griffin, he realized that they were heavily outnumbered.

Glancing around at the group of men and women surrounding them, he confirmed that they were a gang of some sort. They all had tied a black cloth around their right biceps. His attention was snapped back to the bald man when he let out a devilish laugh.

“You’re not going anywhere unless you turn out your pockets.” An evil sneer crossed the man’s face. Griffin’s hand went instinctively to his pistols. He was surprised when Lucas continued forward.

“We don’t have anything, sorry to disappoint.” Lucas smiled politely and tried to make his way past the man. Before he took another step, Lucas was roughly pushed to the ground. Griffin’s pistols came level with the man’s head. More laughing broke out among the gang.

“What’re you gonna do with those?” The man sneered, daring him to fire the pistols. Lucas struggled to his feet, no longer a look of politeness on his face. He was ready to fight. But Griffin could tell these weren’t just any thugs, they had guns and looked as if they were skilled in combat. He didn’t see any way out of this.

 Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick smirked at the mention of Anya but said nothing, and it didn't take long for the appearance of Tabaraamon's greatsword to shut down his sense of humor for a second or two. No matter how many times it happened, it was still a shock. The remark brought a sagely nod out of Erick; he had never considered himself very knowledgeable in the way of phantom weapons, but it was nice to know that the basics still applied.

The following question caught Erick off guard, and he breathed a heavy sigh. "I'd say he'll want to play on the defensive at this point. All these attacks definitely have him panicking. He'll probably focus on Fairhaven for now, try to make a fortress out of the place. Getting anywhere near him is going to be quite a feat." He shot Tabaraamon a smile. "We've both seen people survive worse, though, right?"

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor paused to smile at Kristen, jokingly letting her shoulders slouch in disappointment. "Only the people I'm training? Damn." She shook her head as she turned to leave, making her way past the loud, unsettling Evelyn and stopping to stand a fair distance from the smaller, less intimidating Alice. When the woman noticed that Danor had a question, she stopped to let her speak, prompting her to come closer so Danor wouldn't have to raise her voice. "Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering when our next meal will be."

Alice's eyebrows furrowed. "I think most of us will be wondering that before long. Have you asked Evelyn?"

The gunsmith blinked. "No." She left it at that. If Alice didn't already know what she meant, she wasn't going to make a fool of herself by explaining it.

Luckily, though, she seemed to catch on, and had to fight back a smile in front of her students. "I'll see to it, then. Maybe Lucas and I can put a team together and go out ourselves."

It took Danor a moment to place the man's name, but Alice's idea made her smile. "Do you mean that?"

"Knight's honor."

Danor nodded and began to back away, raising an eyebrow. "I'll hold you to that, and I plan on coming with you."

She laughed. "Please do. My stomach's no fuller than yours."

Mission accomplished. She'd have to remember to drop by and let Kristen thank her later. For now, though, maybe she would see how Dimitry Popov's trainees were faring.

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon nodded. "The king is a coward, and like all cowards he will hide behind whatever power he has left. But thankfully, he is a weak man with no magic, and is in control of humans, humans with guns, but humans none the less. It'll be a hard fight, but no worse than the battle for the citadel."

He laughed slightly. "Hell, I doubt he can even toss those death crystals like Selene did, so that's something we won't have to worry about."

"What is your take on Tula? Dimitry doesn't like discussing her around me. He's a secretive bastard, though I'm sure you know that well enough." Tabaraamon didn't like not knowing things, especially things about Dimitry, since his primary task was to keep the man alive.

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Matthew approached Evelyn, tipped his hat to her and spoke. "Ma'am, I apologize in advance for any inconvenience this causes you, but I must ask, do you know of a Grail man who goes by Popov? I have a message for him."
He knew it was a long shot, but who knows, maybe the guy was on her watch list or something. And if not he would ask the rebels, and if that didn't work he would move on.

He hoped that Evelyn wasn't protecting Popov, and thought that the "message" was a threat on the man's life. He had no doubt that the woman's secret police training would trump his ability.

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Snowview, Fairhaven

The bald man smiled and pointed at Lucas’s bow strapped onto his back. “That looks like a pretty neat bow, might be worth some money.” The man stepped toward Lucas, but the sound of Griffin’s revolvers being cocked drew his attention. He smirked, “You really gonna shoot me kid?” But before Griffin could make a witty comeback, Lucas had swept the man from off his feet. There was a sickening crack as the man’s head hit the cobblestone. After than, guns went blazing.

Everything happened in slow motion. He watched as Lucas drew his bow from off of his back and fired an arrow, which exploded on contact, sending a few of the thugs flying. Griffin had to hit the ground before any bullets touched him. He had to act quick, firing both of his revolvers into the chests of two thugs who were aiming at him, and diving behind some metal crates. Bullets ricocheted off of the metal. He stole a glance over the top of the crates and fired a few more shots.

Lucas was going hand-to-hand, taking on more guys than he could handle. Griffin wished that he had given some sort of signal before he decided to attack. There were still too many of them. He picked off a few guys surrounding Lucas but was stopped by three men jumping over the crates. One of the thugs kicked Griffin’s hand away, sending his revolver flying. The other kicked him to the ground. “Any last words?” One of the thugs smiled, a few teeth missing from his mouth.

“Now now boys, don’t be bullies.” A familiar voice spoke from overhead. Before they had a chance to look up at the roof where the man was standing, they dropped to the ground with two bullets in their heads. Griffin looked wide eyed at the dead bodies and then up to the roof above him.

“Hiram?” Griffin had a look of horror and relief on his face. More gunshots could be heard. He hopped to his feet. “We have to help Lucas, come on!”

Silas Reid - Little Briar Rose - Snowview, Fairhaven

Despite how immensely tired Silas had been—as always—his condition still hadn't allowed him a moment of peace. With no more than two or three hours of sleep, he had snuck off to explore the city the night before. Wanting to do somethingproductive for once, he sought to find a greenhouse, or at the very least, a garden to harvest from. He didn't worry much about being caught since most of the inhabitants were likely scared off by the commotion yesterday... or dead. As for the remaining rebels and soldiers, he expected them to be fast asleep.

It wasn't as uneventful as he thought. A few idiots returned, valuing their possessions more than their life. He supposed he was no different, being out here. Sometimes, he could hear gunfire, but he never did discover their origin. He might have even seen a shadow or two pass above him on the rooftops. But for once, Silas wasn't caught in-between every fight happening around him.

Which allowed him to be where he was now, clambering up the steps of an empty street, cradling an armful of greens. He walked calmly past the rows of stores and townhouses, all of which were in various states of disrepair. While what had happened to Snowview was awful, it wasn't often when one could experience such blissful silence. The air was better, and he barely felt the need to rush back to the mill. Before he knew it, he had spent the entire morning out in the city.

Just when he thought that maybe he might be allowed one fine day, a round of stray bullets hit the topped-over cart in front of him, and he immediately ran for cover. Peeking around the bakery on the corner of the street, he recognized Wood's Men. It appeared they were in another altercation.

"Bother," Silas said through the white cloth covering the lower half of his face. He would have to stay put for now.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Mr. Barton's question raised a million more in Evelyn's mind, and she found herself curious. "Popov," she repeated. This sounded suspicious indeed. Though, she seriously doubted that Barton would dare to ask such a question if he meant the man any harm. She raised her eyebrows and nodded, deciding to test her luck - and possibly Barton's patience. "Yes, I know of him. I take it this message of yours must be urgent," she continued, balancing her tone on the fine line between an assumption and a question. The sound of an explosion, however, followed by a continuous storm of gunfire outside the mill, immediately stole Evelyn's attention.

Before she could lift a foot toward the door, she caught Alice bolting for the exit. Evelyn saw other people beginning to get curious, and flashed Barton a hollow smile. "If you'll excuse me for just one moment..." She stepped away from the conversation just long enough to snag one of the many curious rebels moving toward the exit, hooking her fingers on their collar. The rebel woman glared back at her, attempting to free herself, until Evelyn began to speak. "Have a quick peek at what's going on out there, then come straight back here and tell me. Can you manage that?"

The woman nodded, her alarm visibly fading. "Yes."

Evelyn released the girl and returned to Mr. Barton's side, arms crossed. "My apologies. Do you think it's possible that you're not the only one looking for this 'Popov?'" Her question was posed with a teasing smirk and a nod toward the commotion.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick laughed; their situation did seem less hopeless from that perspective. "I am at least mostly sure that the King cannot throw death crystals." He mulled over Tabaraamon's question, leaning his head to one side. "I don't claim to know Dimitry or Tula very well, but just the fact that Dimitry listens to her and actually goes looking for her company makes me think highly of her. He seems like a pretty talented bullshit detector." He shrugged. "Now that you three are on the same team, he might start feeling more comfortable with you being around Tula. But some people are just naturally secretive about that sort of thing."

The explosion from outside startled Erick, and he made an attempt to gauge Tabaraamon's reaction. "Probably not a part of Dimitry's training, huh?"

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel froze, his eyes unblinking, at the sound of the fighting outside. He kept listening, and the gunshots didn't stop. Well, the relative quiet was nice while it lasted. Boraci, whose surprise was already giving way to curiosity, cautiously moved toward a nearby window on the side of the mill. "Can you see anything?" Asbel was careful to keep his distance.

"From here, only a dead body."

Asbel's voice shrank. "Ah. Is it anyone we know?"

Boraci was already opening the window to climb outside when he shook his head. Asbel said nothing, wringing his hands like a lost child in a crowded building. Boraci stopped to shoot him a questioning look, and Asbel groaned as he moved to follow him. Better to find a viewpoint from there than try and cross the mill with everyone rushing this way and that.

 Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry dove towards the ground when he heard the first shot. Even a small bullet could maim from a great distance, and he didn't want to take chances.

Most of the rebels hit the deck when he did, though several didn't. "Get down all of you!" He bellowed as he crawled toward the nearest solid object he could consider cover. He got close to a brick wall and peered around the corner. He couldn't really see anything, so he moved into a low crouch and scuttled to a better vantage point.

What ever was going on wasn't the biggest issue, it would be the people that were attracted to the gunfire, other rebels, maybe loyalist militia, locals who didn't want these any factions around, tearing up their city, or it might be mercenaries, come to assist the winning side and get a contract.

He didn't have eyes on though, and since there was nothing he could do to directly assist who ever was getting shot at, and he couldn't start raining sniper fire on anyone walking in the city, he pulled back toward the mill.

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Matthew breathed a sigh of relief, she at least heard of him, probably knew more than she was letting on. Then of course came another question. He nodded. "Yes, quite urgent."

The sound of an explosion rocked the air and Matthew flinched visibly. It was louder than anything he had ever heard, and actually scared him, the way the ground seemed to shake ever so slightly. Madness took over around him as rebels ran left and right, grabbing weapons, armor and ammunition.

Matthew noticed Evelyn's slightly sarcastic tone but ignored it. "It is certainly possible, though I would expect them to be more subtle. They wanted a message sent..." He trailed off, understanding he had just spilled the beans.

"Okay, full disclosure, I'm a messenger, some Caravaner approached me at a bar, stuck a pistol in my back and said that if I didn't go looking for Popov, they would kill me and my family. I don't want to risk angering the some Grail gang, so I started looking. Yes, they might have done the same thing to several people, I don't know."

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon shrugged. "Dimitry doesn't like talking to me about his life. You know the five years between the second war and this? Most of that time has been spent with my trying to figure out why was in Falcon's Reach in the first. Not that it really matters."

The explosion and gunfire irritated him, killing humans wasn't that fun any more, no real challenge, like a chess master against the village idiot. At least, these humans didn't pose a challenge, they barely ever had swords, and if they did, they had no idea how to use them.

"I highly doubt that Dimitry would waste explosives and ammunition like that, should we go do something? Or let the rebels deal with it and gain some confidence?" Tabaraamon said flatly.

## Page 8

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Chase had come over and bothered him a bit about how he should be careful with his secrets, and if he had told anybody about there dad, blah blah blah. After a good 10 minutes of pestering, Chase had said he was a bit tired and promptly passed out next to Jae-Hyun. Urgh, he was even using his canvas bag to rest his head. Better not break anything with that head of his...Jae-Hyun thought, blowing hair out of his face with a huff.

Just as Jae-Hyun was dozing off and explosion in the distance startled him awake. He frowned, turning to look at the still sleeping Chase before he got up and made his way to a window and leaned out from it. Gunshots followed the explosion, and he craned his neck to see what was happening. Couple thugs...Parish...huh. Oh, Celeana and her friend are there too. And a couple dead people. Not rebels. Jae-Hyun hummed to himself as he observed the dispute. To go or not to go, that was the question.

Lucas Oswald - Snowview, Fairhaven

Lucas ducked behind a food cart just as a round of bullets came his way. He reached back into his quiver for the last explosive arrow he had. Notching it on the string, he counted to three, stood, made sure Griffin was nowhere near his target, and fired. It exploded, sending debris flying in all directions. But just as he was about to make his way back into the battle, he was pinned against the wall by something. He looked down, and just below his waist was an arrow with black feathers, pinning his cloak against the wall. Lucas peered in the direction that the arrow was fired. Silhouetted against the horizon, perched on top of a roof, was a dark hooded figure with a bow.

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Snowview, Fairhaven

Hiram and the rest of Wood’s Men ended the fight within moments. By Griffin’s count, all forty of the Wood’s Men members were there. They all had dark green cloth tied around their waste, all armed with rifles and other inventions that Hiram had created.

“Now what was this all about?” Hiram asked, approaching the small group of thugs that had been captured and tied together. He peered at the black cloth tied around their right arm and continued. “Attacking innocent people who were minding their own business?”

One of the thugs spat on the ground. “Innocent? Ha!” The man stood on his feet. Hiram gestured for his men to stand down. The man continued. “These two men where the ones to attack us first!” He pointed to Lucas, who had joined them, and Griffin.

Griffin stepped forward. “You were going to kill us if we didn’t turn out our pockets. We had no choice!”

“So what if we killed you?” The man stepped toward Griffin. “The kingdom would be better off without you rebel scum!”

“So you’re not rebels?” Hiram interrupted curiously. The man shook his head and continued to glare at them. “Loyalists? A sort of vigilante group?” The loyalist man nodded. “Well this has certainly become interesting hasn't it?” Hiram studied the group of vigilante loyalists.

“And you’re going to be sorry soon. The Hallows are coming for all of you rebels!” The loyalist man spat on the ground again and took his place next to his captured comrades. Griffin guessed that The Hallows was the name of their group.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

The more Erick considered their options, the more unappealing they both seemed. With so many people to look after, and so many of them being amateurs, nearly everything was made more complicated. It took a certain degree of patience that Erick just didn't have. On the one hand, Tabaraamon had a point; the rebels needed to learn how to think quickly and hold their own when things took an unexpected turn. On the other, leaving them unsupervised out there felt a bit too risky. After all, Erick and Tabaraamon weren't even sure what was happening yet.

"Eh, we should probably check on things outside, make sure none of them do anything stupid." He managed a sheepish smile, his shoulders raised in a shrug as he started for the exit, which was already crowded with people. Never before had teleporting seemed like such an incredibly useful skill.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowivew, Fairhaven

Evelyn was shocked by Barton's frank explanation, though she certainly appreciated it. As quickly as he had given up this information, it was possible that he was lying under pressure, but she decided to offer the benefit of the doubt for now. "I see."

She obviously hadn't expected this, but didn't waste any time in trying to sort out their situation. "Well, if I were Popov, I'm sure I would want to know about something like this. Once things settle down here, I can arrange for you to meet with him. Now that you've told me this, though, I'm sure you understand that I can't leave you to your own devices. That gang may come back for you. As for anyone else in the same predicament, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." She started to turn away from him, surveying the mill's preparations for battle, when a thought struck her. "And your honesty is appreciated, Mr. Barton."

The rebel girl returned, out of breath, and hastily attempted to fill Evelyn in on the situation outside. "Some pack of thugs just tried to rob two of our men. Looks like we have them taken care of."

Evelyn frowned. "What kind of thugs?"

"Don't know, but they all have a black cloth tied around one arm."

This was worrying news indeed. The symbol didn't sound familiar. "Are they dead?"

"Not all of them."

She nodded. "Alright. Thank you." As the girl rushed away, Evelyn pressed a hand to her forehead and breathed a sigh. "This town is beginning to feel very crowded."

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor pressed her back to the wall by the mill's entrance, trying her best not to draw any attention. The heated conversation between the two parties had been enough to clue her in, but it was hardly reassuring. Just how dangerous were these people? Her group was large, but if those people were especially skilled, she could still end up in serious trouble. Asking no one in particular, she eventually moved away from the wall and spoke up. "What are we going to do with these people?"

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice approached the scene, shocked by the number of bodies littering the ground as well as a familiar red-haired girl who was practically drenched in blood. She looked her up and down, concerned, and was glad to see that the blood didn't appear to be hers. Wood's men, meanwhile, were gathered with their weapons raised, and it seemed most of their allies had avoided any serious harm.

She arrived within earshot just in time to hear a threat from a member of The Hallows, and her stomach began to knot. She could hardly claim to be surprised that people like these would be stepping in, but it was disturbing, to say the least. In any case, she was grateful to Hiram and his men, as quickly as this had been settled with their help. Catching sight of Lucas - and the arrow pinning his cloak to the wall - Alice shot him a questioning look. "Are you alright?"

Celaena- Assassin

She glances around the fallen warriors and uses one of their shirts to wipe off her bloody daggers then slides them back into her stealth. A gruesome yet familiar scene lays around her, one she's seen too many times. Celaena didn't speak to the others, not asking if anyone that was "friendly" okay and no one asked her, which was fine since she wasn't hurt maybe a few scratches the fallen had manged to inflict before dying. She looks up to Jack jog up to her and pulls out a rag and wipes off some blood on her face. "You don't have to do that"

Jack chuckles, "Ya, ya. But hey I have clean rag so why not. You were fearsome out there"

"Thanks, I do try." She manages to smile a bit.

Lucas Oswald - Snowview, Fairhaven

Lucas caught sight of Alice as she made her way onto the scene. “Are you alright?” She asked in a slightly concerned voice. He nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. Still out of breath, he pulled the arrow from his cloak and took his place next to Alice. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he discovered that he had a big gash that was slowly leaking blood. He winced as he ran the back of his hand over it. It had to be pretty deep by the look of how much blood he saw.

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Snowview, Fairhaven

“Thanks for your help.” Griffin held out a hand to Celaena. “You really were, as your friend here put it, fearsome.” He smiled politely.

“Griffin!” Elizabeth arrived just as Alice did. She looked horrified at the scene around her and then noticed the Wood’s Men. She stopped and came to attention, staring at the Hallows who were tied together on the ground. Stealing a glance at Griffin, she made sure he was in one piece. Griffin smiled. Aw, she was worried about me.

He watched as Hiram rubbed his chin thoughtfully. There was a few moments of silence before he spoke.

“It was only a matter of time before these sort of people appeared. I didn’t think it would happen so quickly. But by the looks of it, the Hallows have been around for a while, considering how many of them there were.”

“And I think there are more. There were a few archers on that roof over there.” Lucas pointed to where he saw the dark hooded figure who had fired an arrow at him only moments before. “They seem pretty skilled also. This could be a huge threat to our plans.”

“Yes, yes.” Hiram continued to rub his chin. “But I think we have held them off for right now. We can get more information on the Hallows from this lot later.” He gestured toward the small group tied together on the ground.

“We should get back to the mill and let everyone know what happened.” Griffin said. Lucas nodded in agreement.

Celaena - Assassin

She looks at his hand and slowly shakes his hand, "No problem, call me insane but I always love a good fight." Not fully trusting anyone but Jack and Erick. Oh gosh, Erick, what the hell is he gonna think. Why should I even care. Celaena looks back the dead and starts feeling them up and pulls out gold coins if they had any on them.

Usami Sato

At the sound of an explosion outside the makeshift "forge," Usami growled through clenched teeth in frustration and irritation. The protective young man immediately abandoned his post to see if the girls were caught in the mess(which, to his relief, they weren't in the middle of it) and suddenly paled at the sight of the large, menacing group of men threatening everyone else. Usami instinctively placed a hand at his side, where a hilt for a curved blade rested that he assessed wouldn't do much good against a large forced of ranged attacks. He flattened his back against that of the mill and observed, noting Tula who had a group of Voce kids around her that she was immediately rushing into the Mill and away from the new threat, followed by Enrico, who only seemed to trail and once Tula and the kids were inside, Enrico seemed to do the same as Usami. He caught the Italian's eye for only a moment, but then their attention both split to focus on the mysterious group.

Enrico moved closer to Usami and whispered low as the Italian's green eyes continued to gloss over the groups around them. "You on your way inside, amico, or do you want to break the tension?"

"What?"

"You've got a sword on you; it can do something! I'm not armed." Enrico admitted.

"So you should go inside with the other Voce people, dumbass."

Enrico smirked. "I can't miss out on such a glorious opportunity. I feel the passion in my blood, and quite literally so."

Usami grimaced. "You're more than an odd fellow. I'm glad Ryouki cut you in the leg."

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Matthew nodded. "A direct meeting would be good I think, and if you could organize it instead of just identifying him it would be greatly appreciated."

He backed up slightly, allowing Evelyn to speak with the rebel she sent to go investigate. He thought over what the girl said, but he couldn't remember ever hearing about any group with black cloth as a identifying mark. Of course, he had rarely done anything in this part of the country, so his knowledge of criminal groups would be limited at best.

It was concerning the number of separate groups had come out of the woodwork, so many different little factions all fighting amongst themselves, weakening the nation, basically putting it on a silver platter for a large, well organized group.

 Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon followed Erick closely, his presence helping to increase their speed through the crowd since many of the rebels didn't want to even make eye contact, much less bump into them. It still was slow going, and the people carrying weapons around only made things worse, since they got caught on just about anything possible.

He kept his following distance, though reduced his level of presence so spears, bayonets, swords, and other weapons would stop getting caught on his clothing.

The level of confusion was an affront to him, he had been a general once, and this throng all trying to get one place or another with no apparent reason or order was embarrassing to look at. He passed Dimitry, and grabbed the man, half dragging him along. "What happened?" Tabaraamon asked.

"I don't have a clue, people started shooting, I didn't have a line of sight, so I decided not to go blasting away at everyone and everything that moved in the city. You know, self control." The smaller man snarled.

"Fine. Well, back to what ever you were doing."

SVT13 - Renegade Special forces - Abandoned mines, Fairhaven.

Rankin glared at Jefferson as they dragged the motorcycle back into the cave. It was completely out of gas and they had been dragging for at least a half mile, a long way when it's almost three hundred pounds of awkward metal, heated by the sun, and dripping oil.

"So what happened?" Rankin growled.

"I got held up, ran into a check point on the way back. It was a bad time." Jefferson responded.

"Yeah, clearly, you're at least sixteen hours late. Did you blow the bridge though?"

"Yeah, you got the prisoner talking?"

