Night 55: North of the Institute

[razing_phoenix]

[From here.]Hitting the ground hard, Guy clenched his teeth when the impact hit his ankles; he hadn't had the time to really plan his fall. Still, he had avoided any sort of serious injury, and after taking a moment to recover, he slowly got to his feet

Comments

[full_score]

The light from Anise's casting caught Claude's attention. While he worried that she'd tire herself out, he appreciated that she was willing to do that in order to keep him and Guy safe. Thankfully, whoever (or whatever) was in that field didn't pursue them, and they were able to all make it to the top of the wall in one piece

[gald_digger]

As soon as Guy and Claude started their descent, Anise stopped casting, and the glyph at her feet vanished. When it did, she suddenly felt a bit lighter, the strain of casting leaving her in an instant. From the looks of it, conserving fonons meant she could conserve more of her own strength, too

[razing_phoenix]

Guy didn't miss the way that Claude was behaving, either. It wasn't obvious, but he'd spent enough nightshifts with the other man that he could tell that he wasn't quite as on top of things as he usually was. He'd kept up with them just fine and had been able to get over the wall on his own, but it was clearly taking its toll. Guy almost wished Tear was here so that she could at least cast one healing spell on Claude to hopefully clear things up at least somewhat

[full_score]

He appreciated his friends finding his light, and looked up when Guy approached him with it in hand. "Thanks," he quietly said, and reached up to take it. When Guy asked whether he needed a moment to collect himself, he couldn't help but feel bad about potentially slowing them down. Not that he thought Guy was judging him for it -- he knew him well enough by now to realize he just didn't want Claude to push himself too hard. But Claude didn't want to fail him or Anise, either.

"I'm all right," he answered after a moment. "Don't worry." Then, he slowly pushed himself to a stand, careful not to move too fast. As long as they didn't do anymore running right away, then Claude thought he'd be all right.

He had to admit he was curious to know what route Anise had in mind for them. If it didn't involve making their way through the dark woods, though, he was definitely in favor of it. Claude turned to look at the girl, intent on listening to what she had to say.

[gald_digger]

It looked like Anise wasn't the only one who noticed that Claude wasn't at his best, but that wasn't surprising, considering how perceptive Guy usually was. Claude insisted that he was okay, though, and Anise supposed that all she could do was trust him on that. If it turned out he needed a hand, she and Guy would be there to help, so it would probably be okay.

"Straight east from here," she answered with a self-satisfied grin, pointing her mallet in the desired direction. "Right up to where the woods are, but we won't have to go through them."

It was going to be a long walk, but Anise had never found it particularly perilous, so hopefully they'd be in for an easy trek through the field. As for what they'd find at their destination... Anise was just going to make herself forget about that until they got there.

Since everyone seemed to be ready to go, Anise took the lead and started to walk east along the wall.

[to here]