PM to join A lantern in the dark (Ricky please)

[Iff]

Iff's opponent tore free of her grip, leaving her with a fist full of cloth in her hand. He staggered backwards and then rocked forward, lunging with his sword. Iff parried the thrust the absolute minimum distance required for her to survive, then her long leg rose, almost delicately. It went under his arm, then over, the foot hooking in his armpit, and then she viciously straightened it, breaking his arm at the elbow. The man wailed in pain as his limb broke, and then fell as Iff kicked him inside the ankle.

Iff spun rapidly on her heels, ready to help Ricky or drag him to cover, but he had taken a stance and was holding a ball of glowing magic in his hand. Iff has no real experience with magic and so left him to do his thing, moving awkwardly to crouch behind a rain barrel against further arrows. She had no missile weapon on her, although if Ricky failed she would think of something.

[Ricky Maze]

"Hehehehe..." There was so much pleasure in sending this one off, so much revelry in letting go the very thing he brought out. To conjure up this magic was to risk losing yourself to it, and Ricky had put much more into this than he originally anticipated. This one cast he did was likely the only one he'd be able to do if he wanted to remain in control, to avoid the chances of giving into his fear and losing himself to the desires that taunted him so. As the water glob flew forward in a swift motion he willed the center of it to transmute into water as well, the entire sphere a flying glob of pure water that propelled into the pane of the window with a splash. Ricky muttered a curse under his breath as he gritted his teeth in bitter disappointment, his right hand already opened to pull out another glob of res for a second attempt.

That was when he reminded himself that he wasn't to cast anymore, and before he further attempted it closed his fist tightly as he looked back to the window. "Damn damn damn damn!!" He had to find cover quick if he wanted to avoid a possible arrow in his chest, and there was no telling how his shields could handle arrows... if they even could. He didn't know for sure, nor did he feel up for trying now. Not when there was such short time left before an incoming shot. "I've t' try and cast once more..." He had to face the demon inside, even if it continuously called for more. Even now it waited to be heard with the same craving that intoxicated his mind, the power hungry feeling an urge he could only hope to suppress within. Yet he couldn't do it with simply using his res up so quick, he needed to conserve what he had, and in turn that would help make his control easier...

"Undermine 'em then!" He grinded his teeth as he looked around the stone ground, a few puddles from the rains scattered here and there but more importantly a barrel full of water was next to Iff. Enough water to give him the edge he needed, and with Iff to help he could very well turn the tide of this in the event he cast this next glob. "Iff!" He called out as he rushed forward to the barrel, another arrow zipped past as it missed his backside and grazed the back of his leg. He staggered forward but there wasn't yet any pain, the adrenaline prevented such a thing to be noticed so quickly, plus the fact Ricky's entire focus was set on this one particular tactic distracted him from pain. "I need ya t' provide a distraction f'r me, sabotage 'is aim and draw 'em in the open and I'll take care o' the rest." He quickly explianed to her as he reached the barrel, sweat covered his brow already as he glanced between her, the barrel of water, and the window which the archer hid within.

[Iff]

Iff gave a single brief nod to Ricky’s request, although she was not immediately sure how to proceed. It was easy enough to draw fire if one didn’t mind being shot at, but drawing the shooter into the open was another matter all together.

She gave herself the leisure of a moment’s reflection. The man would likely not remain at the window for long. It was true that he wished to shoot the two Waves dead, but now that they had found cover it seemed unlikely that he would, and eventually more people would show up, maybe more Waves or maybe just citizens who could be sent for reinforcements. Time was not on his side. Her Myrian instinct was not to let him go unscathed, clearly some risk was in order.

Iff stood up quickly from behind the barrel and out into the street, moving in an erratic path mimicking in part a kata form she had learned as part of her empty hand fighting technique; spinning, kicking, reversing direction in a wild dance of martial anger. An arrow tore through the window, putting a hole in her cloak, and then another which missed all together. Iff approached the doorway to the building and as she did so the head and shoulders of a man appeared in the window, peering down to see what she was doing.

[Ricky Maze]

OOCThank you for your tremendous patience! I should be replying much more quickly now with Nano going on, thus you'll find this post to be my first for the month! I hope you enjoy.

Ricky only allowed himself the one moment to watch Iff as she made off to become the distraction he needed, with but a single moment left in the instant he would have, he had to maintain absolute focus on the current objective before him in order to see that his tactic pulled through. That meant conquering the fear he had inside and pulling into his reserves once again, and fighting the temptation to go crazy with his magic like every other user would. With a look into the barrel next to him Ricky could see there was plenty of water to spare; that meant he only needed to manifest enough Res to attract a large sum and send forth what he could. An idea hit him as he began to start, something he avoided doing for the sake of sanity. Thus he mentally pulled onto the reserves he tapped into and once more pushed out Res above his right palm, and felt the overwhelming desires that sweetly tempted him to give in and go nuts in the street. It was the foreboding feeling he unwelcomed yet somehow enjoyed the sensation of pleasure as he willed the very power within him to form.