"No, you're the one that's good at breaking people. Get some sleep, then talk with Alexi, he'll brief you on the situation." With that they leaned the motorcycle against the wall and headed deeper into the cave.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Being the small and relatively polite fellow he was, Erick was used to difficulty when it came to crossing crowds, but it was shockingly easy with Tabaraamon nearby. Honestly, he could get used to it. When Tabaraamon caught Dimitry, Erick listened closely to his explanation of the situation, and frowned at the thought of it. "That doesn't sound good." By the time they made it outside, the confrontation had already ended, all of their enemies either restrained or dead as far as he could tell. Things seemed to have ended well. His eyes eventually found Celaena, covered in blood, and his heart lodged itself in his throat. It was a familiar sight - but one he had never had to face while he was awake.

He grappled internally with the urge to panic, and nearly stopped in his tracks. Thankfully, upon moving closer to the scene, he saw that most of the blood didn't belong to her, and breathed a small sigh. Her friend was cleaning her face with a cloth, and the sight of them chatting was a small reassurance. He saw Usami out there too, and of course, Alice had come out to check on things. His nerves already mending, he turned to look up at Tabaraamon with a jokingly rueful smile. "Damn. Looks like we missed all the action." From where he stood, he called over to the young assassin, "You okay, Celaena?"

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice eyed the wound on Lucas' forehead with what nearly amounted to a glare, though she knew this wasn't the time to fuss over it. She lowered her voice nearly to a whisper, her eyebrows pressing together slightly. "I'm sure they'll have something for that stored away in the mill. I'll go snooping if I have to," she offered, a tinge of sheepish humor in her voice. She wasn't sure what they had in the way of medical supplies, but she seriously doubted they lacked the forethought to bring something so vital.

As for these "Hallows," things may have quieted down, but they were hardly out of the woods yet, especially with enemies still watching them, scheming, from the rooftops. She nodded in agreement with Hiram and Lucas, a hand still resting on the pommel of her weapon. To remain hidden this long, growing in number right under everyone's noses, they must be skilled indeed. Taking in a deep breath, she looked to their new prisoners, and could only hope not to see any familiar faces among them. They would have to be moved out of sight once things quieted down - probably inside the mill, and with guards posted to watch them. But until then...

Alice's attention shifted to Hiram, and she forced a polite smile despite her lingering hesitation to speak to him. "If it's no trouble, maybe a handful of your men could keep an eye on these 'Hallows' people while we all get things sorted out inside the mill." Come to think of it, there wasn't much that could be done until these People's Army whippersnappers could be made to stand still for five minutes. One had to admire their enthusiasm, but it made any sort of organized action difficult.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Snowview, Fairhaven

Hiram Wood's indirect answer to her question was more than a little troubling. So he planned to have them interrogated, then. That wasn't something she cared to be a part of - in fact, none of this was. At that moment, with all awareness of her "mission" drowned out by a wave of fear and disgust, she would have fled the mill then and there if she saw the slightest chance of her survival.

She noticed the Voce man conversing with someone nearby, but couldn't make out a word of what either party was saying. Still, she found herself staring. As Kristen has said, she felt left out of this rebellion - or perhaps something less personal. It was probably the lack of information that bothered her the most. Speaking of which, that Vallakian giant was probably losing his mind right about then. Once she made it back inside, she would have to try and explain everything, ask if he needed water or something.

Her eye lowered when the Voce person moved to a place near the door, and she took a moment to gather her thoughts before attempting to speak to him. "Do you know about these "Hollow" loyalists, or whatever they call themselves?" Maybe it wasn't all that bad. Maybe they were just a small pack of lunatics, nothing to worry about for a group of their size. Maybe she was being a bit too optimistic.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn pondered Mr. Barton's request for a moment, hoping to go about their meeting as safely as possible. "Yes, I think that's doable." The People's Army leader and his subordinates were making the rounds by then, calming everyone down and sending them away from the exit of the mill. Thank goodness for that. Now, if she could just find a way to put Dimitry on the defensive - caution him somehow - before Mr. Barton was able to meet with him.

"Just give me a moment to make sure everyone is where they need to be, and then I'll see what I can do." Dimitry had to be around here somewhere - still outside, maybe, but almost certainly close by. And while she searched, she would do exactly what she said she would: make sure these People's Army geniuses weren't trampling each other.

Silas Reid - Possibly Gordon Ramsey - Snowview, Fairhaven

Silas pressed himself flat against the door of the bakery when that Oswald fellow came into view, finally slipping inside when he saw him pinned by an arrow. He really shouldn't have thrown that gun away in Glassvale. Maybe he could hide in—

The kitchen. How could he be so blind?

He sneaked over to the back room. Keeping himself in a crouch, he made a hasty search of the shelves and cabinets before laying his materials out on the counter. Even as he had begun to prepare them, he couldn't stop periodically looking over his shoulder, to the point where each of his fingers had at least one cut or more.

After taking a second to curse at his carelessness, he threw the ingredients in the pots he'd placed on the stove. Just a moment was all he needed. It wouldn't be as effective as what he had at home, but he would have to make due. He grabbed any small glass container he saw and gave them a quick rinse in the washstand. When the pots gave their tell-tale hiss, he poured the mixtures into their respective vials and stuffed them, along with any leftover materials, in the delivery boy's bag that hung by the backdoor.

He checked his watch. Roughly eighteen minutes in total. Not bad.

He made his way back to the front of the bakery, poking an eye out the entrance. The sounds of the fight had long since ended, but he had to make sure.

Wood's Men remained.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he stepped out into the street and hung back as he always did. Previously out-of-earshot within the group's conversation, he was unaware of the danger that still lurked.

## Page 9

Enrico Accosi

The other man seemed to tag along as the conflict died down-as did Enrico's racing heart to the Italian's dismay. As he edged more towards the door again, a tanned young woman he recognised faintly from conversing with the groups yesterday asked him about the 'Hollow' loyalists or something he didn't really care about. Enrico shrugged nonchalantly. "I couldn't tell you much, cara." He then smiled a little. "But that confrontation was really something, eh?" The Italian's green eyes crinkled at the corners as his smile widened with glee. "Of course, you're something else too, cara mia."

The smile was promptly wiped off his face from an elbow to the gut from the other man. "Che palle! What's you're problem?" Enrico whined.

The other man responded curtly. "Your type doesn't know when to lay off, and that's a problem for me." He turned to address the girl. "Sorry, I've just come out of the forge. I have no idea what they're talking about either. Or honestly what started all this."

 Dimitry Popov - We know what he does - We know where he is.

Dimitry saw Woods Men returning with several prisoners. He might as well go see what was going on, and check if anyone needed help. The recruits followed him loosely, probably since they feared retaliation if they wandered off.

He saw that Lucas had a nasty head wound, the wound covered with some sort of paste. Some sort of medicine clearly, though he didn't have any idea where it had come from.

As for the prisoners they didn't look like any group he had seen before, so they were probably a local militia, one too small to show up. He didn't really want to consider the other option, that they were from a large and extremely secretive group, they had enough problems without secret societies and mysterious organizations that no one knew about. He just hoped no psychotic cults decided to come to the surface.

"You good?" He asked Alice, glancing at the wood's men with some suspicion. He didn't trust them, even if Hiram wasn't their leader he wouldn't have trusted them, everyone had their own goals, their own means to their own ends, and it was more than likely they wouldn't match his.

"If you need these people questioned in a less than gentle fashion I will be more than happy to oblige." He said in a low voice that only a few nearby ears would hear.
He didn't torture people, he didn't like it, and wasn't good at it, Tabaraamon on the other had liked it and was more than capable of getting inside people's heads, literally and figuratively.

 Matthew Barton - Ditto -Ditto

Matthew nodded. "Thank you very much."

He was worried about this meeting, extremely worried. Who ever this guy was he was unlikely to be happy to hear the message, it sounded like a threat, and who ever had sent him was probably scared of Popov, since he sent messengers instead of doing it himself.

He thought over the message several more times, it didn't sound like any Grail-El he had heard spoken before, almost too refined compared to the rapid, almost jagged spray of sound that was spoken. Maybe it was gibberish, some sort of code that only a few people knew.

The slip of paper with the stamped skull, snake, and dagger also didn't look like a welcoming symbol. He had heard of certain criminals, especially pirates, giving someone a slip of paper with a large dark mark on it, which meant they were marked for death, maybe it was like that. He did his best to stretch, and loosened the straps that held his hatchet in place, just in case it turned into a fight.

Celeana- Assassin

Once she saw Erick she immediately look away, slightly scared and completely ignores Erick question not sure how she should answer. Oh ya I'm perfectly fine! I just killed almost half these guys like demon. Nothing new here! She couldn't say that so she continues to talk to Jack, "Hey do you wanna go back to the mill, there's a river next to it so you can clean up." He asks her.

She shakes her head and sighs, "No I wanna stay here, just in case they need me. Besides I'm not hurt, I should help first then clean up." She walks over to Erick and the others and listens in with Jack behind her, like her personal shadow.

Silas Reid - Botanist and Odd Job Part-Timer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

As soon as Silas arrived back at the mill, he headed straight for Ms. Luciole. By the way she was wandering around the place, she appeared to be searching for something. Not wanting to interrupt, he awkwardly hovered a few feet away. But being Silas, he had grown impatient within a matter of minutes. When it was clear he needed to take a more direct approach in catching her attention, he loudly cleared his throat.

"I see you've all wasted no time in training your new recruits," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the cloth. He cast his gaze to the area around the mill, taking note of the various weapons and formations scattered about. In less than a day, they had gotten the United People's Army wrapped around their little finger. The thought was a bit frightening. "About my offer... have you decided yet?"

Anton Lutece - Rebel Leader of Acta Veritas - Lynne

"Your answer, Lutece?"

Anton's lips thinned to a straight line, his hands folded neatly on the table in front of him. Outside, he could hear the pitter-patter of rain. At that moment, he decided that he would much rather prefer he were out there, drenched from the storm, than confined to where he was now. For you see, across from him sat the notorious fox.

Anton shook his head. "I need more time."

"I believe we've already given you an ample amount to mull it over," the fox replied. He had draped himself casually over his chair, the features of his mask ever twisted in laughter, but his amber eyes were sharp and cold. "Like it or not, my friend, the rebellion is happening now. And it's progressing faster than any of us have expected."

When Anton did not respond, he continued, "The United People's Army and Wood's Men have already converged in Snowview. It won't be long until the National Revolutionary Front decides to make their move."

He tapped his fingers against the surface of the table before pausing and snapping his fingers. "Oh! And I almost forgot. Have you heard? A new player has entered the board, fueling both sides from the shadows. Would you prefer to hand the reins over to them? I don't know about you, but I'm not quite fond of outsiders messing with our affairs, especially when so little about them is known."

The fox stood up from his chair and paced the floor. "When will you answer, Lutece? When another shadowy organization comes along? When the rebels, the loyalists and the very people are so fractured that nothing will be left in this kingdom for us? Wake up." He accented his last words by slamming his hands on the table, with enough force to surprise even Anton.

Though he loathed to admit it, the fox was right. If they didn't act, everyone would start grappling for control. Even the Armed Forces, as small and inept as they were, could find opportunity and expand their reach to the whole kingdom. He already heard reports of them recruiting a gang or two right here in Lynne. Granted, the conditions weren't perfect, but it was time to set the gears in motion. They were too far behind.

With a great sigh, Anton looked straight into the fox's eyes and said, "Then let's start by making ourselves known."

If their rivals liked to work in the darkness, they needed to step into the light.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice's smile toward Hiram softened to something more genuinely friendly, even as she silently reminded herself not to let her guard down around him. The fact that he acted exactly like the same Hiram they had known five years ago was somehow comforting and unsettling at the same time - like history was repeating itself. As Griffin tended to Lucas's injury with some kind of strange medicinal paste, Alice found herself intrigued. Though it didn't exactly look comfortable, it would certainly come in handy if it worked the way Griffin claimed.

She crossed her arms, taking a moment to ponder their options as far as defense was concerned. They hadn't seen the last of these new enemies; that much was certain. Hearing Dimitry's question, Alice banished her pensive expression and flashed him a mild grin. "Absolutely."

The following offer was disturbing, to say the least. She held little sympathy for these "Hallows" people, but her anger certainly didn't justify torture. "Wait," she muttered, her voice low. "Dimitry, please, don't put that offer on the table."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick's eyes lowered as Celaena's avoided him, and he shifted restlessly where he stood. He probably wasn't the first person she wanted to see at the moment, he guessed. He had made kind of an ass of himself earlier. As he mulled this over, he noticed the two of them taking a position nearby, and Wood's Men seemed to be discussing something with Dimitry, Lucas, and Alice. Things were finally starting to calm down, so when a small group of Wood's Men began to move their new captors to the mill, he followed. As hectic as the whole affair had been, he was a bit worried about everyone back there, including Ryouki.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Snowview, Fairhaven

The man's seemingly lighthearted attitude toward the incident was a bit of a shock, though oddly comforting. Yes, the confrontation was definitely something - in her mind, something terrifying. But this wasn't the time or place for complaining. "It was," she answered simply. The flattery, meanwhile, put her just the slightest bit on the defensive. She honestly wasn't sure what to think of someone with the gall to flirt at a time like this.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the man from before reentered the picture, scolding the Voce leader for his behavior. She raised an eyebrow at both of them, silent, until the Sato brother offered an explanation for his lack of an explanation. "That's alright. At least I'm not the only one who has no idea what's going on." She stole a glance at Wood's Men and the heroes, gathered nearby. "I just hope they do."

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn searched the mill, shouting an instruction here and a correction there in order to cover her tracks, when she was stopped none other than Mr. Reid. She paused where she was, expecting fire and brimstone - or at least a snide remark - but he appeared to be quite calm. "Ah! Your offer." She clasped her raised hands together, a grin forming on her lips. "I have, and I think we should give it a go. We'll have a team organized for you soon enough. But before that," she added.

The humor drained from her eyes, though her otherwise pleasant expression remained set in place. "There is something I'd like to ask you, just out of curiosity. How are you, Silas? I've noticed an almost suspicious lack of temper tantrums since yesterday." Truth be told, she found Silas frustratingly unpredictable, and the fact that he distrusted her so much made it almost impossible to figure out what was going on in that peach-colored head of his.

Celaena- Assassin

Celaena tries to follow whats going on but she keeps spacing out, not really caring about what they were talking about in the first place. She found ten gold coins on a body, she could get more alcohol with it. She lets out a sigh then her eye twitches when she feels someone hand on her butt. Jack grins at her and she pushes him away and mutter, "be serious."

"What like you?" mimics her stern face. "hmm... should I get whiskey or vodka" he jokes with her quietly.

Celaena rolls her eyes, hoping no one will call them out. For she doesn't like be center of attention, being an assassin and all.

Silas Reid - Botanist and Odd Job Part-Timer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

At the mention of temper tantrums, Silas' mood was further aggravated. If his chances of survival weren't at stake, he'd ask Ms. Luciole what exactly she meant by that. Clearly, he didn't take well to teasing.

"Adequate," he answered collectedly, absently clutching at the strap of the bag at his hip. "I was convinced by your arguments, and I suppose I've taken more of a liking to your side after a night's rest. You'd prefer if I was more of a hassle to you?" There, an suitable reason. Need he go into details? The more elaborate the lie, the more evident it would become.

"How soon then?" He hoped he didn't sound too eager. Perhaps he should engage in small talk. "Has it been easy leading around the United People's Army? They seem like a rowdy sort."

Dimitry Popov -  Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry nodded. "Of course, I'll take it off the table. Maybe having Tabaraamon in the room might make them more willing to speak, he won't even have to do anything. Talk to him though, sometimes he just feels contrary."

He didn't ask where the kid was, it was never good to reveal personal details around the enemy, since they tended to use it. He thought Alice and Lucas had a kid, he was pretty sure. Could only be four years old, possibly younger, so it wouldn't be alone, probably with Alice's parents, so if grandparents were the same all over the kid would be playing with large and dangerous dogs, getting stuffed with food, and not left alone. At least, that's what he did when he was a child in his grandparent's living quarters.

He walked into the mill and spotted Evelyn. "So... About my pay, I..." He trailed off once he noticed Silas.
"Sorry to intrude. Uh... Yeah. Sorry." He backed up a bit and went looking for Tula, make sure she didn't get injured in the rush for the door, or swept up by that piece of garbage Enrico.

Kristen Mernoth - Noble - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven.

Kristen largely ignored the gun fire, if it started getting louder and closer she would start worrying, but sue had to balance a checkbook that looked like it had been used by ten different people, all with different methods of recording information. It also looked like someone spilled ink on the paper at some point, so that was fun.

Her leg started itching, all of a sudden, completely out of nowhere. She started scratching, but got nowhere, she couldn't get through the cast no matter how long and sharp her finger nails were.

Tabaraamon - Undead psychologist - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhavnen.

 Tabaraamon watched Erick and the assassin with boredom. He didn't have anything better to do, so he might as well psychoanalyize someone other than Dimitry. He chose Erick, since this assassin type didn't really seem like the kind that would be that interesting, emotional detachment, paranoia, all that stuff he had covered that several hundred times already.

Erick on the other hand was an odd sort, the kings bodyguard, traitor, an orphan, and yet one of the happier people he knew. Something very different than Dimitry and people Dimitry often worked with, who were the ones that had made him board with emotional detached paranoids.

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

“There’s nine of these loyalists. I say we interrogate them one at a time. That way they can’t feel supported by the rest of their members.” Hiram spoke to Griffin and the three other Officers, as well as Lucas and Alice. He stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, almost in a whisper, “But how do we interrogate them?”

“We could try the scare tactic.” One of the Officers spoke. Griffin recognized him as Jarret, a tall muscular man with long brown hair and looked as if he could be from Vallak. “Pretend we are going to kill them, but not actually, of course. All we have to do is take one of them out back, blindfold them and stuff their mouth, and fire a round. It makes it seem like we actually killed them and the others might be scared into giving us information.”

Hiram nodded to himself. “That might just work Jarret. We will try it out. But if it doesn’t work,” Hiram paused and peered over to the room where the loyalists were being held. “Well, we will figure that out if the situation arises. But right now, I have to talk to Miss Evelyn.” Hiram excused himself and left everyone to catch up.

Griffin introduced himself to the two other Officers he didn’t know.

“You’re the one everyone was complaining about huh?” The bearded officer by the name of Rick asked. He was short and stalky, but looked as if he could take down a bull with one punch. His eyes were piercing blue, framed by bushy black eyebrows.

Griffin chuckled nervously. “I suppose that’s me.”

“Now I see why everyone was picking on you.” It was the other officer, Harold, another large and bearded man. Harold laughed and patted Griffin on the back. “There’s no meat on his bones.” The three of them laughed in unison. “We’re just messing around, kid. We saw you fighting back there. You’re downright good.”

Griffin smiled and shook hands with Jarret, Rick, and Harold. He looked over at his group. Elizabeth was picking on Garth again. Rocky and Eldon were messing around with Tarrin, who didn’t look as if he enjoyed it very much. He couldn’t spot the twins anywhere. They were probably with another group of Wood’s Men.

Hiram Wood - Rebel Leader - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

“Miss Luciole.” Hiram approached Evelyn, who was talking to a man that he didn’t know. “Sorry to interrupt, but it is quite urgent. I think it’s a matter that everyone should know about. It seems that a loyalist group has popped up. It was a small group that we encountered, but we suspect there are a lot more of them. As far as we know, they’ve been working underground for a while. There’s little to no information on them. They are trained in combat, that’s for sure, and are well armed. They could be a threat in the near future. We know that their goal is to take down the rebel groups, as one of them made clear earlier.”

## Page 10

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Silas's explanation did nothing for Evelyn's concerns one way or the other, but she decided to place them aside for the time being. The man's focus was already elsewhere, obviously. "Rowdy is a polite way to put it. But when you have something they want, it's very easy to keep them in line - not unlike small children. As for the details of your request, I have-" She noticed Dimitry approaching and paused, hoping for a chance to resolve their business with Barton, but he didn't stay long. "Aagggh." She groaned quietly, rolling her eyes in frustration. Damn manners. Damn Dimitry's manners, damn her manners, just - damn.

She returned her attention to Silas, as impatient as ever. "I have a few things to take care of before then. But it will be soon, I can assure you - this evening, at the latest. It's in no one's best interest for me to dilly-dally." Perhaps they could talk about it over supper or something. Another voice addressed her from nearby, and she turned to see Hiram Wood approaching. His news was, admittedly, quite a surprise. She knew of a couple of loyalist groups operating outside the law, but none that fit Hiram's description. This was unacceptable. She had to let her people know - maybe even send Asbel out to gather some information. For now, though... "Urgent is right," she muttered.

Evelyn looked to Silas, finding her voice abnormally quiet as she sorted out their predicaments in her head. "My apologies, Mr. Reid - how rude of me. If you'll excuse me for just one second, I promise that our unfinished business will not slip my mind."

Once again, she turned to Hiram, wasting no time. "The group you encountered - did any of them escape? Did they kill any of ours?" It was official: the mill was no longer safe. She would have to keep track of everyone who entered and left, and they would have to move on before long. But once they did, there would be no turning back; it wasn't a decision to be made lightly.

Part 6: Chapter 3 -

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice nodded in agreement with Dimitry, her eyes lowering as he left for the mill. Sooner or later, this was going to become tricky with so many different people and opinions involved, but they would find an understanding somehow. Otherwise, they would all end up at each others' throats, and failure was sure to follow. As long as her old companions continued to keep everyone working together, all of these rebels could still learn to work as a team.

She listened to Wood's Men discussing interrogation, and rolled the idea around in her head. It was a cruel trick, but perhaps it was their best option. "I suppose I'll find out where we stand with Tabaraamon, then, just so we're aware of our options." She took Lucas's hand in hers for a moment, shooting him a small smile, before leaving to speak with Tabaraamon. He seemed to be focusing on something, though she wasn't sure what, and she could only hope she wasn't interrupting him somehow. "Excuse me, Tabaraamon. May I discuss something with you?"

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Snowview, Fairhaven

From an outside corner of the mill, Asbel and Boraci kept an eye on the discussions and such that followed the fight, which the former was all too relieved to have missed. It appeared they had a new "organization" to worry about, though, and it didn't sound familiar. That was either a very good sign or a very, very bad one. Asbel sighed, a shoulder propped against the wall. "You know, Boraci, sometimes I wonder if I should dye my hair black." He looked up at Boraci as he passed, heading for the mill's front entrance.

"That would look very interesting," he answered patiently, though his focus seemed to be elsewhere - probably on avoiding the dead bodies strewn about the area.

Asbel moved to follow, scooping up a clod of dirt from the ground at his feet. He crushed it in one hand, letting the dust and fragments slide through his fingers. "Oh."

A faint chuckle later, "Well, I'm glad that's settled. Now, do you have any idea what the hell everyone is doing?"

As they entered the mill, Asbel's gaze began to wander. "Not a clue."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick was halfway back to the mill when he glanced over his shoulder, and caught sight of Celaena's friend doing... Something. He wasn't sure what that was, exactly. Against his better judgment, he stopped, and eventually called over to Celaena from where he stood, managing a casual smile. "Hey, Celaena! Mind if I talk to you for a sec?" He had planned on asking her about that joker anyway.

 Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun watched as some rebel troops dragged some men behind them up on the road, making their way slowly to the Old Mill. By the state of their bodies he'd say they weren't friendlies and were the likely cause of the explosion that had recently taken place. Jae-Hyun was about to step outside when Chase stirred in his sleep and began to cough lightly. He bent down next to him and arranged the jacket over him closer to his neck, but he could tell the jacket was too thin, as he felt Chase shivering. Jae-Hyun sighed, scratching his head. he didn't want his brother to catch a cold but he didn't have anything warmer to give him. "Don't go anywhere." Jae-Hyun murmured.