With the internal struggle for sanity something he dealt with, Ricky's mind multitasked to the part of attraction once the res he made reached the size of an apple, the water in the barrel a locked image in his head as he willed for it to be a part of the res. He felt a sort of connection to the water in a process, as though his res became the very bond that connected him to the water. With this he focused more on the pull and the attraction felt stronger, until at last the water rippled from its outer edge to the center as it started to rise and wrap around the sphere of res. He didn't need the whole barrel of water to supply him since he just needed on last shot, so he made quick to pull his hand and sphere away whilst it continued to wrap and condense around the res. Loose water that failed to connect with its intended source felt the weight of gravity, and proceeded to the ground as principal declared so. "Let it go mate, just let it all go..." His eyes flicked from the sphere over to Iff and the thought he had nearly made him shudder, he had to contend with wanting to give in to the urges as he held the sphere in place.

Of course with his thoughts more so focused on hitting their archer, he felt more so inclined to do so rather than olbigated. He was a threat after all and Ricky rather'd dispose of threats, thus his urges were met with tempered patience as he took better aim to his intended target. "Hold yer self t'gether Rick, keep it t'gether and ye'll get em." He had to focus on this one moment he would be given, the window of opportunity that would provide the chance to stop the archer. By the looks of it Iff was headed for the building he was perched in, good choice considering it would prevent further escape depending on how Ricky's gambit would turn out. Ricky scrunched his face a little to focus more on his target, until at last the opportunity he sought out started to reveal itself with an arrowhead pointed out the window sill, however it wasn't a good aim to be had just yet as the shooter remained well hidden from Ricky's angle. "Hold... Hold..." He had to keep focus clearly on the target, the sweet and sappy victory of a job well done had all but been determined yet. Deal with the issie first then appreciate the days work, or in this case finish the job and simply go home afterwards. "C'mon ya bastard, show yer ugly face so I can put ya down."

The arrow flew and missed Iff as she continued to duck towards the doorway, and just when Ricky thought it further pointless now his chance had improved with the stupid act of the archer leaning out the window to see Iff had made it inside. "Hit the petcher now!!" Ricky stiffened his arm up and out with the sphere in the midst of his palm still, the water ready to be launched towards its intended victim as he'd yet to notice Ricky's incoming trick. The position of his arm was questionable but his aim seemed to be more direct compared to last time, thus with the split second decision made after Ricky's sight proved true, he released the mental hold around the water sphere and sent his res forward with all due haste.

"Choke on that ya bastard!" The voice in his head roared as he directed the sphere off to the window, it flew to the target in mind with no relent as the archer caught sight of some projectile. Little was he aware it was water until its approach came closer than he needed, thus his reaction timing was thrown off into a delay as the face dropped before the reflexes kicked it. The result ended with a rather big and painful splash of cold water in his face, which sent him into a spiral back into the room with an exclamation all of his own. Even if he was out of the guards sight, Ricky's surprise at his shot met with a sense of accomplishment as he exhaled in relief, he'd barely started to have the metallic taste in his mouth after all his focus he put into casting. He certainly had a head that throbbed and rang but that more so came from adrenaline, after dealing with an intense situation with much pressure of course.

"It's up t' ya now lass, give 'em hell." He thought inbetween slow pants as he watched the window and doorway for activity, it was likely she would put an end to his arrow flurrying shortly. The only thing left to attend to was the one Ricky left alive, which he hoped was still the case given the fact the man was used as a human shield just moments earlier.

[Iff]

Iff had small experience of magic and had only the faintest notion of what Ricky was doing. Somehow he was controlling the water, at least to the extent necessary to throw it without it becoming a spray. She watched Ricky's reaction more than the archers to being hit, as he was now almost directly overhead and thus very difficult for her to see. Ricky's body showed a reaction consistent with success, and so without thought Iff dashed into the building.

Just inside the door was a hallway that ran into the building, and a flight of stairs going up along one side. Iff ran up the stairs and through the first door in the hallway above, nearly crashing into a man with a bow who was in the process of running out. The man recoiled, and the two stood looking each other over for a fraction of a second. Then the man swung his bow to hit Iff across the face,and she threw her arm up to block. The move was instinctive and it was only when the wood smacked her that she remembered the wound there. Pain seared through her, drawing her lips back in a snarl. Her front foot exploded off the ground and caught the man under the chin, hurling him backwards onto the floor. Bending down, she caught hold of the front of his jacket with both hands and then lifted him, dragging him three paces and then flinging him out the open window. He fell with a cry, landing heavily on his back, and then lay still.