Jae-Hyun began to ask around for blankets or a jacket. Some rebels would just shake their heads, others would politely say that they needed them, and others would snap at him. he noticed some of the newcomers entering the mill and approached them warily. " Sorry to bother you but do any of you by any chance have a blanket or an extra coat I could borrow? My brother is sleeping and he seems to be cold..."

Celaena- Assassin

She lets out a sigh and looks over at Erick, jogging over to him, her red hair bouncing a bit has she does so. "What?" She crosses her arms and stares up at him with her still icy blue eyes. "Need something, kings bodyguard?"

Silas Reid - Botanist and Odd Job Part-Timer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

"No, it's alright," Silas said to Mr. Popov. "I was just about... to..." He let his sentence die as the man walked off. Their partings always seemed to be short, their attitudes uncertain. As such, he was unable form a definite opinion on the hero from Grail-El. When Mr. Wood approached on the other hand, Silas—holding steadfast to his grudge—didn't bother to say a word and turned his heel faster than a scalded hellhound. He'd leave Ms. Luciole to finish her work.

So far, Silas had placed the members of their party in either indifference or contempt, mostly the latter. He had yet to enjoy anyone's company, and he aimed to keep it that way, with good reason. He need only to hold out for a few days more.

Coming upon the sudden smell of smoke, he stopped. Someone had left a boiling cauldron on a fire. Making sure no one was around, he got some chamomile from his bag, one of the few herbs he managed to snag, and took the water for himself. Obviously, he wouldn't give a damn about the rebels and their needs.

He returned to his walk, a cup in hand, stopping again when he saw that noble girl. Surprising, how she was holding up. In a split-second, he found his hands carefully placing the cup down next to her. It wasn't a big deal, he reasoned to himself. He could get another one.

"Tea," he said curtly. "You can have it or not." Without waiting for her reaction, he turned to leave. He had hoped she was so absorbed in those papers she might not have noticed him anyway.

Hiram Wood - Rebel Leader - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

“None of mine or yours were killed.” Hiram wanted to make it clear that they were still two separate groups, and that he would protect his own if it came down to it. He continued, “Mr. Oswald said there were a few on the rooftops that got away. But we managed to capture a group of them, and are going to attempt to get information.” Hiram tried to read Evelyn’s emotions. He could tell that she was worried. Their hiding spot was no longer safe and who knew if they were followed.

“We need to be on guard. And it would be wise to alert the others of the situation so that they can be prepared.” Hiram looked around at everyone standing in the mill. “This loyalist group could be a big threat to this operation. I suggest we send a few people out to investigate when or if we get any information from these loyalists. I will send a couple of my own men for this mission, as well as anyone else who volunteers.”

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Griffin watched as Alice left to talk to the Shadowed One, who still made him slightly uncomfortable. Lucas smiled after her and sat down beside him against the wall.

“So, why do you use a bow?” Griffin asked, gesturing to the sleek wooden bow that was strung on Lucas’s back. He found it odd that people were still using weapons like that.

Lucas smiled and took his bow and quiver off of his back. “I guess i’m just comfortable with a bow. I’ve always used one, ever since I was young. And when we were in the Wastes,” Griffin noticed his eyes began to wander, as if recalling the Second War. “It came in pretty handy.”

“Well, you’re really good with it. I don’t think I would be.” Griffin chuckled.

“Maybe I could teach you how.” Lucas counted the arrows in his quiver and frowned. “As soon as I get more arrows.”

“Really?” Griffin asked wide eyed. A hero of the Second War teaching him how to use a bow? “That would be great!”

Elizabeth flopped down beside them. “What would be great?” She asked, handing Griffin a roll from her backpack.

He took it gratefully. “Lucas might teach me a few things about the bow and arrow.” Elizabeth laughed and took a bite of her roll.

“If you’re even strong enough to pull the string back.” She laughed again, picturing Griffin trying to shoot an arrow.

Dimitry Popov - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry overheard the conversation between Lucas and Griffin and stepped in. "Well, it's always nice to know more than one or two methods of fighting. I like rifles, but I can also throw a knife through someone's eye. Though becoming half decent the bow is, from what I've heard, somewhat more difficult than becoming half decent with a rifle."

"Though if anyone is going to teach you how do to it best, it'll probably be Lucas. Then you can get Hiram to invent some sort of crazy arrows." He said with a half smirk.

Tabaraamon - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon turned to look at Alice. "It depends, what do you want to discuss? History? Macro economics? Military grand strategy? Poetry? I have little interest in the subject but I can hold a conversation. Or do you want to ask me to do some favor? It's that isn't it?"

He knew that none of them would really want to discuss anything interesting with them, they hid the fact that he unnerved them quite well, but it was still there. He knew humans well enough to know that they wanted the least interaction with horrific undead nightmares, and the only reason they kept him around was because he was a horrific undead nightmare.

Not that he really cared, he could talk with other Shadowed ones, and often did, though sometimes it was nice to have a perspective other than from other undead or Dimitry, who was easily the least intellectual person he knew, except when it came to hurting people and cooking, neither of which Tabaraamon needed any help with.

 Kristen Mernoth - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Kristen glanced up when the man spoke and didn't really notice what happened until Leif shouted at her across the building. "Kristen! You're supposed to be the one with poise and manners! Thank the man for his simple kindness!" She blushed violently, snatched the tea and started sipping it, since it was still rather hot.

She couldn't thank the man now, it would look like she was simply trying to save face. She also wasn't sure who had given her the tea in the first place, and even if she had it would be difficult to move in the crowd. She went back to her paper work, trying to ignore the number of rebels staring at her.

SVT13 - Abandoned mines, Fairhaven.

"I hate when people don't cooperate, means I have to pay a friend of mine overtime, which is rather annoying, I don't like seeing money leaving my account, well, you made me bring him in, brought this on your self." Alexi snarled at the officer. "Jefferson! He's all yours!"

The younger man walked in and cracked his knuckles. "Well, I guess it's time for me to get back in practice, excuse the first few minutes, I'm normally much better." He pulled a large piece of rolled up leather and let it unroll with a flourish, exposing a multitude of small knives, forceps, and small hammers.

"This is my father's, he was a surgeon, I was a bit of a disappointment, but he still left me his old tools in his will. So here's to my dad. I never really liked chemicals, too unpredictable, you never really know if it'll make them tell the truth, or stop their heart. Beating someone into a pulp is basic, and quite quick, but well... It's just not quite efficient enough. Some people can deal with it much better compared to others. Now, let's start with your fingers, you look like you need a manicure."

It took less than ten minutes.

"Ill tell you everything I know. Just make it stop alright... Please..." The officer painted.

"Go on." Alexi rasped.

"I'm not what you think I am, I'm a member of the secret police... Looking for rebel groups in the countryside. I don't know about the forces guarding the capital. We were hunting for some small, splinter group. Mix of Grial and Rojyan's we thought."

"Continue." Jefferson snapped.

"We never found them, it might have just been a group of mercenaries, we were supposed to find their base of operations, then signal for an airship raid." The man continued.

"How many airships?" Jefferson asked.

"I don't know, it was direct from the king though."

"Are there other teams like yours? How do you signal the airships?" Alexi inquired.

"I don't know how many others like my unit there are. A decent number I would assume. And we would use flares, just like you would."

Enrico Accosi

Enrico shrugged at her response, and the hyperactive Italian's eyes landed on an interesting space in the calm. His lip curled in a grimace when he saw Dimitry join the conversation.

The Sato brother eyed him warily. "Don't do anything stupid again."

"Depends on your definition of the word, my friend." Enrico muttered as he absently fingered over the inking of one large rose on the back of his hand. His green eyes switched their target to the tanned girl, and then to Tula, who seemed to be off and helping his other Voce kids get reoriented after the chaos and have their lessons outside. 'Combination combat-and-language' Tula had called it. The sight was adorable. Releasing himself from the distraction, he grinned at the girl. "Hey, help me poke the bear so I can get my woman back."

"How about you don't." Usami suggested and glared at Enrico. "This is no place for your romantic ass to be right now."

"Aah, but I don't need remedial shooting or combat training, and I'm fluent in just about every tongue."

Eis happened to pass by into the mill. "Except for Vallakian and Rojyan." The boy muttered so Usami and the tanned girl could hear, and to piss off his 1st-in-command.

"No one bloody knows Rojyan unless they're from Rojya, dumbass!" Enrico snapped at his second, effectively scaring off the boy. Attaining a calmer demeanor, he turned to the girl. "What's your name? I never learned it."

 Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Silas's abrupt exit was briefly worrying, but she decided to leave him be. She let her focus rest on Hiram for the time being, rarely breaking eye contact throughout his account of the attack. Oh, they would definitely be back. Greater in number, probably, and very pissed off. "If you have trouble getting them to talk, let me know.

She agreed with his advice; they needed to be especially cautious from here on out. "Agreed. I'll alert everyone shortly. As for your mission, I can't exactly stop you. Just be aware that other loyalists - even officers like me - will be out and about, not to mention other volatile asshats in general. A small group will be seen as an easy target, so make sure they watch their backs." Evelyn paused, and her measured breathing slowed slightly. "And please, for the sake of 'yours' and 'mine,' tell your men not to leave the mill unless it's absolutely necessary." Was she being a tad condescending? Maybe. But keeping this man's group alive was only going to become more difficult for him from then on, and she would rather be safe than well-liked.

"In any case, thank you for the information. We should keep each other up to date on these things." She sighed, a smirk creeping back onto her expression. "And I suppose I should tell the People's Army leader." Oh, joy. "Well, is there anything else you have to tell me, Mr. Wood?"

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice raised an eyebrow at Tabaraamon; he was starting to sound like her father, oddly enough, and hardly in an endearing way. Though, she supposed he was probably half as thrilled about being here as she was. "In a sense, yes. It's about those Hallows people we've captured; Wood's Men plan to interrogate them and hopefully find out more about their group. If their current plan fails, I wanted to know how you felt about giving it a try. Do you think you would be able and willing to get information out of those people without harming them?"

Erick Bailee - Oh, she went there. - Snowview, Fairhaven

Celaena's attitude caught Erick completely off his guard, and he briefly lost his voice. "Uh..." After a moment taken to bolster his courage, he smiled. "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have gone after you two like that." He crossed his arms. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask if your friend over there is part of the team now. And the same for you, I guess. You know, since you were planning... Something else." Probably best not to mention her original goal, he figured. If the traitors find out you were planning on betraying them, that doesn't leave too many options open.

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel froze in place when a young man stopped him and Boraci just within the mill, and neither party said a word at first. "What?" Asbel was the first to speak, his social skills already failing him. Oh, this was downright uncomfortable. Wasn't this the one who had been traveling with Chase? As a result of his attempts to wipe the memory from his mind, he was having trouble identifying the man, but he was fairly sure.

"Your brother," Boraci repeated, sounding mildly interested.

Asbel sighed. "Still as delicate as ever, I see," he muttered, but eventually met the mysterious man's eyes. "I have a blanket I can spare." Truth be told, probably had more than his share of them. "Follow me, then." He started toward the back of the building, where he had been sleeping, and motioned for the man to come along. Stealing a glance at Boraci, Asbel saw him shrug in a "might as well" sort of way before returning his attention to the newcomer.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Snowview, Fairhaven

Somehow, amongst all the bickering, Danor couldn't help but feel more at ease. She watched the young boy flee the scene, feeling rather sorry for him, before looking up at his boss. "You don't waste any time, do you? It's Danor Arkaitz." She smiled. "I don't think I learned yours either. As for 'getting your woman back,' I'm sorry, but that is not a bear I want to poke. And it's definitely not a bear you should poke." She briefly turned her attention to the Sato brother, her eyebrows furrowing. "I'm sorry - I don't think I learned your name either."

 Celaena - Assassin

A small smirk appears on her lips, "awe you worried about me?" Her smirk disappears, "My friend, is joining me. As for the group, we'll see. As for my plan, well thats none of your concern. I'll have you know I can handle my self if things go sour." She puts a hand on her hips, "has you clearly can see I can do well against a few people, and judging by your group. There's only a few who would be a serious threat." She stares up at him.

Hiram Wood - Rebel Leader - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn was right, a small group of rebels by themselves was like sending up a signal flare. “Here we are, come and attack us!” But he would have to be on high alert, especially after his group attacked the loyalists.

He nodded his head politely. “That is all I have fore now Miss Luciole. But I will keep you updated.” He bowed slightly and began his walk towards the room where the loyalists were being kept. Looking over his shoulder he continued, “And Evelyn,” he glanced at the mill entrance, “best keep on your toes.”

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Elizabeth continued with her snide remarks about Griffin shooting a bow until she got bored. But Griffin was very confident in his ability to learn, especially after her relentless teasing.

Griffin looked up at Dimitry as he came over. The man still made him slightly nervous. He looked as if he could take on a whole army of Waste monsters, which he had. Although he was scary, Griffin respected him as one of the heroes of the Second War. “Maybe we can learn the bow together, Dimitry.” Griffin gave him a slight smile.

Lucas nodded his head in Dimitry’s direction. “Thanks Dimitry.” After all, he was still slightly convinced Dimitry was still sour towards him for killing Hiram. But now that Hiram seemed alive and well, a fact that was till giving him a headache, maybe he was back to liking him.

## Page 11

Usami Sato

"I'm Enrico Accosi, Voce's one and only leader in these parts." The Italian, who took to more civilly introducing himself now, shrugged and shoved his hands into his loose, pant pockets. "There are other groups similar, but you could say I'm kind of a big deal in this area at the very least."

"As in, you cause a lot of trouble for most people." Usami cut in.

Enrico frowned at first, and then flashed Usami a large grin. "That's right!"

Usami rolled his eyes at the strange individual, and then introduced himself as requested by Danor. "I'm Usami Sato. Good to meet someone as lost here as I am. Maybe a little less..." He smiled softly.

  Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon rubbed his chin. "Willing? Yes. Able to do it without harming them physically? No problem. Though if I do anything more than just standing around looking intimidating I can't vouch that their mental state will be very good."

He didn't really like the idea, he liked keeping his existence at least somewhat less than well known, but there wasn't really any point in trying to remain secret anymore, all these rebels had seen him, and probably a few loyalist spies, as well as most people at the inn they had stayed at a few nights ago, so word had probably gotten around that some sort of monster was working for the rebels. He just hoped the rumors didn't crop up in Grial-El, since certain people might start putting puzzle pieces together.

"How do you want me to go about this? Dimitry had had decent results simply by acting like I'm not there, and they are seeing things. Or I could make it look like you have control over me, and that you're the only thing keeping me from devouring their souls. Which I can do, if you were curious, it just takes a few days." The big shadow said.

 Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven

"I think I'll stick to my guns, pun not intended. I'd like to learn, but I've got all these naive and hopeful kids who's dreams I have to smash and turn into an effective fighting force. Which should be time consuming, and somewhat frustrating." He said with a slight smile.

"Though definitely learn, there are certain things that a bow can do that a rifle can't, like reuse ammunition."

He sort of liked Griffin, as much as he could like someone he had met less than a week ago. The kid was what he had wanted the rebels to be, capable, smart, but still with a vision. Not the indoctrinated idiots he had to train.

He used his head to motion towards Elizabeth. "What's with her?" She acted oddly, and Dimitry disliked it when people didn't act as they should, it made figuring out their next move much more difficult.

 SVT13 - Renegade Special Forces - Somewhere, Fairhaven.

Alexi slowly loaded bullets into the magazine of his rifle, mostly so he could do something, since he was getting antsy just sitting around. "So now what? We know that the government has deployed combat airships in support of secret police strike teams. Those will make out job much harder, so we need them gone." He growled.

"Yes, but how? We don't have any anti aircraft weapons, and we won't be getting any air support, so what are you thinking?" Rankin sighed.

"We raid the base, burn the airships, blow up the fuel depot, and kill the crew." Alexi snapped.

"Yes but where is the base? Rankin asked.

"Jefferson! Get in here!" Alexi bellowed.

"Yeah boss?" Jefferson asked as he entered the room the others were in.

"Where is the airship base?" Rankin asked.

"Ill go ask the prisoner." Jefferson sighed.

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun nodded, following the two newcomers. He was a bit nervous, as he wasn't particularly good with...strangers. He figured he's at least talk to them, so he turned to the one who had questioned him, "Yes. My brother. Heh. Little brat, can't believe he's supposed to be older than me, actually." Jae-hyun let out a soft chuckle at the thought. He kept walking behind them, studying them closely. They didn't seem too bad. The pale one with lighter hair seemed to have recognized him. From where, he had no idea. "So. Who have you two been holding up?"

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Snowview, Fairhaven

"Well, it's very inspiring to meet a big deal like yourself, Enrico. Someday, perhaps I'll be a big enough deal to cause trouble for more than just my friends and family." Danor eyed him curiously, the slightest trace of a smirk tugging at her mouth, until Usami cut in with another clarifying remark. Well, she couldn't argue there. This whole revolution business had been a little inconvenient for her thus far, to say the least.

Another introduction from the more sober of the two men brought a smile to Danor's face, and she feigned an amused scoff. "I see I have you fooled." She still felt utterly out of place, but much less so now that she was slowly learning how to make friends here. She was honestly surprised by how pleasant most of these people were. "It's good to meet you too, Usami."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick's eyebrows furrowed, his smile dissolving into a worried frown. "My group's not a threat to you, Celaena - not even if you leave. Which, as groups go, is pretty special." He sighed, burying his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, I didn't mean to step on your toes. I'll leave you and your friend to whatever it is you're doing." He raised a hand and positioned his fingers in the shape of a gun, his chipper attitude returning in the form of a small grin. "But! Heaven forbid this should ever happen, mind you. If you ever need my help, I will be around. Somewhere. Best bet might just be to yell, really - my hearing's pretty sharp." He nodded decisively and headed for the mill's entrance, feeling sick.

Maybe it wasn't his place to ask those kinds of questions, but it was definitely his concern - because he was concerned as hell. He wished he could trust her friend, but that wasn't working. When it came to trusting people, he couldn't rely on instinct; instinct very rarely suggested that he trust someone, and when it did, that was usually a warning sign in itself.

Spotting Usami, who was seemingly busy with a conversation, Erick raised his voice to address him anyway. "Hey, Usami!" He smiled, hoping not to come off as rude - any ruder than could be expected when interrupting someone, that is. "Where's your brother?"

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn turned on one heel to shoot a smirk at Hiram and his well-meaning warning, as determined as ever to get the last word in. "I'm never off them, Mr. Wood!" She continued searching for Dimitry, tracing his steps as best she could, until she found him chatting with Lucas and a few of Wood's Men.

In case their conversation was an important one, she kept a short distance between herself and them, waiting for an opportunity to get the man's attention. Honestly, despite her concern, she was interested in seeing this odd situation play out. Afterward, unless it turned out to be some horribly urgent disaster, she guessed she would arrange for food to be brought back to the mill, and call a meeting to discuss Silas's request.

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowivew, Fairhaven

Boraci was the first to speak, as Asbel was intently focused on searching the mill for the area where he had more or less taken up residence. He didn't seem to be having much luck, actually.

"Well enough. Feeling a bit like a sardine," he added, shooting a discreet glance at the still bustling crowds of people moving about the mill.

Asbel's face lit up when he finally found his makeshift bed, which he then proceeded to glare at as if it had wandered off to play with its friends without telling him and inadvertently stayed out long past its curfew. He retrieved a crumpled blanket and haphazardly folded it into a more manageable size. "Oh, can't complain," he said, finally thinking to answer the boy's question. "I haven't been this productive in years."

Boraci tilted his head slightly as Asbel struggled to fold the blanket - somehow - his gaze eventually settling on Chase's brother again. "And yourself?"

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice's eyes lowered, and she struggled not to let her mind retreat from the conversation. "You may not have to step in at all. But if the situation calls for it, and if you're willing to do it, then Dimitry's method would be ideal." If Wood's Men's method failed, it would probably mean that these rebels were willing to call a bluff that suggested a possible threat to their lives. If that happened, another bluff - or worse, a genuine threat - wasn't likely to work.

"Thank you for your help," Alice added, finding eye contact with Tabaraamon again. She raised her arms slightly, then let them fall against her sides again. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see how this plays out. What do you think you'll do in the meantime?"

Celaena - Assassin

Something in her soften for pain flickered across her face as she looked away. All she could muster was a small thanks before he turned towards the other girl. She never wanted to hide so badly since the fire that changed her life. Just as she felt the tears weld in her eyes, she took off running. Running past everyone, not caring if she would draw attention, as she runs behind the mill and leans against the wall and sinks into the ground as the tears roll down her face.

Jack- Blacksmith

He watched Celaena talked to erick then her running off with concern. He would have gone after her but something stopped him, she probably would have liked to be left alone. He rubbed the back of his neck, maybe he could go buy her some whiskey or something. With that thought he walked off to find the nearest pub.

Usami Sato

Usami laughed softly, glad to make a friend for once. He opened his mouth to reply, but heard Erick call him from not far off. His jaw clenched a little out of slight irritation, but he was working to accept the guy who wasn't that bad for a guard if he was seemingly on their side. At the question, he shrugged. "I think he's still with the twins." Usami called back. "Uh...inside the mill."

Enrico then asked. "Does he mean the long-haired fellow who nearly offed my foot?"

"Yes-"

"Oh, I need to congratulate his aim!" Enrico grinned wide, like a little kid, and his voice seemed to raise in pitch with excitement. "I didn't even see his wrist move!"

"Go look for him with Erick if you want." Usami suggested.

"Eh, sure!" Enrico turned to face the young man and ran off-of course not without a parting wink to Danor-and went up to join Erick. "I'll help you look for him. That brother of his doesn't seem to want your company."

Usami barely heard what Enrico had said before he practically bounced away, and crossed his arms over his chest as he glanced off.

 Tabaraamon - Bad at conversation - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon would have raised an eyebrow, but since he didn't have one to raise his left eye simply rotated slightly. "What will I do while I wait for them to finish asking questions? I have no idea. Probably nothing, it's not like I've got much to do, no food, no sleep. Probably go somewhere that I'm not seen, just to make the rebels less uneasy, they don't like me here. Can't say I blame them."

He glanced around. "So how is it having a kid? Do you need any parenting tips? I might be able to remember some things from before I was, you know, killed. Teenage years aren't as bad as everyone says, though you shouldn't be worried about that quite yet." He might as well talk with Alice, didn't have any one else to talk to and he sort of liked children.

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Matthew slowly wandered through the building, not really do anything, just getting used to the place. He stuck his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket and felt the gold necklace, bag of large denomination gold coins, and a few extra shotgun shells. It was all there, which was good, since he was certain that in a big crowd of rejects, malcontents, and what ever else made up a rebel group, there would be at least a few pick pockets.

Matthew smirked. There would be pick pockets, and he looked like the perfect mark. Though if one of the wannabe cut-purses came after him he would probably knock them out. Teach them a lesson in looking at more than someone's clothes, since any one could wear the uniform of a guard, but that didn't mean they were one.

 SVT 13 - These assholes again - Fairhaven.

"We can't make a frontal assault, it'll be suicide. To many, even if we bombard the place with the mortar first. Most will be non-combat personnel, but that doesn't mean much, they'll fight back, possibly with the weapons on the airships." Alexi growled while looking over a map of Statburg, a small farming village that had supposedly abandoned during the second war of the wastes. If what the officer had told them it was now being used as an airship base.

"Well, it's likely that some, possibly all of the buildings have been demolished for the base, so this map might not be accurate." Rankin said, flipping through a large binder that contained information about the Falcon's Reach military. "Okay, it says here that they like to keep their airships empty, no gas in the bag, no fuel in the tank."

"Well that makes our job a lot easier. Dump a couple dozen high explosive mortar shells into the entire place, let the storage tanks blow up." Jefferson muttered.

"No, that makes it look like actual soldiers did it, which might increase suspicion on our government. We need to make it look like the rebels did it." Alexi sighed.

"And how do we do that?" Rankin asked.

"We don't, we just kill everyone, then blow up the dam a few miles up stream, washes all evidence across the length of the entire river." Alexi said. "Actually, we just blow up the dam. Shouldn't be that hard right? That reservoir should contain enough water."

"Give me a minute." Rankin started looking through a large crate of binders. After about four minutes he pulled one out.
"Okay, is this is a guide for Sand Ship captains about which water supplies are suitable for resupply of the reactor coolant. That reservoir... Has approximately three billion gallons of water in it. Okay, I don't think we will have any problem washing that base away. Might even flood some nearby towns."

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun chuckled about the sardine comment as they wandered through the mill, ignoring the fact that the man guiding them seemed a bit lost."Eh, you get used to the feeling of suffocating in people after a while. The smell too. Nothing like the smell of sweaty bodies."

As they reached the place where they had been settled, Jae-Hyun watched as the light haired man struggled to fold the blanket. Well, that blanket should be enough for Chase. He was startled from his thoughts as the other asked him a question, "Oh. Me? Uhm. Strangely enough...I'm not that interested in the rebellion. But, it is something that helps me be...productive I suppose. Even more so now that I have to worry about Chase-I mean, my brother. "

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

"What's with her?" Dimitry asked, nodding his head towards Elizabeth. Luckily she went off to talk with the other Wood's Men before she could hear that question. She would have gave Dimitry her death stare and maybe slung a few insults. That was one thing Griffin knew about Elizabeth, she doesn't like people asking what's wrong with her.

Griffin chuckled. "Elizabeth? She and I have had our differences. I was made an officer and she didn't like that very much." He leaned in and whispered to Dimitry. "But I think I might be growing on her."

He took the last bite of his roll and wiped his hands clean of the crumbs. "But yeah," he continued, "I think learning the bow would be a skill that I would like to have."

Lucas patted him on the shoulder. "We'll start your training soon if you like?" Griffin nodded in agreement. "And if you ever want to join in Dimitry, you're welcome to." Lucas gave Dimitry a polite smile.

Hiram Wood - Rebel Leader - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

He gave Evelyn a thumbs up and made his way over to where Griffin was. "We're about to go interrogate the prisoners. I would like you and the other officers to accompany me. You two are welcome to come as well." He gestured to Dimitry and Lucas. "Let's not waste any time. Follow my lead."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - You guys

Erick chuckled as Enrico rushed over to him, and was about to continue on his way alongside the rebel leader, when he caught sight of an obviously distraught Celaena sprinting around to the back of the mill. His eyes locked on the corner of the mill where he had seen her disappear, and his lips parted as if faltering on the brink of speech. Uh-oh... Should he not have left? The jumble of questions and explanations soon grew to a deafening roar that rattled his brain, nearly drowning out Enrico.

When the man's words did register, Erick met his eyes, and although it took him a moment, he laughed at the insightful remark. "I'd say not!" He took a deep breath through his nose and looked to the entrance, taking a moment to regain his bearings. "Let's go, then." Reminded of Usami, he raised a hand to wave at him as he started forward again. "Thanks!"

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Wouldn't believe

Alice nodded along with Tabaraamon's reply, her head slightly tilted, until he mentioned her son. Caught completely off guard, she let out a small laugh, and seemed to brighten at the change in topic. "Not for a while, but that's definitely good to hear. I wouldn't have thought so. I'd certainly be up for some advice; Lucas and I are still rather new to this, after all."

She crossed her arms, considering his question. "So far, it's been wonderful - exhausting, and sometimes absolutely terrifying, but wonderful. He already has no trouble expressing himself," she joked, shaking her head with a smile. "Like me, he just enjoys being loud for the sake of it."

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - How fast I can type

Asbel shot Chase's brother a dully curious look, and threw the blanket at him with a little more force than was necessary. "Been there, done that, my friend. Still, revolutions aren't to be joined lightly; what about your brother? Chase, was it? Is he interested in any of this, at least?" Asbel caught a raised eyebrow from Boraci, and looked away before the embarrassment had a chance to set in. "In any case, there's no hurry returning that," he said, indicating the blanket with a lazy gesture. "I have enough..." He trailed off, realizing he still didn't know the man's name - his first name, anyway. "What's your name, then?"

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - "Snowview, Fairhaven" now.

Danor watched the exchange between Usami, Enrico, and the green-haired man, doing her best to follow along. She waved goodbye to Enrico, finding another smirk tugging at her lips. What an interesting person. Though the relationship between these three escaped her for the most part, Usami's spirits did seem a bit lower by the time the other two were out of sight.

Danor pursed her lips, briefly considering an appropriate response - before throwing it out the window. "Your two favorite people in the world, I take it." Despite her flat tone, a smile was audible in it. "You don't think that Accosi fellow will cause your brother any trouble, do you?"

## Page 12

Tabaraamon - Likes kids - On my phone when I

Tabaraamon sort of shrugged. "I wasn't always like this. Probably the best advice about having children is being there for them. Not as infants that's important but not critical, once they start stringing sentences together, that's when it's most important to be there for them. And read to them, read at every opportunity you have, even if it's before they have any idea what you are saying."

He hadn't done right by his children, had been at war most of their lives, he wanted to give Alice the opportunity to avoid his mistakes.

"Being vocal at a young age is a good sign, as annoying as it can be." He said. "So I guess it's probably good to make noises back. I'm not sure, as I said it's been a while."

Dimitry Popov - Doesn't like kids - Type "S" the first suggestion

Dimitry slowly nodded as Griffin spoke about Elizabeth "Well good luck, in whatever challenges and conquests come your way." He winked and smiled slyly.

"Actually Lucas, I might sort of take up your offer, if any of my recruits have the rifle skills of farm animals I'll send them over to you, they might have ability with the bow. If you'll have them that is." Dimitry said turning to face Lucas. "Think on it, I haven't even tried to test them on their marksmanship, so you have some time."

When Hiram spoke Dimitry shook his head. "I've got people to shout at and attempt to turn into something resembling soldiers. Not sure having an audience will do any good. To many cooks and all that."

He slowly stood up and noticed Evelyn staring at him, which was odd, he didn't think he was her type. He walked directly towards her and cocked his head. "What good does looking at me do? It's just makes me jumpy, which can end badly for everyone involved."

Leif - I haven't developed him enough to know his opinion on children - Is "Snowview"

Leif growled in a corner, sort of hoping for someone to speak with, but lacking the ability to escape a boring conversation if the other person was a complete bore. Normally he could just walk off and hope people assumed it was a cultural thing, it had worked before. Now he couldn't walk away, maybe if he shifted his weight just right he might be able to roll away, though it would probably hurt, and he doubted it would work well. It would also look ridiculous, and he needed to be the big intimidating fellow that no one messed with, not the village idiot writ large.

Celaena-Assassin- Behind the old mill

As she stares up the sky as the tears run down her face, she hated this.... she hated crying, she hated this job....She wished that she died back in the fire or back in the prison camp. Her thoughts race through her mind and slowly her mind goes blank and the tears stop falling and she now stares emotionless at the sky. Slowly she gets up, her red hair falling in her face....If killing the leader of this rebel group get her killed.......then so be it. But then Erick words come to mind and she sinks back to the ground, damn it.....Conflicted about what to do, she just stares blankly at the sky......

Jack - BlackSmith - Walking back to the mill

After he found some whiskey he heads back to the mill and walks into it. Sitting down in the back he sets the bottle on the table, and just waits. He learned when he was dating her that in these moments she needed the space.

Usami Sato

"I doubt that. Enrico seems to lean more towards the ladies." Usami noted. "It's his instability that sets me on edge. He's a lot like an ex of my brother's, which was one thing, but the other is his volatility, which apparently comes from whatever inked all those tattoos on his skin. Ichor, I think, he said. Tula Nikos has ichor tattoos as well, but seems to have a better hold on herself than he does. I'll have to learn more about that."

Usami relaxed as he continued. "As for Erick, he's currently my brother's partner, and I'm...warming up to him, I suppose, since he's not exactly the most loyal former guard."

Erick had waved back to him in gratitude, and Usami waved back plainly, out of politeness.

--

Enrico Accosi

Enrico rolled his eyes, and gave Erick a friendly slap on the back. "Alright! Let's go find your boyfriend, Erick!" He leaned back to face where Erick had waved and rolled his eyes. "How rude. Usami should return the enthusiasm, but he doesn't seem to like you a whole lot." His stride slowed some, "Or me." then picked back up again. "Or anyone, really. Maybe that girl he's talking to, and obviously his family...what an odd kid."

  Lucas Oswald - Teacher - Old Mill

Dimitry's offer struck Lucas by surprise. Up until now, he felt useless as he watched everyone else train new recruits. But he shook his head in agreement.

"I'll be teaching Griffin tomorrow so feel free to send anyone over."

He looked over at Alice and Tabaraamon. From what he could make out, they were having a pleasant conversation. Lucas smiled at them but his attention was quickly drawn away by a small noise coming from the roof of the old mill. He listened carefully but gave up after a minute of not hearing the noise again. It was probably a bird or something.

Hiram Wood - Rebel Leader - Old Mill

"Very well then." Hiram said, nodding politely at Dimitry. "I wish you good luck!"

Griffin returned with the three other officers by his side. They all looked ready to knock skulls together. Hiram gave them a rundown of what they were going to do to get information out of them.

"And then Jarret will take one of them out of the mill and shoot a bullet into the ground, giving the impression that we killed him." Hiram finished. They all nodded and continued towards the room where they were being held.

For the sake of being theatrical, Hiram burst into the room. "So loyalist scum, how are you feelin-?" He was cut short by the scene in front of him. The room was empty. The Wood's Men that were guarding the loyalists were gone, the prisoners were gone, and the rope that they had used to tie them was lying off to the side. "What?" Hiram said, struggling to find words. "How?"

"Look." Griffin pointed to the center of the room. Light shone down on a piece of black cloth that was neatly folded. They looked up to see a small hole in the roof.

"What do we do?" Jarret asked?

Hiram sighed heavily. "We need to inform the others. The Hallows retaliated faster than expected, way faster. And how on earth they managed to break through the roof without anyone noticing is far beyond me." He walked back out of the room.

"Everyone I have something to announce!" He recalled what had just happened to everyone in the room and instilled the real threat that the Hallows were.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice found herself taking the words of advice to heart, though she never would have expected them from Tabaraamon - or maybe, in part, because she wouldn't have expected them. She nodded once, feeling a twinge of homesickness. "No, no, that does make sense. And honestly, I usually don't mind it. I would be worried if he stayed quiet all the time." What had been a nagging unease in the back of her mind was now growing into something infinitely more difficult to work through. Even being so close to home, she felt as far away from it now as she had in the Wastes.

"I will," she assured him. "We'll both do our best." There were so many ways she wanted his childhood to feel the same as hers had, and so many ways she wanted it to be different - things she wanted to protect him from. "Thank you, Tabaraamon. He does love being read to, you know. You and Dimitry will have to meet him someday; I expect a proper visit." She smiled. "Otherwise, before you know it, he'll be old enough to insist on following us into these adventures."

Alice heard Hiram's voice somewhere inside the mill, and all other voices seemed to fall quiet as he gave some sort of announcement. The more she listened, the easier it was to hear him from where she stood, and it didn't take long for her to realize that it was far from good news. How could the prisoners have possibly escaped so quickly?

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

The slap on the back forced a laugh out of Erick, and he did his best to match the man's ever-changing pace. Enrico's observations of Usami made Erick wonder about him, but he wasn't particularly bothered by the lack of enthusiasm from Ryouki's brother. "The word 'odd' doesn't mean much around here," he said, his voice tinged with a soft chuckle.

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Seems like he's got his reasons - at least two in my case." He raised an eyebrow at Enrico, forcing a straight face as he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I mean, let's be honest. I am pretty suspicious-looking."

Not long after the two had entered the mill, Erick heard the announcement from Hiram, and stopped in his tracks. "Oh, crap..." He looked to Enrico, eyes wide. "This is bad. We're not going to be able to stay here." With that, he hurried forward and motioned for Enrico to hurry, his search for Ryouki and the twins taking on a new sense of urgency.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor nodded, taking a moment after Usami finished speaking to process this new information. "It's the volatility I was worried about. Your brother did throw a knife at him, after all, and he doesn't seem to worry about causing a scene. It's interesting - that the ink would affect his mood like that."

She paused, hoping she hadn't given Usami further cause for worry. "Of course, it seems like your brother can handle himself just fine. As for the guard, loyalty is a slippery slope. Betraying his king is either a very good sign or a very bad one. Then again, at least you don't absolutely despise him. I've been there." She laughed, rolling her eye. "My sister had the worst taste in boyfriends - arrogant little brats, every one of them." Just as she fell quiet, struggling to shove those particular memories back into their box, she heard a single voice raised from within the mill. What was happening now, she wondered?

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Snowview, Fairhaven

As Dimitry approached her, Evelyn pushed herself off of the wall to stand up straight, and raised her eyebrows at the reaction to her staring. "It also got your attention. I could just as easily have interrupted you, you know. Anyway, I need a word with you - or someone else does. That highwayman, Black Bart, says he was threatened by an unknown party into giving you some sort of message. He asked me where he could find you, and he may or may not have figured out that you're here."

She clasped her hands together, raising her shoulders in a shrug. "Talk to him or not, it's your choice, but keep in mind that he'll be looking for you. Now, if-" She paused, hearing Hiram's announcement from outside. Her thin eyebrows furrowed, and she peered around the corner into the mill. "You have got to be joking." This changed everything. How the hell could they have escaped without anyone seeing them? These people were obviously a force to be reckoned with, and now they would have to leave the mill even sooner than she had planned. Simply leaving the mill for food was now an incredibly dangerous gamble. "Well, shit!"

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel sighed wearily, his sour attitude dissolving. For Chase to have come here to help, presumably from the Wastes, it would have been one hell of a long journey. Besides, it wasn't as if he knew they would cross paths. Aaaand there was the embarrassment, right on schedule. Acting like a petty child would only make everything worse - it certainly wouldn't make him feel better about anything.

During the time it took Asbel to mull this over, Boraci spoke up, either amused because or in spite of Asbel's behavior. "Frederick Dermon. Pleased to meet you, Jae-Hyun." He nodded toward Asbel. "And this little ray of sunshine is Asbel Sutherlin." Asbel gave a polite nod of his head, mouth firmly shut for once. He wracked his brain for something to say, only stopping when he heard Hiram announce the loyalists' escape and the threat posed by their group, The Hallows. Both Boraci and Asbel fell silent. Oh, this was not good - not to mention the fact that Evelyn was going to be absolutely furious.

Silas Reid - Botanist and Odd Job Part-Timer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Silas placed down his cup of tea, putting the handkerchief over his mouth back in place. Once finished with his moment of peace, he delicately removed the cap of one of his glass containers, handpicking a leaf from his bag and crumbling it into the mixture. He'd give it one more day until it was ready. He wouldn't be able to remove the cloth, but it should put a halt to his deteriorating health.

He looked up from his work when he heard Mr. Wood's voice echo through the mill. He saw a couple people going to listen. After a few minutes, he decided to fix his things and see for himself what it was. Maybe they were finally moving on from this unseemly place.

As he traversed the path, he noticed two rebels walking in the opposite direction. One of them was the woman from earlier—a subordinate with her own team rather than the leader of the United People's Army like he previously assumed—and some other person whom he hadn't seen before. He could only catch hints of their hushed whispers as he passed by.

"—esentatives are to meet at an undisclosed location in—"

"—send someone to discuss—"

"—not worth any of our time."

He would admit he was a tad curious what that was about, but it most likely didn't have anything to do with him, making their conversation irrelevant. When he entered the room where Mr. Wood was, he stood at the very edge, listening with crossed arms. He seemed to be talking about the ones that attacked them earlier, and how they posed a danger to their plans. Silas didn't care much—he wasn't on the rebels' side and would very much like to see them lose this battle—but they could be a hindrance if they retaliated on the way to Windermere, mistook him for one of the enemy, or worse, changed Evelyn's course of action from escorting him home altogether. This group was the only protection he had at the moment.

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry raised an eyebrow when Evelyn told him the highway man had a message for him. He didn't think any of his former clients would use common criminals to act as messengers. That in turn suggested some group he did not know about, but knew a lot about him. He also wondered how the man had found him, maybe who ever wanted to give him the message had sent a small army of messengers.

"Interesting. I'll talk to him right away. Of course the message might be a shotgun blast to the head, so if he ends up dead don't ask too many questions."
He growled as he removed the non-lethal rounds from his revolver and replaced them with hollow points for maximum stopping power.

"Anyway. I expect the shipment should be arriving in a few days, probably less, so you'll want to have at least some of the payment ready. I was able to bring down the interest rates somewhat, so whatever new regime you set up once this is all over won't be basically owned by a bunch of Grail arms merchants. Where is Barton anyway? Oh, I see him."

Before he could actually walk over though Hiram made his announcement. Dimitry didn't say anything, just sighed, it wasn't that surprising really, some of the Loyalist militias were probably armed and trained by certain parts of the Secret Police. And he could be certain that there were several informants inside the people's army, how else would the "Hollows" know exact which room to enter.

"Have someone, or several people check the roof. They might have planted explosives, at least, that's what I would have done." Dimitry told Evelyn. He didn't want to create mass panic, and telling everyone that the roof might blow up at any minute could cause that.

 Jessica Stuart - Ambassador - Embassy, Hydris, Fairhaven.

Jessica glanced at her watch, she had an appointment with a the king in less than an hour. Which meant she would need to inform her new security chief. She had liked Cima, the silent woman tended to do things quickly and efficiently, and kept secrets better than anyone she had ever met. She doubted the new chief would be much use, since the woman looked like she could rip the arm off a shade with her bare hands. Which was great, though Jessica worried that it might be difficult to read anything her new chief wrote, if the woman could even write.

She rung her little bell and the guard at her door stuck his head in. "Yeah?"

"Get me Commander Majesty please." Jessica said, still having difficulty believing that was the woman's real name.

The guard nodded. "Sure, I can do that." And he headed off.

Jessica waited several minutes before she could hear the heavy tread of the woman. Who was still wearing the metal and reinforced leather hevay riot armor. Gods above the woman looked like she could intimidate a shadowed one.

"You called?" The she bear growled.

"Yes. I will require a escort to the kings palace, can you arrange that?" Jessica asked politely.

"Yes ma'am. Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you." Jessica responded and went back to her paper work. Once the woman had left Jessica dug out a folder that had been sent over in a dispatch airship only a few hours before, it was the major talking points of her meeting with the king, especially on containing the rebellion to his own nation. The Grail government wasn't worried about it spilling into their territory, but they didn't want to see both other nations on the continent racked by civil war. It would be very bad for trade, and might force an invasion of Lucan just for the crops. The food stores were not in good shape.

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon nodded. "I took one of my sons once, when he was around seven. Of course, at that time I was a general, so there was no risk to him. He liked to play with the little wooden figures were used to chart the positions of opposing forces. Didn't actually have any idea what was going on of course, just discovered my job was much less exciting then he had though, lot of standing around waiting for someone to tell me what was happening, and fighting with tribal elders who thought they deserved an opinion. I'll will do my best to convince Dimitry to visit, and he probably will show up if dinner is involved."

Hiram's announcement was a bit of a surprise, they had only just captured those people, which meant that the perimeter was completely unsecured. "So, I guess we can wait on my assistance on that interrogation." Tabaraamon said, completely deadpan.

Chase Frost - Waste Dweller - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Chase was startled awake by the sudden clarity of a single voice in a now quite mill. He rubbed his eyes sleepily as he listened to the announcement. Escaped loyalists. Well, just great. Chase grimaced, this would only cause more trouble, especially if the loyalists decided to get backup. He could tell that many of the rebels within the mill were not properly trained, and would not be ready for any sort of conflict.

More than that, the fact that the loyalist had escaped meant that, either the Old Mill was not secure at all (in that case they needed to work on security) that the loyalists had help on the inside, or that they were more resourceful than whoever had captured them thought. None of these were theories that Chase wanted proven right. He stood up carefully, folding the jacket that had been draped over him, and wandering off in search of Jae-Hyun, who must be pretty pissed right about now, if he knew anything about Jae-Hyun's take on the King and his loyalists.

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun nodded, "Pleased to meet you both, and thank you, for-" The sudden silence and the call for an announcement made him shut his mouth quickly, turning to face where Hiram was. Jae-Hyun's face switched from confusion, to shock, and to anger during Hiram's 'speech'. The Hallows?! Oh, great. Now that was a name he didn't want to hear. He had heard of them, in passing, and had presumed them a minor threat from what they had been described. But when he had checked his information again, it turned out that they had grown, become much stronger and resourceful. And skilled, by the looks of their escape.

"I may not be one hundred percent on board with this rebellion, but I sure as hell hate loyalists. Filthy rats." Jae-Hyun growled, his lips twitching into a snarl. Sure, he may be the King's son, but unlike Chase, he hated him for the things he had done, both to him and his kingdom. Whatever bad things were coming to him he deserved it, and those loyalist groups who supported him and his chaotic rule? Jae-Hyun would rip out their throats for yelling how great the King was. And I suppose that's the other reason why I joined this rebellion.

Ryouki Sato

Escaped loyalists...the prisoners...gone..the Hallows...

All the news started to ring in Ryouki's ears as everyone started to panic or get angry. He covered his ears with his hands, the cool metal of one of them easing the growing headache just a tad.

Tsubaki tugged at his shirt to get his attention. "Let's go find Usami and Erick." She didn't stay by him long as she followed Taiyo outside the mill. Ryouki nodded and walked steadily after them. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Tula gathering up the Voce kids, and muttering profanities to herself. He occasionally caught the words 'Enrico' and 'bastardo' and got the picture.

As he and the twins exited the mill, the twins spotted Erick and surprisingly Enrico together walking. Enrico's arm was over Ryouki's beau's shoulder and the two were chatting in a friendly manner, their eyes scanning the area. Ryouki made a bolt for the two of them, followed by his sisters. "Erick!" He grinned wide when he finally met with the two men. "Oh, thank God, you're alright. I think you probably heard about the prisoners..."

Enrico casually cut in. "First of all, yes we have. And secondly, I wanted to congratulate you on your arm yesterday. Fantastic aim!"

"Th-Thank you...?" Ryouki responded. "I could speak with you about weapons more properly if we had time for that, Enrico."