Iff stood for a moment, panting, eyes' dilated. Her shirt was a wash of red down the side with the injured arm, and she took it off, tearing the sleeve off and wadding it against both sides of the wound before tying it in place with another strip of torn shirt. Shirtless, Iff came back into the street, her chemise clinging tightly to her body from the blood that soaked it.

[Ricky Maze]

While Iff dealt with the archer that Ricky had luckily hit, the bear warrior himself took the time to regather his thoughts after his struggle to maintain sanity. He had taken a seat next to the barrel he stood at with heavy pants as he shook off what urges further remained within his mind and body, the desires to cast further welles deep within as he dared himself to try for the limits just for a successful attempt. Thus the sounds of combat in the upper floor proved his tries weren't in vain, and Ricky dealt with the inner worries he knew existed with tightly shut eyes and focused deep breathes. The process wasn't easy considering how his body quaked so easily, but each tick spent surpressing the fear he felt went to bringing a better sense of ease. That ease being the balance he needed to cling to, to bring him back from the grip of insanity he feared he would've fallen into. "I'm fine. Everythin' okay now and I [b]don't want t' hurt 'nybody else..."[/i] He repeated the same thing in his mind over and over, he had hurt enough for one night and he would do no more; that key phrase was exactly the thing that helped him shrug off his urges.

The sounds within the window died down finally but Ricky still held his eyes shut, still focused on keeping himself in the refrained state of mind he locked himself in. At last his shivers died out and his heavy breaths came to low deep ones as the tension in his body eased, until finally he cracked open his eyes to see that Iff had come outside with blood soaking her clothes. "By the Gods!" With his mind once again calm he jumped to his feet in surprise, an urgent approach to Iff as he worried she may have lost too much blood. "'Ey! Ye're bleedin' a lot, ya feelin' aight lass? Did ya put the bastard down?" He tried to avoid smothering her with questions and attentive care, aware that she was already tough enough on her own and she didn't need coddling like a child. Still with him being referred to as the veteran around here, Ricky took the responsibility to heart by putting his fellow guards and people first.

His eyes went to movement on the stone street nearby as he saw the man with the arrow in his shoulder attempt to crawl, whimpers of pain barely made it to their ears as the poor sod struggled to get away with such pain. "He won't get anywhere with that arrow in the shoulder..." Ricky just now remembered the moment it had happened, the intense situation he found himself in which he used the man for a shield. A deep regret filled the center of his being, the hurt and pain he caused tonight fresh on his mind as he wished there were a different turn of events. He couldn't let it stop him now though, what had been done was no longer reversible. He knew this lesson well and, even if he wanted to change it, knew there was nothing else he could do but move forward.

"We pretty much ended this fight, but we best find out where the source o' the drugs are. He," Ricky nodded forward to the sluggish body that struggled to move, "could provide intel on where it is. From there we'll put an end t' it." It was a suggestion Ricky found difficult to make, but in sayng it he found himself ready to put tonight past him. Ready to end this drug trafficking that had occured, and make Zeltiva a little bit safer for his fellow citizens.

[Matthew]

Ricky

Experience Points:

• Acrobatics 1
• Interrogation 1
• Investigation 1
• Leadership 1
• Meditation 2
• Reimancy 3
• Tactics 4
• Weapon: Longsword 3

Lores:

• The Signs of an Ambush
• Investigation: Closely Examining a Corpse
• Investigation: The Clues that Drugs are to Blame
• Leadership: Working with Total Strangers
• Morality: Ricky Can Find Pleasure in the Fight
• Reimancy: Fighting the Sweet Whispers
• Reimancy: Using Res to Control a Natural Element
• Tactics: Basic Dirty Fighting Tactics
• Tactics: Fighting as One versus Two
• Tactics: Close-Combat while Dodging Arrows

Additional Notes :

Good thread! The only thing I noticed was that your use of Reimancy struck me as a bit off. With your level, going through all the steps to make a spell while also having most of your focus on a fight seems questionable. You did take your time preparing the spell though, so I was a bit torn. I just wanted to point it out, for future reference.

Iff, if you return, please PM me once your CS has been updated. I should be able to post your Grade then.

If you have any questions or concerns relevant to your grade, don't be afraid to send me a private message so that we can work it all out! Please remember to mark your Grading Request as Graded.

A shout-out to Ollic Rimesage, who was kind enough to make this template for me.