"That's right..." Enrico's demeanour sobered a little and he let his arm fall off of Erick's back. "I need to find my kids. Tula's probably got them safe."

Ryouki nodded. "She does. She's got them gathered and exiting the mill."

"That's my sirena." Enrico grinned, then glanced between the men and the teenagers. "I'll have to speak more with you all another time, but I must be getting to my team." He started in a slight jog before running off to go and find the Voce kids and Tula.

## Page 13

Griffin Parrish - Rebel Officer - Old Mill

"I'll go check the roof." Griffin volunteered and made his way towards the room where the prisoners had been held. Elizabeth and the rest of his team ran up behind him.

"We're coming too." Eldon patted him on the back and gave Griffin a boost through the hole in the roof. Soon, all eight of them were scouring the roof for any sort of explosives. After finding none, Griffin let out a sigh of relief and looked over the city of Snowview. He tried to make out any movement from the rooftops and streets below. Nothing.

They slipped back down the hole and into where everyone was gathered.

"There's no need to panic." Hiram tried to reassure some worried faces. Griffin told him that the roof was clear. Hiram continued, "Mister Parrish has informed me that there are no explosives. But this loyalist group obviously has resources. Whether or not there is a traitor in our midst, the mill is no longer safe."

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Dimitry's update on their weapons forced Evelyn to calm herself and consider it carefully; this was no time to start punching walls and hurling curses. She had to plan this out, and quickly. She nodded, otherwise appearing as if she may not even have heard him - or anything else, for that matter. "Thank you for your help with the weapons. As for Barton, whatever happens happens, but I expect some kind of explanation if something goes wrong." With Dimitry's following warning in mind, she started back toward the mill, when Mr. Parrish volunteered to search the roof as he had suggested.

Griffin and a sizable team set off to search the roof with Evelyn waiting impatiently for their findings, and she was pleasantly surprised to hear from Hiram that they had found nothing amiss. Excellent. With a plan of action beginning to align in her mind, she managed to catch a People's Army officer by the shoulder, and convinced him to have guards placed around the mill's perimeter - as well as search the mill inside and out. Once that was seen to, she decided it was time for an announcement. From here on out, everyone needed to be on the same page - more or less. There would still be some secrecy as far as Doctor's affairs were concerned, of course.

Evelyn grabbed an empty chair to stand on top of, raising her voice over the dull roar of the busy mill. "If I could have everyone's attention! As you all know, this mill is only a temporary arrangement, and in light of the fact that we've begun making enemies a bit sooner than I expected, we'll be on the move soon. We're currently expecting a shipment of supplies; the moment we have it, we're leaving. And if those Hallows bastards decide to show their faces here in the meantime, we'll be ready for them. Keep your eyes peeled, and if you absolutely have to go outside the mill, do so in a group. Whatever you've learned today, I suggest you start practicing it as best you can. There's not going to be time for anything but the real deal after this."

She paused, considering Silas's request, before speaking up again. "Also, I'm considering a special supply run southward, so if anyone is interested in volunteering or discussing this, meet me here in twenty minutes." Before she knew it, they would be losing daylight; if they wanted to bring food back to the mill, it was now or never. She would have to discuss that with the People's Army's leader, given the precarious state of things.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick froze when he heard his name, hurriedly searching the crowd for its source when Ryouki and the twins suddenly emerged from the mill. Erick smiled with genuine relief upon seeing the three of them apparently unharmed, and nodded excitedly as Ryouki spoke. Oh, they had heard alright. His first instinct was to rush through everything, to hurry everyone along so they could hopefully leave sooner, but he was slowly beginning to realize that that wasn't going to do any good.

Erick watched Enrico curiously when he chimed in to congratulate Ryouki on his aim. Somehow, he was pleasantly surprised that that was really what the man had intended to do. When Voce's leader decided to search for his companions, Erick waved goodbye to him, breathing a soft laugh. He doubted he could figure Enrico out even if he tried, but that was alright. At least they seemed to be on good terms now.

 Once Enrico had made his exit, Erick turned to look between Ryouki and the twins, visibly relieved. "Am I ever glad to see you guys..." He trailed off as Evelyn made her announcement, and couldn't help but feel curious about the supply run she mentioned. Still, at the moment, that wasn't exactly first among his priorities. Before long, they would be facing everything the King had to throw at them - and more, with loyalist civilians acting on their own. He shot a smirk at Ryouki, still struggling to gather his own courage. "Ready for another quest?"

Alice Beckett - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice smiled weakly, her eyes lingering on the mill. "I guess so." At that point more than ever, as much as she believed in her old friends, she grew more anxious about this whole operation with each passing minute. And soon enough, she would have to confront Evelyn about what she had probably done to manipulate her and Lucas into coming here to help. For now, though, she would simply do whatever she could - homesick or not. "Well, something tells me we'll be seeing them again."

She took a deep breath, willing her faraway expression to disappear. "Dinner, eh? I believe I can arrange that. Until then, I suppose I'll go back to the mill and see if they have any missions for me." She smiled at Tabaraamon, feeling a bit less tired than she had a few minutes ago. "Thank you again, Tabaraamon - I'll be seeing you." With a polite nod, she turned and made her way toward the mill.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Snowview, Fairhaven

With this new development effectively throwing a gigantic wrench into her fragmented, confused excuse for a plan, Danor was no longer in the best of moods. Yes, let's just forgo all preparation and simply rush off into the belly of the beast simply because things didn't go according to their fragmented, confused excuse for a plan. Brilliant.

Then again, she did have until this "shipment" arrived to talk to one of these rebel leaders. Perhaps she could still try her hand at bargaining. Nervous and somewhat frustrated by the results of these Hallows' poor timing, Danor still did her best to say a polite goodbye, flashing a resilient smile at Usami. "Well, since apparently there's no need to panic, I guess I'll just go and check on things inside. It was nice to meet you, Usami." She raised a hand to wave and took her leave, pleased to find that the crowds were dying down. It was kind of nice, being able to see where she was going. Perhaps she would go and see how Mr. Regnar was doing. She imagined it was probably infuriating, not being able to investigate any of these distressing events for himself.

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

The disgusted reaction from Jae-Hyun surprised Asbel somewhat, and he found himself staring at the man as it stuck to his memory. Perhaps not the best relationship with his royal father, then, Asbel supposed. He hoped that was all there was to it. "Well, in this case, it appears the feeling is mutual." Sporting an oddly sober smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, Asbel approached Jae-Hyun and nudged his arm with a raised elbow. "Still, let's not be too hasty. I'm sure plenty of these people have friends, maybe even family on the other side of things."

J Steu - Ambassador - Hydris, Fairhaven.

Jessica stepped out the back door surrounded by a phalanx of black clad giants. She didn't consider herself to be short, but every single one of her new bodyguards were well over six feet tall.

Most of them were armed like normal infantry, but several had five foot long greatswords and the leader had an abnormally large shadehammer. Jessica didn't see the point of carrying a fifty pound spiked sledgehammer around when there were no shades within several hundred miles, but it was quite intimidating.

It was all a little ridiculous, she didn't need this sort of protection even from the mobs. Riot breakers escorted high judges and members of oversight committees, people at risk of being assassinated by criminal syndicates or renegade special activities units.

The few people that they passed all glanced at the Riot Breakers and backed away. The soldiers seemed agitated, several swinging their rifles at sudden sounds, like they thought they were about to be attacked.

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry nodded, he doubted that the Hallows would be stupid enough to attack military airships, and once the weapons arrived they would have the capability to provide some sort of counter attack. For now they were probably safe, the attack was probably an attempt to scout out the defenses, the real attack would come in a few days. At least that's what a intelligent group would do. Let the rebels get relaxed then pounce.

He spotted Barton easily, the man stuck out worse than Tabaraamon, a full suit and a top hat? What did he think he was? To start it looked stupid, and made him memorable, which was idiotic for a outlaw.

"Evelyn told me you wanted to speak with me." Dimitry said.

"Yeah, but she said she would be here to make sure nothing happened." Barton responded.

"She's busy I'm busy, everyone is busy except for you. Now what did you want to tell me." Dimitry snapped.

"Fine. Primo Victoria..." Dimitry cut Barton off by grabbing his neck and shoving him into a wall.

"Where did you hear that!" Dimitry snarled, pinning the larger man against the wall.

"Someone told me to find you and tell you Primo Victoria Atterro Dominatus. I don't know who I never saw his face." Barton gasped out as he tried to draw his shotgun.

Dimitry drew faster and rammed the barrel of his revolver into the highway's stomach.
"If I pull this trigger you will die. Put your boomstick down before I make a mess out of you." Dimitry growled through gritted teeth.

The shotgun dropped to the floor. "You happy?" Barton snapped.

"No. Tell me exactly what he said." Dimitry said as he kicked the shotgun away.

"He said to find you and tell you that. If I didn't he said he'd kill me. He sounded Grail, I never saw his face. I swear, just his back, he was wearing this weird jacket sort of like a trench coat but shorter and a split that ran almost to the collar." He panted. "Oh, he also stuck this in my pocket." He rummaged through his pocket and withdrew the slip of paper. Dimitry let go of Barton and snatched the piece of paper.

"Get out of my sight. You've done your part, now get out of here before they come looking for you." Dimitry snapped before he sat down and started muttering I'm Grail.

 Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Fairhaven

Matthew walked over to his fallen shotgun and picked it up. He saw the Grail mercenary follow his every movement, revolver still in hand. His neck hurt a great deal, he had not been expecting that response, and if that man reacted the violently what ever it was it wasn't good. He rubbed his neck and made a direct path toward Evelyn. "I'll go. I don't think I can be much help here and I'm pretty sure Popov will kill me if I am here much longer."

It would also give him a chance to leave this bunch, he wanted as little to do with them as possible. What Dimitry said about who ever sent him on this fool's errand was much more concerning the more he thought about it. A lot of people hid fear behind anger, and it was a good possibility that Popov was scared. And that wasn't good, it had to take a lot to spook a hero of the wastes.

Ryouki Sato

Ryouki felt his stomach drop at the announcement, and Erick's smile reassured him only a little. "As I'll ever be." The man sighed. "I'm honestly very apprehensive about all of this-"

Taiyo gave Ryouki a friendly slap to the back. "You'll be fine! Especially, since you'll be with Erick now."

Ryouki chuckled softly in agreement and took his boyfriend's hand. "If I'm with you, I'm ready for anything."

Enrico Accosi

Eventually, Enrico managed to meet up with Eis, Tula, and the rest of his Voce group. There was an announcement he heard of a supply run going south, and another update on the prisoners. Tula and Eis had been reassuring the scared kids that they would be kept safe-and reminded by Tula that they knew how to protect themselves perfectly fine with the weapons they have. The group was all seated in a corner, and Enrico pulled a spot up next to Tula.

"Pós kánoun ?" ((How are they doing?))

Tula responded curtly. "Trómos , allá geniká entáxei ." ((Trembling, but generally fine.))

Enrico grinned. "Chaíromai pou to akoúo. Káneis megálo...sirena." ((That's good to hear. You're doing great...mermaid)) The Italian flirtatiously switched to his home tongue and purred out Tula's nickname low.

Tula rolled her eyes, annoyed, and remained silent as she rubbed the back of one of the younger kids, who was huddled at her side.

"Eímai ziliáris lígo Kirari . Paírnei na válo to kefáli tis dexiá metaxý sas-" ((I'm envious of little Kirari. She gets to lay her head right between your-))

"Oi oulés..." Tula changed the subject quickly, feeling her face burn as she held Kirari closer. "Ti eínai aftá ta simádia sto stíthos sas gia?" ((The scars...What are those scars on your chest for?))

Enrico wet his lips, and confessed shyly in a low whisper. "Xérete ti leitourgía pou íthela?" ((You know that operation I wanted?))

Tula's brows lifted in surprise. "Tha vrei énan giatró ..." ((You found a doctor...)) The Grecian woman turned to face Enrico, and smiled, with genuine appreciation. "Syncharitíria." ((Congratulations.)) Tula's affectionate response caught Enrico off-guard, and the man blushed a dark red that coloured his tanned skin. He turned away from her immediately, pulling his knees to his chest and looking off and away at a wall's corner, muttering a response in his home tongue. "N-Non c'è di che..." ((D-Don't mention it...))

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn turned to face Barton when she noticed him approaching, looking a bit worse for wear. She could only assume that his conversation with Dimitry had been unpleasant - oddly short as well. She would have to ask Dimitry about it, especially since the last thing she needed was another angry person - or set of persons - on their tail. If his enemies had followed him here, that needed to be sorted out quickly.

She was a bit disappointed to hear that Barton intended to leave, but deemed it best to trust his judgment. Besides, she didn't want Dimitry's bodyguard to lop her head off for trying to stop him. "I see. If you think it's best, then I wish you well. And watch your back out there; I don't want to see you crawling back to us with a pack of angry guards trailing you."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick's smug expression leveled into a genuine smile, and he nodded confidently in agreement with Ryouki. "We're going to be okay. I'm scared too, and that's probably not gonna change anytime soon, but we'll make it through this somehow - promise." He squeezed Ryouki's hand reassuringly, and crossed his heart with a joking grin. With that, he looked to the twins, raising an eyebrow. "Not to worry! You kids are safe with us heroes."

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

As Alice neared the mill's entrance, she heard an odd sound from the side of the mill, like something brushing against the wall, and paused to listen. Well, that wasn't good... She doubted that it was caused by intruders, but there was only one way to be certain. Taking no chances, Alice gripped the hilt of her sword as she made her way around the mill's exterior, all the way to the back before she found the source of the sound. Leaning against the wall, looking utterly distraught, was the red-haired girl Alice recognized as Celaena Moonlight. During the fight earlier, she had made an indelible impression in the knight's memory.

Letting her hands fall to her sides, she stopped a few feet away from Celaena and lowered herself to her knees, trying to read the girl's expression. "It's dangerous to be out here by yourself, Miss Moonlight. Would you mind if I kept you company?" The faintest of smiles passed over her expression, her voice lowered to a gentler volume.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor gripped the side of Leif's cart like a solitary piece of driftwood in a stormy sea, glancing over her shoulder at the flood of people now returning to the mill's main room. "Hello, Mr. Regnar. Tell me, what is it like not to be small? Do you enjoy it? Because right now, I wouldn't mind being about... One Danor and a half, for instance." She sighed, taking a moment to straighten her somewhat disheveled hair before shooting the man a smile. "But that's enough about my troubles. How are you? Do you require an update on anything?"

Celaena- Assassin

She jumps a bit, startled by this girl who suddenly thinks she need company or protecting. However in her current state maybe it wouldn't be so bad since she didn't even notice her approaching, "Sure why not......." She mutters in a scratchy voice. Celaena then turns and stares back at the sky, tucking her knees into her chest looking less like the fearsome girl in the battlefield and more like a small child who seen too much.

Chase Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Chase pushed through the crowd, making his way out to try and find Jae-Hyun. He stood on his toes, seeing as he was a little...short. After a few minutes of craning his neck until it started to hurt, he finally spotted a lanky frame with a mop of dark hair and scurried over to him.

He caught Jae-Hyun's sleeve as he was muttering a reply to someone next to him, "I know that. The families aren't at fault...just them. The families and friends...they're innocent. But innocence is forgotten on the battlefield."

"What're you going on about?" Chase huffed, playfully chopping his neck with his hand. Jae-Hyun turned, startled, to Chase.

A grimace appeared on his face, "I take it you've heard, huh? Sorry that it woke you up." Chase laughed at this, and shook his head, "I'm fine. I'm more worried about the escaped loyalist. This could pose some serious problems for the rebels here. There are very few who will be able to handle a mess like this one. If it's from the outside, or the inside..." Jae-Hyun nodded grimly, and then he muttered, Ah. He then grabbed Chase and pulled him so he could see the other two people he hadn't really taken notice of. And as soon as he did take notice of them, he felt his face freeze up, and his mouth form a small 'O' shape.

"Chase, these are Asbel Sutherlin, and Frederick Dermon."

Well then.

Leif Regnar - Hard shelled burrito - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

"Being larger than everyone has some benefits I guess." Leif said slowly. "Hard to get lost in crowds, easy to get people's attention."

"Some problems though. I probably need to eat three or four times the amount of food you do just to feel full, which is expensive. Clothes are also a pain. Right now I feel really small and I don't like it."

He squirmed a bit. "Overall I'm fine for now, haven't really done much so I'm not hungry, mostly catching up on sleep. Coming to terms with the fact that the new normal will be gun fire and shouting, not much worse than crossing the ocean, just different. Well the yelling never changes."

"How did you end up here? Not in this abandoned building surrounded by rebels. But this far from your home. You don't really seem like a mercenary, so what made Falcon's Reach better? The climate?"

 Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Matthew squinted. "I guess you miss understood, I was volunteering to take part in the expedition from this place. Provide some sort of escort for Silas and who ever goes with him."

He assumed that Evelyn had simply misunderstood him, and wasn't suggesting that he should leave before someone showed up looking for him.

"And don't worry about me, I've never had any problems with the guards, and carry enough money to make them go away." He said with a sly smirk. Bribery was normally effective for dealing with most guards, who were underpayed and rarely happy about their jobs. Bribing most soldiers didn't end well. He had found that out the hard way.

 Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry rummaged through his back pack and removed the small picture, the ten of them, taken two days before everything went to hell. Three of the people in the photo he knew were dead, saw it with his own eyes, most of the others were believed dead, or just hadn't been heard from for almost a decade. So who actually summoned him? None of them could have, everyone of the survivors had gone their own way, some to other ships, others to Rojya, one or two others to different parts of Falcon's Reach. Swore never to get back in touch, and to never provide any information about the others.

He would wait, they would have no idea where Barton was, and no idea if his job was done. Evelyn wanted everyone moving soon and that would help him stay off the radar. And if they found him he did have a few aces in the hole.

He stuck the picture back in his bag and stood up, might as well go back to training the rebels, give them some confidence in fighting the Hallows, and if he had time maybe half a chance against who ever was sent him that message.

Tula was happily with Enrico, which made his already bad mood worse, and made him rethink his decision of not shooting the man in the first place. He shouldn't have been surprised, he had barely spent any time with her the past few days.

He found his recruits sitting against a wall, talking amongst them selves. "I find it interesting that despite the recent attacks no one has been doing much to patrol the streets near the mill, look for enemy scouts, maybe find some food."

Most looked at him with confusion though several grinned and stood up. "Can we empty our bags sir? Make us quicker on our feet and let us carry more... Captured supplies?" One of them, a scrawny woman wearing a tattered grey jacket said with a smirk.

"Of course. This isn't some sort of training. This might even end in a actual fight." He responded, taking notice of the short sheath knife on the woman's hip, the sort of knife pick pockets carried to cut the straps off satchels or old style coin purses. It made sense a petty thief would be the first to suggest that they make room for more loot.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn's eyebrows raised, and she mirrored Barton's smirk. Very rarely was she relieved to be wrong about something - of course, that was probably because she was so rarely wrong about anything. "Well, now that I know you're paying attention," she muttered sarcastically. "By all means, go along with them - I would be grateful. Let's just hope you're not the only person to volunteer, since I'm sure plenty of the new recruits won't want to miss any of the action once we leave for Hydris."

Her eyes briefly left Barton's to survey the room, narrowing slightly. "Once all of the volunteers are gathered here, we'll plan a safe route to Silas's destination and sort out all the details. If this does happen, you'll be leaving tomorrow - early. Now, if you'll excuse me for just a moment, I'm going to see if the People's Army can be bothered to help me feed their men." She turned to leave but paused, raising a finger at Barton. "Just one thing first. On a scale of one to five, five signifying fury beyond mortal comprehension, how irritable is Dimitry at the moment?"

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice nodded and sat down beside Celeana, still dutifully scanning their surroundings. Alert but more or less relaxed, she let her back rest against the wall of the mill and breathed a small sigh. "Seems we'll be on the move soon..." She listened to the goings-on within the building, silent for a time, before she looked to Celaena. "It was brave of you to step in earlier, during that attack. Split-second decisions like that are never easy. Is it troubling you?"

In another place and time, Alice would have smiled, offered a simple "How are you," maybe even tried to make her laugh, but they were about to go to war. That alone was burdening enough to crush some people; if there was something else eating away at Celaena, she needed to leave it behind when they left the mill.

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel stared at Chase throughout the brief exchange between him and his brother, desperately holding on to a neutral expression as if to avoid giving away a prank. Unfortunately, the payoff was a bit less dramatic than he would have hoped - no gasp of surprise, no fainting, only a flicker of realization as if he had just remembered that he hadn't locked the front door before he left the house.

Boraci doubted that Chase would recognize him immediately in his current state, but he didn't dare rule it out yet. For the time being, though, playing dumb might prove entertaining. "Pleased to make your acquaintance," he offered flatly, and Asbel soon followed suit with a knowing grin.

"Yes, it's good to meet you. My, look at that face," he teased, amused by the expression of surprise. "I hope mine hasn't startled you."

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor's fickle attention settled on Leif as he spoke, and she smiled sheepishly at his summary of the day's events. Being stuck in one place with a limited view was an entirely different sort of upsetting than having a ceiling beam fall on you - she hoped he could handle it. Still, for now, he seemed as alright as someone who had been hit by a ceiling beam could be. "I'll admit, it's not exactly what the books make these kinds of endeavors out to be."

Despite their grim situation, Danor's face brightened with enthusiasm when he turned the line of questioning toward her. "Oh, you're right about me not being a mercenary. Don't let the eye-patch fool you; I'm not very tough. No, I came here with plans, Mr. Regnar. Falcon's Reach suits me because it needs the ideas I have to offer; Grail-El doesn't." She shrugged, her smile taking on a snarky edge. "Though, I will admit that the food, weather, and suspicious glares are a lovely bonus. What about you, then? What brings you here?"

Celaena-Assassin - Behind the mill

She would normally laugh at that part, but she didn't feel like it, "No its not the battle, I'm used to it. Honestly it's what I do for a living." She lets out a sigh, for some reason this girl made her relax and seems like she could be trusted. This girl reminded her of her friend she had a long time ago before she was killed, her face darkens a bit as she thinks silently to herself.

## Page 14

Lucas Oswald - Old Mill, Snowview

Lucas watched as the sun sank slowly behind the horizon, painting the sky a beautiful shade of pink. His breath rose above him in the cold evening air and he pulled the collar of his jacket tightly around him.

"You know, you shouldn't be out here alone." Hiram leaned against the wall of the mill and stared out into the sunset. Lucas, slightly startled from his sudden appearance, smiled and sighed silently. Hiram continued, "That was some excellent fighting earlier today. But granted, if we hadn't saved your rear you would have been food for the crows. Still, watching you take on five guys at once was entertaining to watch."

Lucas laughed. "So you find my struggle entertaining?"

"It didn't seem like you were struggling." Hiram smirked and sank down next to Lucas. "But seriously, you shouldn't be out here. Alice wouldn't like it much if you got captured by those loyalists. And your kid wouldn't like it very much either."

"How did you know I have a ki -?" Lucas began.

Hiram stared at Lucas intensely. "I know."

"You know what?"

He sighed and turned his attention back to the horizon. "I know what I really am. Where I came from. I've known for a while." Lucas raised an eyebrow at the man he had killed years ago.

"Then why were you pretending like you didn't know anyone?" Lucas paused. "Hiram, how in the world are you alive?"

Hiram shrugged. "I honestly don't know. One day, all these memories came flooding back. I don't know why I came back or why I am here. But the point is, I'm here now. And I didn't want to bother with all of the questions that people would have had for me, so I pretended like I had no idea what was going on. I was trying to lead this group to the theater because I knew some of the old group was with them."

Lucas tried to take all of this in.

Matthew Barton - Outlaw - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Matthew scratched his chin. "Compared to his baseline? I have no clue, since I haven't had the pleasure of his company." He said with light sarcasm. "Compared to most other people, probably three or four. I think the only reason he didn't strangle me at one point was I hadn't told him everything and he wanted the information. I'm somewhat surprised I'm still alive. Also, I've had a lot of experience dealing with people, and I think he's scared of who ever sent that message. It's just something to think about."

He bowed slightly and let Evelyn leave then found a seat and sat down.

 Leif Regnar - Bodyguard - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Leif smiled. "Even for a Vallak I'm pretty big, but not the biggest, even by a long shot. There was this one man in the town I grew up in who could uproot trees, and carry row boats over his shoulder. So I came here, so I could be the biggest man around. Somehow I ended up working with Kristen who is like a child with the mind of a raven."

"Don't mean tot confuse you in my culture ravens are the smartest of birds, you probably fall into the raven category. What sort of ideas do you have? Sorcery? Are you trying to turn lead into gold? If so I would be happy to take any silver you make by mistake." He said grinning as widely as he could in the constraint of the cast.

 Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Snowview, Fairhaven.

Dimitry moved through the shadows cast by the buildings, followed at intervals by the recruits. Every so often he would have several of them scout ahead for signs of movement or loot.

"I found a butcher shop, a lot of it is going old but we might want to check it." One of the recruits said.

"Go, they might have treated meat." Dimitry hissed and motioned for several others to go with her while he kept watch with the others. Several times they had hid from other armed groups moving in the city, one of which had been made up of at least two dozen men and women, which was a serious threat.

Once the meat shop had been looted of all the beef jerky, salt pork, and other non perishable food they moved toward the walls, hoping to find weapons that might have been dropped by guards during the skirmishes that had taken place. They found a few swords and muskets but nothing worth the weight.

Near the wall they did discover a large house, a small mansion really. The less ethical members of his little group looked at the building hungrily, and he nodded. The doors were easy to break down and once inside the rebels started stealing anything that looked valuable. He found the office and used his pistol to blow the lock off of the small safe and pocketed the small amount of gold inside.

He glanced out the window and spotted a small group of locals outside armed with pitchforks, rusty swords, broken bottles, and one or two guards with guns. Loyalist militia. There were about fifteen of them, enough to be a problem if his recruits were scattered throughout the building. He moved as quickly as possible, sending the rebels up to the second floor, where he had them wait. They would have to deal with these loyalists alone, they were far enough away that the people in the mill wouldn't hear the gunfire, and he couldn't risk firing off a flare since it would attract every group in the city.

Chase Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Chase glared at Asbel, squinting at him. He then proceeded to make a pout, jutting his lip out slightly, before busrting out into a soft laugh, "Haha, very funny. You're such a terrible person," Chase grinned, reaching up to ruffle Asbel's hair, taking satisfaction in messing it up more than it already was. "It's nice to see you too, you big dope."

Chase then turned to Frederic, raising a brow. Why did Boraci fake his name? Oh well, it was none of his business anyways. "Nice to meet you, Frederic. How are you holding up?"

Jae-Hyun Frost - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Jae-Hyun was surprised to say the least. More of Chase's friends, he presumed. Jae-Hyun observed as he went up to mess with the pale one's, Asbel's, hair. He let out a smile at this. He seems in a better mood than before.

Ryouki Sato

Tsukiko had placed both hands on her hips, looking up at her brother. "I can defend myself, you know."

Ryouki laughed softly. "I'm quite aware."

"Taiyo too." Tsukiko added. "But I'm protecting her, got it?" Taiyo whined, embarassed in response to Tsukiko's defensive statement.

"Alright, alright." Ryouki began to relax some, his posture losing tension as he returned the heart-crossing gesture to Erick, and kissed the man's cheek. "I think we're in good hands as well."

--

Tula Nikos

She had seen, briefly, Dimitry go over to give more instruction to his trainees, and bit her lip in thought as she watched him leave even that.

"Che succede con ventun cannoni?" Enrico muttered to her, bitterly. ((What's up with Twenty-One Guns?))

"Non colui che chiamarlo!" Tula scolded him, rubbing Kirari's back to soothe the scared girl as she spoke. "E 'davvero irritato in questo momento ..." ((Don't call him that! He's just really irritated right now...))

"Non è forse sempre?" ((Isn't he always?))

"Ci sono livelli. E lui non è mai così intorno a me." ((There are levels. And he's never been like that around me.))

"Tch, naturalmente il cazzo non è." Enrico rolled his eyes. ((Of course he(insult) isn't.))

Tula switched to the common language, then, adjusting her seating position. "I think I should try and talk to him-"

"Tula, don't." Enrico pleaded. "Stay with me."

"Or what?"

"Or..." Enrico stammered, face flushing. "O-Or Kirari's going to cry. She's quite comfortable."

"Anata ga kikoeru...I can hear" The youngster muttered groggily against Tula's chest.

Tula looked down at the girl who had seemed to rouse from a brief nap and beamed. "You're learning...that's very good."

 Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice's eyes searched Celaena's face, her mind drifting. She knew she should be glad the girl wasn't a novice, for her own good, but she wasn't - and neither was Celaena, it seemed. Reminding herself to keep a close eye on their surroundings, the knight took a deep breath and regained her bearings. Still, a certain set of memories fought for her attention - memories of when she had been naive, overconfident, constantly trying to coax a smile out of a smaller and infinitely more bitter Erick Bailee. Conversations not unlike this one were almost commonplace then.

"If not the battle," she continued, and watched as Dimitry disappeared around a corner with his students in tow. "What's on your mind, love? You sound very far away - which, given that we're more or less being hunted, is a dangerous place to be."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick shot Ryouki a grin, and his racing thoughts began to settle - planning. They had to have some sort of plan, and soon. By now, the way he saw it, they had two distinct options. "Well! Let's think this over! Should we go with that supply run Evelyn mentioned - safer territory, smaller group - or stick with the rest of these weirdos and head into Hydris - danger around every corner, but a small army beside us? I'd just as soon flip a coin, so if anyone has a preference... What do you think Usami will want to do?"

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel shook his head in a halfhearted attempt to fix his disheveled hair, and briefly rested a spindly hand on Chase's shoulder. Awkward though it was, hardly a natural gesture, the friendly sentiment was there. He chuckled at the lighthearted jab, his voice still holding onto a slightly bitter edge. "No more so than when we last met." He looked to Jae-Hyun, donning a sly grin. "I hope you'll forgive me for giving you the run-around when we first met. All in good fun, you understand."

Boraci found it immediately obvious that he had been discovered when Chase spoke to him. His voice was questioning beyond a simple "How are you," and the raised eyebrow was a bit of a giveaway. Still, there was no point in a dramatic reveal at the moment, so he simply shrugged with a small smile and answered as he normally would, no longer feigning formality. "Well enough - glad that things seem to be settling down for the moment. Yourself?" This time, Boraci's tone of voice suggested  a larger question - once which Asbel was only too willing to blurt out with the tact of an excited child.

"Yes," Asbel chimed in, "it's no easy feat, traveling here alone. You are still in one piece, aren't you?"

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor tapped the edge of the cart with an open hand and laughed in spite of herself, finally responding with a noncommittal shrug to Leif's question. "If I could make silver, I wouldn't be repairing guns for a living!" She shook her head still regaining her composure. "You're very kind - and not far off at all, actually. Though... Rather than turning something useful into something valuable, what I'm planning is more like the opposite." She made a vague gesture with both hands, as if to help illustrate her point, and smiled. "In a sense. Unfortunately, this also means that it's quite expensive, which is why I need help from these rebels."

Her focus shifted and she paused, her interest obviously piqued. "And that's truly a fascinating story, Leif. I never knew someone could grow to be so strong - I'm sure you're the strongest I've met. But I do know what you mean about Kristen. It's rare to see cleverness fall hand-in-hand with patience like that."

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn tapped a foot against the floor, mulling over Barton's suggestion. "It is." She sighed, and decided to stow the idea away until she actually saw Dimitry. His mood wasn't exactly the most predictable - and, as Barton said, this was especially true for someone without much experience with it. "Thanks." She gave a polite nod of her head and left, moving almost at a jog. Within a few minutes, she was able to arrange a trip outside the mill for food - a handful of teams from the People's Army, thankfully made up mostly of its more experienced members.

She hoped her double hadn't been caught by those Hallows pissants, since rescuing him - or replacing him - would be yet another dangerous inconvenience, and his help was only becoming more important by the hour. Still, she had more immediate matters to consider. Among them, the most immediately alarming was that Dimitry - apparently scared of some mysterious message, possibly in danger - was gone, outside the mill somewhere.

While this was profoundly annoying, it occurred to her that the man was hardly in need of a babysitter. If he wasn't back in time for supper, she would go and look for him herself. Until then, she had a supply run to organize - possibly. Half of the meeting's purpose was to give her a chance to get Silas talking, try to read him. She would rather lose the extra supplies than the volunteers who planned to participate.

Ryouki Sato

"Ooh, I say Hydris." Taiyo sneered slightly. "Show those uppity snobs a piece of my mind-"

"Usami would want us to go with the safer option." Tsukiko stated calmly, but then grinned. "I say screw that."

Ryouki sighed softly. "Girls..."

"We're serious!" The two chimed in unison.

--

Tula Nikos

"I'm going to talk to him...and maybe try to find my way to Hydris with the others."

"Tula..." Enrico set his jaw tight.

"There's someone I need to speak with there." Tula then added. "And yes, it's Viktor. Viktor, and his partner, and Rojya's princess, whom I care for deeply."

"And who banished you from the city herself?" Enrico raised a brow.

"She...knew what was best in that moment, but I know she's probably worried sick about me...the boys too."

Enrico sighed. "Okay, even I  know that's a bad idea. But by all means..." He overdramatically waved for her to stand and leave, which she obliged with a glare in his direction as Kirari began to settle in his arms. Tula walked over in the direction she saw Dimitry leave, and swore that she barely missed him. She turned slightly to see the two women at a short, not-too-awkward distance away from her, recognising Alice, but not so much the girl.

Oh yeah...Enrico held her at gunpoint yesterday...what was her name again? Selene? Selena? Something like that...

Dimitry Popov - Rebel babysitter - Snowview, Fairhaven.

The mansion they were in had a internal balcony looking down over the entry way, and that's where Dimitry positioned his recruits. He motioned to wait and stay low, they needed to take out the largest number of the militia possible in the first volley, only two of his recruits had magazine fed rifles, the rest had single shot breach or muzzle loaders, that would take some time to reload.

"I knew I saw them go in here, now but I don't see anyone." A voice came from below.

"That's because they are hiding idiot!" Another growled.

"Should we spread out or wait for reinforcements?"

"We wait, can't be too careful."

Dimitry nodded to the recruits as he stood up, raising his rifle. He bellowed "Open fire!" At the top of his lungs as he depressed the trigger. The air was briefly filled by the chatter of gunfire. Dense white smoke surrounded them as Dimitry vaulted the railing and drew his knife. He needed a blood letting, and with all the smoke and chaos no one would know what happened. The cursed dagger hummed slightly, detecting life nearby. Dimitry tackled one of the surviving militia and drained him to the last drop. The rush of blood felt like being dunked in cold water after being asleep, increasing his sense. He charged another survivor and repeated the process.

The knife went back in the sheath, and he calmly waited for the smoke to clear. He heard someone crawling away, followed the noise and found one of the guards who had been leading the militia. It wasn't like capturing one of the Hallows, but it was something. He grabbed the man's shoulder and lifted him up. "Going somewhere?" Dimitry smirked. "Search the bodies! They might have some better weapons!" He shouted to the recruits who where slowly coming down the stairs.

 Leif Regnar - Bodyguard - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Leif nodded. "Well, in a way turning lead to gold would make gold less valuable, at least if your secret got out. But I understand what you mean. As for the strongest man I knew, he got assassinated, served him right in a way, always acting like he was a few steps from godhood, really obnoxious."

"Kristen gets distracted easily, she hasn't been really showing that off since I think the knock to her head is still wearing off, once she's back to her old self... Have fun. She will probably bother you the most, since you're Grial and a scientist. My advice, just answer the last question that exits her mouth, she won't remember the first few, and won't really care about the ones in between." He said with a slightly bemused smile.

Celaena- Assassin

She stays quiet for what seems the longest time, "Recently I found out that someone I thought died, is actually alive.... and that he never looked for me... Like he promised me, long ago when my mother passed away. And now once again he's making the same promise....I've changed in the pass years, I'm who I am now because I thought he was dead... that all of them are...." She stares off at the sky, not quite sure why she's telling a total stranger this. Though maybe.... that's all she needed.... maybe just this once, just the once she can speak her emotions. To a strange girl she's never met before who has no idea who she is and what she is and how dangerous her name really is.

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick nodded to Taiyo and Tsukiko, missing a beat or two before he voiced his amusement. "You sound serious! Though, I'll be honest: either way, we aren't likely to miss the worst of the fighting. You'll definitely have your chances." With a small smile, he looked to Ryouki, discreetly searching his face for some sign of agreement, disapproval - something. "That being said," he added, as if to warn him that a question was coming. "What do you want to do, Ryouki?" He had been very quiet, even more so than usual, and although Erick was fairly sure he had a working understanding of why, it still worried him.

And honestly, deep down, part of Erick continued to resist this rebellion - and he let it. Somehow, he felt there was still time. Time to go home, to have his friends and family painted as innocent and pay for their safety with information. All they had to do was ask. Wishful thinking, he guessed - the worst kind.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor's gaze fell thoughtfully as she heard the unfortunate end of the strongest man Leif knew, his remark forcing a small laugh. "In my experience, it's best not to brag and throw your weight around until you've actually reached godhood." Regarding Kristen, Danor nodded in agreement, donning a broad grin. "I'll keep that in mind, you can be sure! Otherwise, between her questions and my rambling answers, we would never stop talking. I don't imagine it will bother me, though, at least for quite a while."

Danor's attention inevitably shifted to the present when someone brushed against her shoulder in passing, and her enthusiasm faded as she cast a sharp glance behind her. "I guess you've heard about that supply run they're planning, haven't you?" She seemed only slightly unsure and didn't wait for an answer before continuing, almost rushing ahead to her point. "What do you think of it?"

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice was careful not to stare as Celaena sat in silence, seemingly pondering the question, when she caught sight of Tula a short distance nearer to the building's front. Pleasantly surprised, she gave a somewhat apologetic smile and a nod. Even as Celaena finally began to speak, Alice's gaze continued to drift as she scanned the area, deeper in thought that she let on. It was immediately obvious to Alice that Celaena was speaking about Erick, and she felt more than a little conflicted. "I see..." She had seen this tragedy's aftermath only from Erick's side, and although he had never given any specifics, she knew of his guilt. Back then, she never would have imagined that it was justified, and now...

"Whatever you experienced back then, thinking he was dead, that helped turn you into the woman you are now: that was real. It can't be undone simply because he's shown up now," she said, wearing the faintest of smiles. "But that doesn't mean this can't turn out to be something good - certainly not hopeless."

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn made her way outside the mill, watching the sun's warmth drain from the sky, and leaned against the wall near the door. Nearby, she could see Hiram and Lucas talking, but pointedly avoided eye contact. She had no intention of eavesdropping - not at the moment, anyway. Tula was outside as well, looking a bit lost, and Evelyn wondered if Dimitry had left the mill without telling her.

Whatever the case, Evelyn would have to return soon to organize the supply run, but she could afford five minutes or so to catch her breath. She felt as if she hadn't stopped moving since she woke up, which was a distinct change of pace from her day job, which rarely required such prolonged periods of activity. Still, this was going well, all things considered. Her plan still stood, as did the mill, and the army. In that brief moment of quiet, Evelyn felt her weathered confidence returning.

Celaena- Assassin

"What would you know?" She turns and stares at her, her eyes turning hard and cold, "You know nothing of my past or what I've become.....You cant even possibly fathom what it was like to have everything you cheerished ripped away from you! Watch as your father got slaughtered, the smoke, the flames, the glass that scared you for life!" She clenches her fist. "Becoming a killer in order to survive, the very thing he now hunts."

## Page 15

Leif Regnar - Bodyguard - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Leif tried to shrug. "I don't know, I guess it has to be done. Of course, the threat of the Hallows will probably scare some potential volunteers, but the biggest mistake a leader can make is failing to feed the soldiers. I am getting the feeling that there are no experience leaders among these rebels, even Evelyn isn't much of a leader. A good leader is a strategist, a master of logistics, and decisive. Once the war begins for good... They will have to learn fast, or see all their work come to nothing."

"But I'm sure they will learn, there is no better teacher than necessity." He said with reassuring grin.

Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon climbed to the top of the mill and sat down, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. He had not meditated in some time, and he needed to clear his head of unnecessary memories and dig up ones that would be useful in the coming weeks.

He removed most minor conversations he had been part of, though none with people that were here, didn't want to seem rude. Cut out the memories of faces and names of people who were dead, several of whom had died nearly a century ago. Once the meaningless information was gone he started segregating important but not urgent memories by type and storing them deep within. He waited several minutes, enjoying a rare moment of clear, uncluttered thought before choosing several groups of memories and bringing them into the foreground.

He was assaulted by a barrage of sound, sights, feelings, emotions, everything that he had sequestered and reopened.

He sat, going through the old memories ordering them in a logical fashion. Such as maps of the ancient tunnel systems, speeches he had used to rally his troops when he was human, and parts of the time he spent fighting 'Reachers during the red year.

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry lead the recruits back toward the mill, but had them duck into an abandoned building. "Empty your bags, divide the food evenly, but leave enough to turn in so no one suspects us of hoarding food for ourselves."

The recruits did as he asked and left a decent sized of lesser quality goods to turn in. "Perfect. Now, let's make our entrance."

He took the lead, pushing the officer of the guards in front of him, pistol aimed casually at the man's head, the recruits, his recruits, following with a great deal more confidence than they had shown when they had left. He shoved the officer towards a group of Wood's men. "Try to prevent this one from getting away." He said with a smirk. Hiram's people glared at him but said nothing.

"Take the food to Evelyn, it's her problem now, then meet me by the tree we met at earlier... In half an hour." He shouted to his recruits and took a long drink from his canteen.
The two rebels he had carrying the bags of spare food dropped it near Evelyn and lazily saluted as he had shown them. "Spoils of war ma'am, sorry it isn't that much, but there isn't much out there. Oh, and we got a prisoner, you might want to talk to him." His rebels split off into small groups, most going to get some rest. He would allow it, it was their first real fight, and many would still be agitated.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice's breath turned to sand in her chest as she heard a sudden shift in Celaena's tone, and she held eye contact with the girl despite her glaring. "You're right. I've had an easy life; I don't know what any of those things feel like. There are plenty of people here who know pain, and some of them have endured worse than you or I can imagine. But, unlike most of them, I do know Erick - and his past. So it's safe to believe me when I say that, despite what you may be feeling, this situation isn't out of your hands.

"A few days ago, your respective positions would have been cause for tension between you, but now you're on even ground. You're both fighting for the same side, aren't you?" She resumed her careful scan of the area, giving Celaena ample time to fill the silence.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor managed to conjure a small smile at Leif's reassuring words, and half-succeeded, but doubt continued to chip away at her normally unbreakable composure. "Yes, that's true." An amusing thought struck her, and she raised her voice to a more natural volume. "I hope the same applies to me. I'm beginning to think I won't get away with just hiding in the middle of the crowd and hoping I don't have to shoot anyone. After all, I don't exactly have an excuse not to fight - other than 'I don't want to,'" she admitted, breathing a small laugh.

She sighed, lightly tapping the edge of the cart. "Well, shout if you need anything. It seems things are slowing down, so I suppose I'll have a look around, see if I can find something to do."

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn looked on as Dimitry returned with his recruits, interested to see them dragging along a stranger in restraints. She followed them a short distance into the mill, stopping just in time to see two of the recruits approaching her. A downward glance revealed that their cargo was food, and she nearly shot them a grin. Regarding the prisoner, she nodded, stealing a glance at him over their shoulders. "Good work. I'll see what we can get from him." An officer, by the look of him, he would almost certainly be useful if she got him to talk.

Hiram never got the chance to try his hand at interrogation, and then there was Tabaraamon; she supposed she could also ask Alice, Tula, or Erick if they knew him, since there was a chance they could offer some leverage that they or Evelyn might be able to use. The last time they spoke, the People's Army's leader had favored the idea of asking for Tabaraamon's help, but he hadn't seemed all that interested in the details of gathering information - as long as it got done. So, with that in mind, she would just get Mr. Wood's opinion on the matter. The longer they held onto this guard, the more dangerous he became.

After all this was sorted, if she had time, she would track Dimitry down and ask him about the earlier confrontation with Barton. For now, though, she had food to pass around. That People's Army group was still out, hopefully gathering more supplies, but until then, this would help to tide everyone over. Her recruits came first, and she would give whatever remained to those Voce kids.

 Celaena- Assassin

She watches her and after a long time of simply giving her the death glare, she sighs turning her head away, "You don't understand." Was she simply said. She had to be her in order to understand, "no one did the only one who even came close was either Jack or Erick himself...no Erick wouldn't even understand....he never even looked for me, even if he thought I was dead, he should had at least looked to see if it was true. Maybe I would have understand more if he said he went back to the house and saw the graves but he didn't even do that...not even once" It took her a moment to realized that she just said that out loud and she goes very quiet like she wasn't even there.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice's brow furrowed, and she found her patience beginning to wane in the face of Celaena's bitter words. So, that was the issue all along, she thought. "That's-" She caught herself, her words evaporating into a sigh. Getting defensive on Erick's behalf wouldn't help.

She relaxed where she sat, as if settling in for a long lecture. "I think there's something you don't quite understand as well: the reason he didn't search for you. Erick left Lynne because he was alone, and afraid of being hunted down by the culprits. Just like you, he was doing whatever he could to stay alive. And even if you expected more from him, he was only a scared child - nothing made him inherently braver or smarter than you. I don't expect you to forgive him, but it's only right that you understand the truth before you condemn him like this."

Celaena- Assassin

She stays quiet before muttering, "I know....." She lets out a sigh, "Since im guessing you know what happened.....After the fire, I had collapse in the forest... a ex knight took me in.....and he taught me how to seal everything in... to only depend on myself... that everyone I knew was dead.....Then he taught me how to kill, how to become an Assassin." She giggles a bit, "I have a little nickname now, The Phoenix Assassin. I'm not here because of the rebellion. I'm here on a job, I wont go into details on that. I'm not allowed to have friends and family... otherwise they will die...." Her voice begins to crack, as she lets down the walls her eyes water up, "I was alone... Never truly having someone.... and now I suddenly find out the only person I had ever truly care about besides my parents is alive?......I don't hate him...... I just look back at all those years of being alone....and wonder if I would be someone better if he had found me..... He probably doesn't even like who I turned to be.... Heck! I don't think my parents would like me anymore...."

 Ryouki Sato

"I think we should go for the safer bet." Ryouki methodically replied.

The girls whined, disappointed and shocked, in unison. "Brother!"

"I mean..." He began, but drew back slightly. "I consider myself on your side."

"So you'd want to take down the forces in Hydris, with us then." Tsukiko answered back.

"But I'm on the side that is best for your well being," Ryouki clarified. "and I think  Usami would be right to want for you to pick the safer option. I know and understand how capable you two are, but emotions are running high and I don't want either of you rushing in."

The twins fell silent. Tsukiko nodded in agreement, but Taiyo persisted. "Why're you looking at me?"

"You're more likely than Tsukiko to rush in."

"How so?" Taiyo crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "I am not reckless."

"Yeah...well..." Tsukiko began to agree vocally, and Taiyo pouted. "You're so mean!" The younger twin sighed. "But, unfortunately very right. I guess I do rush into stuff a lot..."

 Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry took a long drink from his flask and shook it with irritation. Running low, probably could have found some really high quality stuff in the mansion. Oh well.

He slowly stood up and stretched. There were no really comfortable places to sleep, and he didn't want to pull out his bed roll, which was stuffed in the bottom of his pack, under all sorts of things he didn't want the rebels to know he had. Like nerve gas grenades and signal flares.

He went looking for Tula, he wanted to talk to her about something he had been thinking about for a while. He would also go bother Evelyn about his pay, since he had shown his usefulness by bringing back food and a few weapons.

Most people moved out of his way, it wasn't that he scared them, mostly they didn't want to accidentally slash themselves on the unprotected bayonet on his rifle or get smacked by his backpack.

 Jessica Stuart - Outside the kings palace, Fairhaven.

Jessica waited in front of the castle gate in irritation, as a member of the kings security detail scurried back toward the castle itself, wanting to ask the king if she was to be allowed inside.

"I don't like it. To exposed." One of Jessica's bodyguards muttered and adjusted his weapon into a more comfortable firing position.

"They won't do anything stupid, especially right in front of the castle." Another one growled, but he did position the large steel riot shield in a slightly more protective angle.

Jessica sighed, the king had almost been salivating when she had spoke to him about selling modern Grial weapons and armor, he would let them in, then she would seal the deal by adding a few long range artillery guns to the mix. Get the man ready to spend, spend, spend. She knew there was something the government really wanted to build of buy, and she was unsure it was. Unless they were preparing to go to war, and wanted to have plenty of money ready for it to start. She really hoped it wasn't the later, since that would mean she had failed as an ambassador.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice let her head rest against the wall of the mill, listening in silence, until Celaena's tough front began to crumble. She looked to the young assassin with a rueful smile, her sternness dissolving. "Don't say that. If you believe your parents truly loved you then, then they would understand. You did what you had to do to survive. Erick, of all people, will understand that as well. And if you feel that those times are over now, and that you're free to choose one way or the other rather than having to live alone, then that's what's most important right now - not the past. It's a difficult decision, whether or not to change the way you've been living for years."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick followed the exchange between Ryouki and his sisters, shooting Taiyo an apologetic smile when her alleged recklessness came into question. "I like small groups anyway - more food to go around, less squabbling." That, and he would be glad to get away from Evelyn. He still couldn't be sure how he felt about her, but it was nothing good, and far from anything resembling trust. Forcing himself back to the present, he turned away from the three and surveyed the mill. "Guess that settles it, then! I've never been to Braile before. Should we just go wait over there, by Black Bart, or do you want to find Usami first?"

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn knelt down to rummage through the bag of food, making a mental note of its contents. Though she wouldn't be able to share with Wood's Men, unfortunately, there was enough for her own recruits and possibly a few of Voce's. To her frequent annoyance, Asbel ate like a bird, and she could afford to remove herself from the equation. She could always snatch something from the People's Army's spoils later. As she pondered this, glaring down at the food, she caught the sound of approaching footsteps and sighed. "Yes?"

"I just wondered if you wanted help with anything," a small voice replied, sounding distinctly put off by Evelyn's impatience.

Evelyn looked up to see Miss Arkaitz smiling down at her with an eyebrow testily raised. "Ah." Honestly, now she felt a bit rude, but she hadn't expected such an offer. "Yes, absolutely." She drew a fairly large portion of meat from the bag, which was wrapped in a thin white cloth, and handed it to Danor. "Do you know the Sato family? Twin girls, two older brothers, one was in the Second Wastes War..."

"Oh! Yes, I know who they are."

"Give that to them. They'll probably be with Mr. Bailee, and there's enough there for him as well."

Danor nodded. "Understood. And when I come back, if it's not too much trouble, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Evelyn's mouth drew into a thin line, and her posture straightened as she fixed Danor in a cautioning stare. "Is it worth my time, Miss Arkaitz?"

The woman cautioned her right back. "And your full attention."

Evelyn nodded, returning her attention to the contents of the bag. "Alright, then. I'll do what I can." With that, Danor smiled, and left to fulfill Evelyn's request. Evelyn, meanwhile, decided she would see to bringing Kristen some food. She found a cut of beef jerky and pulled it from the bag, which she carried in her free hand as she rose to her feet and made her way further into the mill.

Celaena- Assassin

She looks over at Alice and studies her again, "You remind of a friend I had... but she's dead now.... I wont fully make up mind yet....however, I'll stick around a bit longer....." She gets up and everything about her seem to harden again, like she was putting on armor before walking back into the mill.

Jack- Blacksmith

Jack meets her at the front of the door and hands her the bottle and smiles, she gives him a small smile back and takes it after giving him a hug and whispering, "Keep a eye on everyone, I want to learn more about this group." Jack nods in response and stretches his arms over his head.

Alice Beckett-Oswald - Captain of the King's Guard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Alice watched Celaena leave, her unease beginning to dissipate, before rising to her feet once the girl was out of sight. She ran a hand over her face and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as she regained her focus, and made her way back to the mill. Things were quiet - growing steadily more so - and Dimitry had returned safely with his students. She didn't see Lucas, but despite a brief twinge of worry, she was confident that she would have seen it if he had left the mill. For now, though, she did see Evelyn.

Though Alice had been putting it off, there was no denying that this was the perfect opportunity to demand the answers she wanted. After this, she may not find a better chance. She caught up to the woman and practically stepped in front of her, as it seemed like the only way Alice would be able to slow her down. "Excuse me, Evelyn."

Evelyn paused, briefly glancing over to Alice, before motioning her over to a vacant space near the wall. This practically answered Alice's question for her. Once there, Alice began without hesitation.

"I need to speak with you about something."

Evelyn's eyes lowered. "Ah."

"You know what I'm going to say, then?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped just short of it when she realized that this had been a warning rather than a question. Evelyn didn't want to argue, and she had no idea what Alice wanted; either way, the knight's patience was obviously thinning. Evelyn simply smiled, her expression an unreadable mask.

Alice took the time to choose her words carefully, and her voice lowered noticeably in both volume and tone. "Did you fake the letter that led us to the border of Lynne?"

"You already know that I did."

"Fair enough - why, then? If you thought it would be too dangerous to ask, why not just blackmail us?"

Evelyn puffed a small chuckle. "It would have been a grave mistake to blackmail the Alice and Lucas Oswald, wouldn't it?"

Alice took an abrupt step toward Evelyn, causing the woman to recoil despite the fact that Alice had to crane her neck just to hold eye contact. "It was a grave mistake to build an army around manipulation and deceit. We're not the only ones you've swindled."

"What the hell am I supposed to say to that? Hmm? Shall I call the whole thing off because it's making you uncomfortable, Sir Beckett?"

"Evelyn, you need to undo the damage you've done to their trust - before the war truly begins. If you don't, all of this could go up in flames."

The woman rolled her eyes. "I think I've heard enough. Although I could listen to your sagely advice all day long," she began, tossing a piece of food to Alice, "I have work to do." Alice watched Evelyn take her leave and approach Kristen, and decided there was no point in trying to drag the officer back into the conversation. For now, she was obviously through listening, but at least there was a chance that she might consider the warning. Normally, it would suit her just fine to see this alliance crumble, but now... She guessed she would have to give this her best effort.

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Danor found the family in question in record time, rushing to fulfill her end of the bargain with Evelyn. Strangely, she didn't see Usami with them, but supposed she could trust the other siblings to save his share. She jogged over to them, opting to hand the food to the girl with the long, light hair. At a glance, she looked a bit down, so perhaps this would cheer her up. "Evelyn told me to give this to you all," she said with a smile. "More will come soon, I think."

## Page 16

Jessica Stuart - Ambassador - Kings court, Fairhaven.

Jessica tapped her foot impatiently as the gate swung open. "The king will see you... I apologize for the wait." A servant said. Jessica ignored him and stalked I to the palace, flanked by the two biggest of the Riot Breakers, both armed with belt fed machine guns. The connotation was clear, all this and more can be yours for the right price.

"Your bodyguards may not take their firearms inside." A guard in ceremonial armor growled.

"Here. You hold on to them for us then." One of the Jessica's escort said and handed the man the large weapon, smirking when he almost dropped it, surprised at the weight.

"All of your fire arms." The guard continued. Jessica groaned and watched the pair remove at least half a handguns and set them on a table. "Thank you for your cooperation." The guard sighed and opened the door. Jessica entered, refusing to bow to the king. "My government wants to know if you will be purchasing the equipment we offered. It is difficult to prevent military officers from selling such equipment and using it to line their own pockets the longer it sits in storage. And I assure you there are many officers more than willing to sell top of the line weapons and equipment to the rebels. Rogue arms dealers have already sold several small airships to the rebels, as well as a great deal of surplus weapons."

The king sat right lipped, Jessica couldn't tell if he was angry that she disrespected him, or had just received bad news.

"Yes, we are aware of the airships, and it is extremely worrying. But you're insinuation that your government will sell weapons to the rebels will not be tolerated."

Jessica sighed. "It is very difficult to control the captain of every sand ship, and there are some that are less than honest, you have the same issue within your military, it is unavoidable, except that the problematic officers in our military have much more power, simply because of our overwhelming superiority to your military. Criminals will do what criminals do, and despite our best efforts some do sell weapons despite being told not to."

"Ah. A simple misunderstanding." The king said with a tight smile. "Now what is the real reason you are here? It isn't to harass me about buying weapons."

Jessica suppressed a grin. "I'm here to issue a edict from my government, all of your colonies in the waste that are showing uprest will be seized within at midnight, 5 days from now unless they no longer cause a threat to the stability of our colonies. Once the crisis is over they will be returned, and you will not need to compensate us for any damages the rebels may have caused to our military."

The king looked like a fish that had just been yanked out of the ocean. "That will be an act of war!" He bellowed.

"Our forces will be precise, and do their best to limit collateral damage. Think of it as the first part of Grail-El intervention, you've been asking for direct military action, and you have it." Jessica said, exhilarated at the way she was twisting the monarch around her finger.

 Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry wandered the mill, looking for Tula. He finally spotted her and started walking over. He couldn't tell if Enrico was nearby, but really hoped he wasn't. Though it would be good to clear the air between the two of them, make certain things evident. Of course, if Tula wanted to run off with the prick he wouldn't stop her or send Enrico into the afterlife, but he would not be happy about it. Couldn't let Enrico know that though, it was normally best for people to think he was an unhinged psychopath with a trigger finger as itchy as a caravaner allergic to sand.

He wondered when the next new moon would be, had to have made the decision by then. He walked over to where Tula was standing and smiled slightly.

Celaena- Assassin

Celaena looks around for Erick before taking a seat next to Jack and drinks on the alcoholic beverage that he bought her. She started thinking that it would be best to leave, but in order to get rid of that bounty and to also get payed... She lets out a sigh as she stands up and speaks in a loud voice, "May I have your attention please!" She shoves her hands in her pockets from shaking. "I have something to say." She waits til she has everyone attention, "I'm not here because of this Rebellion, I'm an Assassin, the nickname I have is the Phoenix Assassin and the only reason why I'm here is to assassinate the leader of the Untied People Army. I'm sure most of you know that Assassins don't care about who gave us the job as long as we get paid. However with some recent changes," She glances at Erick before continuing, "I've decided not to continue with this mission." She shifts her weight, "Which I guess is a positive note since I've always seen my missions to the end but on the down side, The mission still be there and many others will try, to prove that they are better than me. But I have a plan to solve that unless the leader of the Untied People Army wants to die." She smirks a bit at that. "With assassinations I have to bring back a personal item of theirs with their blood on it. Which will have the mission signed as completed." She takes a deep breath and waits for the shouting or them attacking her.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn greeted Kristen with a small nod, handing the girl her share of the food. "Here. Dimitry and his team brought this back." Though it quickly dissipated, she managed to conjure a stiff smile. "I hope the paperwork hasn't been too much trouble; there wasn't much to-" Evelyn paused, a shout catching her attention, and turned to face its source. It was that girl - Celaena. Not knowing what to expect, Evelyn shot a puzzled glance at Kristen and awaited the woman's announcement.

Though, it turned out to be less of an announcement than a plea to be shot where she stood. If she was telling the truth, she had given them some very valuable information, but she had also let a dozen feral, rabid cats out of the bag by admitting her past intentions. What was this girl thinking, pinning a target on her back like that? Crossing her arms over her chest, Evelyn raised her own voice to be heard across the room. Celaena wasn't one of hers, so she supposed this was probably a situation best left to the People's Army leader. Though, considering he was the one who had just narrowly avoided assassination at the hands of one of his own recruits, perhaps this was a good time for her to step in after all. "Young lady, get down from there before someone shoots you down!"

She felt eyes on her then, and soon discovered them to be Erick's. He looked to her, then another person who had begun whispering nearby. Not quite glaring and not just looking, Evelyn could tell he was watching for signs of aggression toward the fearless young speaker. He really couldn't turn that "bodyguard" thing off, could he? Meanwhile, nearer to the mill's entrance, the aforementioned rebel leader had long since lost his patience and sent two men toward her, one of which carried a coiled rope. She hoped he planned to restrain her; that was probably the best she could expect, and although Evelyn sympathized - even shared - the man's anger, Bailee would definitely become a problem if something happened to the girl.

Evelyn sighed, turning to Kristen. "I suppose I have some more yelling to do." With that, she made a beeline for Erick, who seemed to be debating whether or not to break off from his group to confront the two men and their leader. She called out to the latter, hoping he might say something to reassure Bailee that his defensiveness was unnecessary. "What are you planning to do with her, then?"

He rolled his eyes. "We'll see about that. She won't be running free around the mill anymore, I'll tell you that much." Ah. Well, that's helpful.

Ryouki Sato

"Braille's our territory." Ryouki assured Erick with a light kiss on the head.

"Was..." He faintly heard Tsukiko mutter. The youngster's eyes flitted up to look at Erick. "If it was still around, we'd want to show you the old forge, but it's been evicted and probably remodelled."

Ryouki immediately took the effort to try and cheer her up. "But other areas. Besides, we'll likely not have the time to try and visit home. On a mission, remember?"

"S-Sorry..." Tsukiko stammered. "I was just being nostalgic, I guess."

"And awkward." Taiyo added, bluntly. At the glare from her twin, she corrected herself. "I-In a cute way!"

Tula Nikos

As soon as Dimitry made his way over, Tula immediately embraced him. "I've missed you so much already." The Grecian woman hugged him tight and then pulled away too look into his eyes for the solace that she wanted all day. Her panic melted a little, and she managed a smile and light humour. "Those kids are adorable, but gods are some of them a handful. How are you holding up? What's going on with your recruits? How can I help you?"

 Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Dimitry smiled and returned the hug before responding. "No, there really isn't anything right now. I am giving them a break, some time to think. Anything I can help you with?" He asked as he looked at the Voce. "I don't think I can even try to teach them, but if you need anything else Ill do my best."

He glanced over his shoulder. "When you have a minute I'd like to talk to you in private, it's about a decision I need to make. Something that might have some major repercussions, whatever I end up deciding."

The "assassin's" announcement almost made him laugh, it was a rather stupid thing to do. But he had his own problems to worry about and ignored whatever happened next.

 Tabaraamon - Shadowed One - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Tabaraamon walked across the top of the mill, using his sword to carve a symbol deep into the flat roof. It was a large, complex web of twisting lines and circles, ringed by ancient runes. He stood back to admire his handiwork.
All the circle could do was send messages to other circles, which was rather useless, since he was the only one who could use it, the other shadowed ones didn't have the ability.

The primary reason he placed it was more to weaken any Hallows attack from the roof, since it gave off just the slightest amount of magical energy which made people uneasy. Sort of like he did, but much weaker. It would give them doubts, possibly distract them.

He sighed, once, long ago he could have made an army flee in terror just with a wave of his hand, pluck a Roc from the sky with a thought. But that was when he had just been newly formed, the power of a god running through him. But the divine power wore off, and he was forced to take his powers from the Wastes, when it was strong he was strong, when it was weak he was weak. And it was weak now, weaker than he could ever remember.

SVT13 - A bunch of assholes really - Abandoned mineshaft, Fairhaven.
"You got the parts?" Alexi growled as he lashed a bag to the cargo rack of his motorcycle.

"Yeah. Really hate working with this stuff." Rankin replied as he slid one of the four lead cylinders into a protective case. "I take two, both of you take one. Jefferson, you take the detonator, Alexi, you get the outer shell."

"You sure we have to use this?" Jefferson whined. "I really hate even being around this stuff, puts my hair on end."

"The base of the dam is several hundred feet thick stone and reinforced concrete. We would need more explosives than were fired during the assault on Agnorak, and I doubt the military is going to clear us to call in a five hour bombardment by the combined strength of the first and third fleet! It wojld sort of negate the point of us blowing up the dam in the first place!" Alexi shouted.

"Right, fine. Just asking." Jefferson retorted.

Hiram Wood | Rebel Leader ~ Old Mill, Snowview Fairhaven

“Sir, we have a prisoner.”

Hiram turned curiously to see a man with a rather vexed expression accompanied by two of his own men. By the looks of him he was clearly part of the King’s Guard. “And what are we supposed to do with him?” Hiram asked.

“I was hoping you would know.” The one on the left spoke nervously. “The Grail El man shoved him into our arms.”

Hiram observed the prisoner closely and then glanced at Dimitry with a look of irritation. They didn’t have time to keep more prisoners. “Take him to Evelyn. She can decide what to do with him.” They nodded and shoved the man along.

Griffin Parrish | Rebel Officer ~ Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

He watched as two Wood’s men marched off with an annoyed man between them. Hiram walked slowly towards him. “What was that about?” Griffin asked curiously. He set the map of Fairhaven heavily on the table.

“Oh, just a prisoner that we don’t have time for.” Hiram looked down at the map. Several street blocks were circled as well as a few X’s placed around. “So what was it you wanted to ask me?”

Griffin pointed to the largest X on the map. “This is where Lucas saw the archer. He said that he ran off in the opposite direction. I was thinking that maybe I take a small group out and scout the surrounding area to find any clues to where these Black Hallows might be held up.”

Hiram rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know it is very risky to send a group out at this time. Who knows how many men they have. And from the fight they demonstrated, they might be more skilled than we think.”

“I know it’s risky, but we will keep a low profile. You know I’m good at sneaking around. If things get messy, we have a few smoke bombs left as well as some explosives. Lucas already volunteered to go out with me. We were thinking about going on the supply run with that Silas fellow.”

After a few seconds of silence, Hiram nodded. He grabbed Griffin by the shoulder. “You best come back in one piece.”

Jack- Blacksmith

He was on his feet in seconds standing between Celaena and the two guys with his hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his back, "One more step and you'll regret it" He glares at them with his harsh eyes but turned to look at Celaena touched his shoulder and he lowers his guard.

Celaena- Assassin

"Stand down Jack. Lets not turn this into a bigger mess than I just created." She looks at Erick, "You too. Relax, Erick" She lets out a sigh as she turns to the two guards from the people army, "Now, I rather sit and talk over some alcohol. You've seen me in battle, I'm pretty sure you would prefer that over me taking you guys down." She looks at Evelyn next, "Sorry about the sudden mess, but it needed to be said before we continue on." She turns to the deadly crowd. "You wont get a I'm a changed woman speech or anything sappy. All it really is, is that I wont kill you, you wont kill me speech. Which I'm sure that's half of you in this room." She crosses her arms, "So how do you want to do this?"

Tula Nikos

"Right now, we're just keeping the kids out of all the chaos. Some of them got quite startled. Enrico's got it handled, and that's why I'm here with you." Tula returned the easy smile and, after his question, added. "I'm prepared for anything you might tell me." Her eyebrows creased together in mild confusion as she admitted. "Maybe not? I don't know...but I'd like to know what you may be deciding to do, considering everything that's been happening."

--

Enrico Accosi

He could see the assassin's struggle from his peripheral vision as he held the sleeping Voce girl, and couldn't hide a smug grin.

"What are you grinning for?" Eis's silver eyes narrowed.

"I had a feeling that tigrotto was many things she would never reveal at a first glance." Enrico chuckled softly. "It has me curious, but I don't want to wake the children." The Italian added with a playfully disgruntled sigh. "They're all fast asleep, and it's midday. How lazy."

 ((tigrotto-little tiger))

  Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick stifled a smile at the possibility of sightseeing, waving a quick goodbye to Danor as she hurried off to find Evelyn. "Even if we can't go out of our way very much, I'm sure you'll see something familiar." Though he was more than content to move away from Hydris, he was worried about the others who might plan on staying with the rest of the group. Unfortunately, he didn't have long to worry about that. When Celaena made her announcement, there was no point trying to hide his panic - or his confusion. Just like that, before he could even process the confession himself, the entire room became her enemy. The leader seemed content to let her live for the time being, but that was more than he could say for some people in the crowd.

Evelyn was trying to get a handle on the situation, but between Celaena's stubbornness and the anger spreading through the mill like wildfire, it soon became clear that a more forceful approach was needed. As she placed a hand on the holster of her gun, Erick visibly tensed. He wanted to intervene, but the more people who jumped into this argument, the more likely it was to start a mob. Evelyn, acutely aware of this, approached Celaena first and spoke quietly. "You're no longer in any position to be giving speeches. Look around. If you don't cooperate, someone in this room is going to kill you."

The leader spoke up then, his face flushed with anger. "I'm starting to think I'd rather take my chances with the other assassins!"

"Don't be stupid," Evelyn snapped. "If you didn't notice this one from two feet away, what makes you think you'll be able to stop one who actually intends to kill you? We need her."

Although the crowd was still fuming, they began to quiet down then, if only to listen to the confrontation as it unfolded. After a moment to consider his options, the leader fixed his attention directly on Celaena, pointing an accusing finger in her direction. "You want to talk? Let's talk. But as of now, you're a prisoner here." The two People's Army men made a wide circle around Jack toward Celaena, and the leader's gaze began to ricochet between Jack and Erick. "I don't suppose you two know anything about this, do you?"

Erick's spite crept into his tone of voice as he answered the man. "Only that I'm sure she wouldn't have done it."

Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief - very short-lived relief, as she soon felt a tap on her shoulder, and spun around to face the unlucky soul who had distracted her. Two of Wood's Men, and the guardsman Dimitry had brought back to the mill. "What?"

Somewhat distracted by the commotion around Celaena, they wasted no time handing over the prisoner. "We were told to bring this prisoner to you," one of them said.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow, stealing a glance in Hiram's direction. "Oh, he shouldn't have," she muttered, and grabbed the prisoner by the arm. He muttered a curse under his breath, but offered no other resistance. "Alright, then, I'll take it from here."

 Celaena- Assassin

 Watches the men surround her and she crosses her arms to keep them from shaking, "I'm nobody's prisoner. I don't have loyalties to anyone except for two people in this world. And one of them just happens to be with you. He's the only family I have left. I won't kill you because he asked me not to. If you don't want any others after your head, I'm going to need the pocket watch that you always have on you, and I'll find a chicken to cover it with some blood." She stands closer to Jack. "There has been 20 times where I could have killed you, but I didn't and now I stand here before you telling you that I'm an assassin who has always carried out a mission. I say you should be thankful. However I will not be a prisoner, been one for 3 years but never again." She places a hand on her dagger, as she watches the crowd. Starting to wonder if this was the best idea, "Erick told me that you guys wouldn't take action. That you guys are more or less of a family, that it was safe to tell the truth. Do you want to prove him wrong?"

## Page 17

Dimitry Popov - Mercenary - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

"I just found out that a group I was once a part of is searching for me. At least some part of is it. And I need to decide if I should make it easy for them, or to hide. They are my old brothers in arms, men who would have died for me, and I would have died for them. But they changed, and if they find me... I don't know what they will do."

"All I know is that they are followed by death. Wherever they go people die by the dozen. But they were also my closest friends, and for a good portion of my life the only people that I could trust. And if they need my help... I can't just abandon them on the chance that they are trying to kill me. They were like family." Dimitry said slowly. "But they make me seem mentally stable. So for all I know they will start shooting the minute people start shouting at them, or looking at them funny."

He sighed deeply. "I just don't know, and I am not used to that."

Kristen Mernoth - Noblewoman - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

Kristen closed her eyes and tried to relax. She had just ran into a particularly difficult obnoxious area, where whoever had been writing the budget had used the paper to write themselves reminders, and as scratch paper to assist in basic arithmetic problems. She had no idea what any of it meant, or when it was written. It was remarkably stressful, especially considering it was her only useful skill, and the only reason for the rebels to keep her around. Of course she had evidence that she was a noblewoman, so maybe if those loyalists attacked again she could escape and convince them to help her return home. Of course she would inflate her family's importance, but she was used to that, since almost any positive talk of her family's position was inflation.

They had their manor, her father's personal cavalry division, which he poured all the money her mother didn't waste on jewelry and expensive wines. Several times she had overheard her father about renouncing his position and becoming a mercenary commander, leading the thirty or forty men at arms on quests to find wealth. She wondered what her father thought of the political situation, he was no great friend of the king, but it was unlikely he would lead the Mernoth lancers into battle against the king's armies.

She turned the page and went back to work, the rebels were already in debt, or at least running a severe deficit. She had yet to see any sign of funding coming in, just payments. But she was only a few months in, and the rebellion had been in existence for much longer. In the background, not really doing anything.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to speak, but rose in the span of a second from irritated to furious when she saw Celaena's hand on the hilt of her weapon. She scoffed at the girl's question, stealing a glance at Erick. "I couldn't care less about whatever sentimental garbage Bailee fed you. I'm interested in keeping this 'family' safe, whether that means disowning you or not."

The People's Army leader shouted over Evelyn, his eyes on the weapon at Celaena's side. "Put your hands behind your back!"

Erick stepped forward then, even calmer than he had been moments before as he addressed the Army's leader. "Sir, she never lifted a finger to hurt anyone here. Someone would've been sent to kill you no matter what, and if she hadn't come here to warn us instead, they might have succeeded."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow, and the man squinted hard at Erick before looking to Celaena again as he drew a watch from his pocket. "I'll call off my men on one condition: you get me the name of the bastard who sent you here. And believe me, I'll know if you lie."

Erick breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, stealing a nervous glance at Ryouki and his siblings, and Evelyn deemed it safe to continue with her own business. She tightened her iron grip around the nearby officer's arm and drew her gun from its holster, pushing it against his back. Just as she turned to leave, planning to set the prisoner up somewhere where he could be watched closely, she was met with a familiar eye and a smile. "Hello," Danor said, hands empty.

"Ah," Evelyn replied, having nearly forgotten about delivering the food she carried. She held her arm out, letting the bag's string slide down to her wrist, and indicated it with a nod. "I don't suppose you would finish handing this out, would you? Everyone but Kristen, Erick, and the Satos hasn't gotten any. If there's anything left, give it to Enrico's kids."

Danor cautiously took the bag from Evelyn, her gaze never leaving the officer. "I can do that. Just..." She stole a glance at the prisoner, her voice lowering to a murmur. "Put this one somewhere with a high ceiling, please."

Evelyn puffed a soundless laugh through her nose. "Will do."

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

With that, Danor's smile returned, and she left to find the rest of her traveling companions. She sped almost into a jog, scanning the room around her in order to avoid the assassin-related bustle, until she caught sight of a large group entering the mill. Startled at first, she paused, but was quick to realize that it was the People's Army team that had left to retrieve food. Well, they didn't look traumatized. She didn't see any blood - she did see bags, however. Not as much as she would have hoped or even expected, but still undoubtedly filled with food.

As they passed by her, announcing their presence to the rest of the mill with a few assorted shouts, she waved one of the people down. "How did it go?"

The stranger sighed, a mixture of exhaustion and resignation weighing on his expression. "It's awful out there. There are more guardsmen now, and then there's that 'Doctor' freak wandering about. Someone thought they even saw him."

Danor's gaze lowered. "Ah." The man left, but despite the discouraging news, Danor was determined to keep her spirits high. And what better way to do so than to blatantly disregard Evelyn's instructions? She made her way over to Enrico, approaching slowly so as not to wake the kids. Cautiously, she set the bag down next to him, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Save this, if you like, in case it becomes scarce soon. Some of those kids are still growing, after all."

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

All alone with Boraci off transforming now that night had begun to fall - and bored as hell despite the commotion - Asbel decided to search for another friendly face. Drumming his fingers lightly against a recently "borrowed" flask, he planted himself next to Alice, who looked more worried than usual - something to do with that red-haired assassin, no doubt. Still, despite her concern, she noticed Asbel's presence immediately, and flashed an almost apologetic smile. "Hello, Asbel."

"Hello, Miss Oswald. Enjoying the life of an outlaw?"

The knight sighed, her eyes wandering the open room. "Truthfully, old friend, I don't believe I'm suited for it. But if this is the way things have to be, then I'll manage."

Asbel nodded sagely. "I see..."

After a moment of contemplative silence, Asbel held out the flask to Alice. She laughed, but declined with the raise of a hand.

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to speak, but rose in the span of a second from irritated to furious when she saw Celaena's hand on the hilt of her weapon. She scoffed at the girl's question, stealing a glance at Erick. "I couldn't care less about whatever sentimental garbage Bailee fed you. I'm interested in keeping this 'family' safe, whether that means disowning you or not."

The People's Army leader shouted over Evelyn, his eyes on the weapon at Celaena's side. "Put your hands behind your back!"

Erick stepped forward then, even calmer than he had been moments before as he addressed the Army's leader. "Sir, she never lifted a finger to hurt anyone here. Someone would've been sent to kill you no matter what, and if she hadn't come here to warn us instead, they might have succeeded."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow, and the man squinted hard at Erick before looking to Celaena again as he drew a watch from his pocket. "I'll call off my men on one condition: you get me the name of the bastard who sent you here. And believe me, I'll know if you lie."

Erick breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, stealing a nervous glance at Ryouki and his siblings, and Evelyn deemed it safe to continue with her own business. She tightened her iron grip around the nearby officer's arm and drew her gun from its holster, pushing it against his back. Just as she turned to leave, planning to set the prisoner up somewhere where he could be watched closely, she was met with a familiar eye and a smile. "Hello," Danor said, hands empty.

"Ah," Evelyn replied, having nearly forgotten about delivering the food she carried. She held her arm out, letting the bag's string slide down to her wrist, and indicated it with a nod. "I don't suppose you would finish handing this out, would you? Everyone but Kristen, Erick, and the Satos hasn't gotten any. If there's anything left, give it to Enrico's kids."

Danor cautiously took the bag from Evelyn, her gaze never leaving the officer. "I can do that. Just..." She stole a glance at the prisoner, her voice lowering to a murmur. "Put this one somewhere with a high ceiling, please."

Evelyn puffed a soundless laugh through her nose. "Will do."

Danor Arkaitz - Gunsmith - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

With that, Danor's smile returned, and she left to find the rest of her traveling companions. She sped almost into a jog, scanning the room around her in order to avoid the assassin-related bustle, until she caught sight of a large group entering the mill. Startled at first, she paused, but was quick to realize that it was the People's Army team that had left to retrieve food. Well, they didn't look traumatized. She didn't see any blood - she did see bags, however. Not as much as she would have hoped or even expected, but still undoubtedly filled with food.

As they passed by her, announcing their presence to the rest of the mill with a few assorted shouts, she waved one of the people down. "How did it go?"

The stranger sighed, a mixture of exhaustion and resignation weighing on his expression. "It's awful out there. There are more guardsmen now, and then there's that 'Doctor' freak wandering about. Someone thought they even saw him."

Danor's gaze lowered. "Ah." The man left, but despite the discouraging news, Danor was determined to keep her spirits high. And what better way to do so than to blatantly disregard Evelyn's instructions? She made her way over to Enrico, approaching slowly so as not to wake the kids. Cautiously, she set the bag down next to him, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Save this, if you like, in case it becomes scarce soon. Some of those kids are still growing, after all."

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

All alone with Boraci off transforming now that night had begun to fall - and bored as hell despite the commotion - Asbel decided to search for another friendly face. Drumming his fingers lightly against a recently "borrowed" flask, he planted himself next to Alice, who looked more worried than usual - something to do with that red-haired assassin, no doubt. Still, despite her concern, she noticed Asbel's presence immediately, and flashed an almost apologetic smile. "Hello, Asbel."

"Hello, Miss Oswald. Enjoying the life of an outlaw?"

The knight sighed, her eyes wandering the open room. "Truthfully, old friend, I don't believe I'm suited for it. But if this is the way things have to be, then I'll manage."

Asbel nodded sagely. "I see..."

After a moment of contemplative silence, Asbel held out the flask to Alice. She laughed, but declined with the raise of a hand.

Celeana- Assassin

"Finding whoever put the bounty on your little head, is impossible needless to say. However I know how to get rid of, which is what I've been saying. Give me something valuable of yours, and I'll go find a chicken or something to put blood on it." She huffs and crosses her arms glaring a bit at Evelyn, "Sorry hun, Erick's words is what keeping all of you alive." She looks back at the Peoples army leader, "well want to live or not?"

Jack- Blacksmith

Seeing how this was going he decides to step in, "People, people breath alright? None of us wants to really die, yes? yes. Our adorable assassin, just told you who she was even though she had a feeling you might kill her. She could have just killed you, but she didn't and she's willing to help you. Now you saw her in action didn't you? Killing people," he makes a few poses as if he was killing people, and sound effects, "she was pretty terrifying huh? She's a valuable person, who can fight for you." He smirks, "Just imagine her truly working for you as an assassin, all the information she can get a hold of. You wouldn't want to waste that would you?"

```
  Lucas Oswald | Old Mill, Snowview Fairhaven

```

“It’ll be good to have you along. You seem more level headed than Griffin.” Elizabeth smiled and shook his hand. Lucas returned the gesture. He made his way over to Alice who was sitting with Asbel.

“Hey Asbel.” Lucas sat himself next to Alice, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. “So, I’ve decided to go for that supply run. But it has turned into a scouting mission for the Hallows. We really did get ourselves into something big, didn’t we?” He weaved his fingers into hers and kissed the top of her hand.

Tula Nikos

"That's a little of how I feel..." Tula exhaled softly, taking his hand and squeezing it for reassurance. "Gods...both of our pasts are catching up to us, I guess?"

"I'll stand by and support whatever you decide. Though, if you go with them, I trust you wouldn't want me following, correct?" The Grecian woman's eyebrows knit together with concern. "

Boraci - Swamp Bat Hybrid - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

I hunkered down behind a dilapidated shed, watching the last few rays of sunshine leave the sky. I rolled my shoulders, catching myself let loose a few groans. The transformation was complete in a few minutes. It seemed to be taking less and less time lately. Maybe I'd actually have a chance at getting some of the rumored food that the People's Army was supposedly supplying us with. As if in response, my stomach grumbled, and I patted it absently.

I didn't bother with the hood this time - most of the attention was centered around that assassin and Evelyn's decisions. And those rebels were going to need to be used to the odd and unusual. Ah, it didn't matter. What did matter was getting my hands on some grub.

"Didn't happen to snatch something with organs, did you?" I murmured to myself as I rummaged through the small pile of bags that the rebels had created. Bread (almost moldy), cheese, a few apples... no chicken corpses though. Plucking an apple out, I ambled over to where Asbel sat. Alice and Lucas had joined him. "Anyone else hungry?"

 Dimitry Popov - Worried - Old Mill, Fairhaven.

"The past always finds a way to haunt the living." Dimitry said, quoting a old Grail proverb.

"I will have to make that choice at the moment, since there are so many different variables. I hope it won't come to that. For all I know they are inviting me to a wedding or one of them wants me to be the godfather to their kids. It's difficult trying to figure out what they want.  It I will my best to convince them that you can be trusted, which might be challenging, since none of us ever really had any trust in each other." He said slowly, eyes slightly losing focus as he remembered the bizarre quasi friendship he had with the other members. It made the personal during the second war of the wastes seem quite friendly.

Evelyn Luciole - Excuse you. - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Evelyn cast a dull glare over her shoulder as Celaena's tone struck her last nerve, and noticed Erick beginning to shrink away from them - as if fearing even the slightest noise would set off a brawl. At this point, Evelyn would have loved nothing more than that, but she had work to do. When Jack spoke up, however, she decided that a warning, at least, was worth the trouble. She shot him a thin smile, lowering her voice to something almost casual. "Don't push her luck." The prisoner at her side tensed, probably growing either bored or frustrated, and Evelyn turned her attention to the People's Army's leader. "I'm sure you can take his from here."

The man's frown deepened. "Of course."

"Of course," Evelyn repeated, and continued on her way with the prisoner in tow.

"Brilliant little establishment you've got here," the captured officer muttered.

"You think so? It's a shame you won't be staying long, then." The man slid a sidelong, tired look at Evelyn, only to find her eyes already on him. "You've got an appointment, my friend."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick stared at Jack, trying to read him, until the Army leader began speaking - almost shouting - at Celaena. The man tossed his pocket watch in her direction, his eyebrows so tense it seemed as if they meant to crush his eyes. "Get the name or don't come back, Miss Moonlight! I've had it with your disrespect!"

Erick moved forward a bit, struggling to raise his voice. "Whoever sent Celaena wasn't one of the King's men. Once we get closer to Hydris, I seriously doubt they'll try anything else. I mean, it's gonna be a war zone."

The man paused, and although he obviously wasn't thrilled to be taking advice from one of the King's guard dogs, he considered the idea before looking to Celaena again. "Do whatever needs to be done, then. One wrong move after that and you're finished."

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

"Evening, Lucas. As usual, wonderful to see you're still in one piece." Asbel looked away from Alice and Lucas to take a drink, suddenly fascinated with the ceiling beams above him. Well, at least they kept the sappiness to a fairly reasonable level. Still, Asbel's tolerance had become a bit lower than average.

Alice's eyes brightened upon noticing Lucas, and the worry left her smile. As he began to explain his plans, however, she began to look less and less relieved. "I'd say so, love. I'll come along too, then, unless you think I should stay to keep an eye on Evelyn. I was already a bit tempted to join, with their group being so small - even if the area is less dangerous."

"Besides, who wouldn't be curious?" Asbel added, deeming it safe enough to rejoin the conversation. "With all the mystery around this little mission."

Alice gave a solemn nod, apparently mistaking curiosity for suspicion. "Will you be joining us, Asbel?"

"Oh, no, no... I have business here." He frowned slightly; his tongue was beginning to loosen a little more than he would like. Hearing Boraci's voice, however, he soon forgot this and flashed him a smile. "Eh," he answered, tilting his head one way and then another. He'd had a late breakfast.

"I certainly am." Alice beamed at Boraci, happy to have everyone sitting together. "What do you think, then? Does that supply run to Braile interest you?"

Celaena- Assassin

She catches the pocket watch swiftly, then with a blink of an eye she flicks her knife out with her other hand cutting her palm open and putting the knife back, the grabs the pocket watch with her now bloody hand. "Thanks." She walks out of the mill. "Jack you coming??" She shouts back, then Jack gives a quick bow for everyone before jogging after her.

Boraci - nana nana Batmaaaan - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel was drinking again, which was no surprise. I guess any hour was Happy Hour for him. It was nice to see Alice and Lucas together again. I wondered how their rumored child was (word got around). I absentmindedly tapped my boot against the hard ground. What kind of parents left their child with the world on the brink of revolution? Then again, I hadn't exactly had the best parents either, and I turned out alright. Mostly. My apple was a bit bruised.

"Better get to the food pile soon, then. Best pickings will be gone." I crunched the red fruit in my hand, resulting in a less than satisfying sound. I waited long enough to swallow before continuing. "I thought I heard a rumor going around about a trip. Might be nice to stretch my legs. Couldn't hurt to tag along. Who's on point?"

Munching a bit more, I wondered what kind of business Asbel would have here. Maybe it was just an excuse to get more drunk. Shrugging it off, the small interaction that Erick seemed to hover over caught my attention momentarily. Even from this distance, Miss Moonlight's - what kind of name is that? - blood filled my nostrils, lazily floating through the air like leaves on a river. Turning away, I quickly licked my lips, reminding myself that it wasn't worth it to try a catch a snack. Fruit would have to do.

## Page 18

Evelyn Luciole - Secret Officer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

With the prisoner locked away for the time being, Evelyn set out to find Danor, hoping to fulfill her end of their bargain as quickly as possible before she tracked Silas down. After a short search, she found the gunsmith fidgeting near the end of a makeshift line to the pile of food. She didn't appear thrilled about the surrounding crowd to begin with, so Evelyn figured it wouldn't be an inconvenience to tear her away from it. "Danor," she called, and the woman's gaze lifted from the floor.

"Oh, hello."

"I have time to speak with you for a few minutes."

Her expression shifting like clockwork from nervous to determined, she nodded, and broke away from the line. "I was beginning to wonder."

The two made their way to a wall opposite the food, where nearly everyone was gravitating, and Danor spoke up in a near-whisper. "I want to make another deal with you."

"So far, they've all gone over well. What do you have in mind?"

She took a deep breath in, and replied as if she had rehearsed the words. "These are the terms: If your recruits make it to Hydris without harming a single innocent bystander, then I'll offer something that could win this war for you."

Evelyn couldn't help but laugh, genuinely shocked. "You're joking."

"I'm not. I'm also not convinced that I'm making the right choice by trusting you, so I want to make sure that I'm doing somegood, at the very least. Unless you refuse."

Barely a second passed before Evelyn's curiosity won out over caution. "No, Miss Arkaitz. I accept. Though, I'll warn you: your offer has some very high expectations to meet."

Danor nodded, a smile tugging at her lips, and turned to leave. "I'm not worried."

Asbel Sutherlin - Rebel Mercenary - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Asbel stifled a chuckle as Alice nodded in agreement with Boraci, obviously debating whether or not to brave the crowd in search of food. As his following question caught her attention, however, present interest in their conversation soon won out over hunger. "There hasn't really been a discussion, as far as I'm aware. Though, I believe that highwayman, Matthew Barton, volunteered as well. Perhaps he would be willing."

Asbel's eyebrows raised. "That's possible. I wonder if he knows the area." He paused, the tiniest of smiles entering his voice. "What is the area, exactly?"

It was then that the tiniest glimmer of frustration began to burn through Alice's optimistic smile. "Somewhere in Braile."

"Ah, well. The trip was a bit short-notice, so I suppose we can't complain. What's more, it's a good excuse for you all to stay away from Hydris for a while longer."

Erick Bailee - King's Bodyguard - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Erick's focus followed Celaena to the mill's exit and beyond, his face and posture both crumpled in defeat. He wasn't sure how he would have liked that horrible conversation to end, but it definitely wouldn't have involved Celaena leaving. Still, she was grown up now, he guessed. Making her own way in the world, buying groceries, killing people...

He turned to face Ryouki, who wore an expression balanced between confusion and concern, and smiled sheepishly. "Old friend - always got me into trouble then too," he said dryly, relieved for a number of reasons when the People's Army's group returned with food. "Guess we'd better see what we can find before it's all gone."

Jack - Blacksmith

He watches Celaena as she sets the pocket watch down so the blood, her blood, dries on it and he walks over to her and patches up her hand. "You didn't have to cut your hand." He lets out a sigh when she pulls her hand away. Not looking at him in the eyes.

"They wouldn't shut up if I didn't." She scoffs.

"Celaena.... "

"Don't Celaena me." She huffs again. Jack lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why are you trying so hard to stay with them?," He watched as she tenses up then looks around.

"Because of Erick, I lost him once.... I don't want to loose him again. He was like... He is like a brother to me... and finding him alive....Jack I just can't..."

He pulls her into his chest and strokes her fiery red hair, "Alright. It's gonna be okay. I'll also stay with you, one: to protect you and two: help you keep Erick alive. Alright?" He felt her nod as he pets her hair. They stay like that for a good five minutes before Celaena moves away from Jack, going back to the pocket watch. He watches her with adoring eyes for someone he could never have.

Silas Reid - Botanist and Odd Job Part-Timer - Old Mill, Snowview, Fairhaven

Silas was sprawled on a patch of grass, lying underneath the shade of a tree. It was a little ways away from the mill, standing just on the edge of the property. At this hour, most of the rebels were inside, no doubt enjoying their supper. He could just barely catch the smell of bread that escaped the walls of the mill, his ears ringing with the group's boisterous laughter and conversation.

He had placed his handkerchief on the spot next to his head, while his satchel was leaned carefully against the trunk of the tree. He wanted to experience that peace once more, however short-lived, and he sought to do that in the way he always had—alone.

Ada would say he was being ridiculous. He had no doubt that if she was in his position, she would be cozying up to everyone inside, drawn into the allure of a rebellion, maybe leading a unit of her own. (Wasn't she already, if their last conversation was any indication?) She was like a blaze, lighting up the room with her brilliance and drawing the people around her into her embrace. He knew, for as long as they'd been together, she would burn down anything that stood in her way.

But if Ada was a blaze, Silas was a mere flame. Flickering. Threatened to be extinguished by the slightest breeze. He didn't care what she, or anyone thought—he couldn't be like her. He would do things his own way, even if that meant making an enemy of everyone he crossed.

Matthew Barton

Matthew rubbed his throat and walked away from the building. He would have to be more careful when speaking with that psychopath in the gas mask. Or just avoid him entirely. The later was probably the best option in the long run. He almost tripped on the supine man beneath a tree.

"Very sorry to disturb you my good sir." Matthew said, bowing slightly. "Though if you are looking for conversation about something other than this accursed war I have been looking for someone of that sort."