Beneath the Surface

"Yes, well, it's a new concept for me. Practically, that is." Ician flinches as some of the blood splashes over his armour. "Huh. I think that was my first kill... ever. I thought it'd feel more... defining."

((Good night.))

Griff just leans on the Crystal Viper and watches the 'show'.

"Really, Griff?" Ician chops and hacks at them. "Just because you're not getting paid for it?"

"Down, sir!" Eclipse fires a bolt of lightning at the nearest foe just as Ician ducks.

"That's a part of it, yes. The second part being, I'm not a part of Royal Guard and thus defending the city is none of my business." Griff says. "I do what I'm paid to, and I did that. But yet my payment still hasn't arrived. And since when are Royal Guard having so much trouble battling rotten sewer-living guys with rusty weapons?!"

"We don't. It's just the two of us, in case you haven't noticed." Ician moves out of the way as another body falls beside him. "The others are still uncrating the equipment for usage back at the capital."

"And yet you sliced through better trained and better equipped changelings like nothing..." Griff yawns.

"... That's the point, Griff. I didn't slice through any changelings." Ician snaps, letting his swords to the talking for him on the other battlefield. "Half the time I was absorbing magic blasts and the other half I was almost dead. I didn't do much in that battle."

"I was sure you did on your end. I had plenty of fun clawing and tearing them apart on my side of forest..." he thinks for a moment. "See, just cause I don't belong to the Guard they're leaving me alone. Fancy, huh?"

"Or maybe they're just too busy dealing with us." Ician grunts. With a swing of his most distant sword he takes off the head of another enemy. "See? Hold it far enough away from yourself and you don't risk killing any of your allies."

Griff chuckles. "Sure, look at what happened the last time on the battlefield with Storm holding his fireballs just far enough from himself..". He stands up, walking past the gang members, patting one on the shoulder and whispering: "Good luck, you'll need a ton of it." Before making his way to the other side of the dock to get a better view of the fight.

Ician decapitates the gang member Griff just patted before he can attack Griff. "For goodness' sakes, they're not going to leave you alone just because you're not a Guard. If you're an easy target they'll come after you. Another potential threat removed, the better. Especially one as undependable as a mercenary."

"Mercenary?" The one at the back, wielding a crossbow, says. "We'll pay you to fight them!"

Ician sighs. "Great."

"Really?" Griff's ears perk up. "How much?"

"How much do you want?" The pony asks as he fires a crossbow bolt that lodges itself in Ician's shoulder plate.

"Ngh..." Ician yanks it out with his telekinesis. "Don't do it, Griff. The worst kinds of employers are the ones who are too dead to pay."

Griff thinks for a bit. "Five hundred trillion thirty-six million five hundred and seventy-five thousand six hundred and fifteen. Got that down?"

Ician sighs in relief. "Thank you, Griff." He dashes at the crossbow-wielding pony, taking a shot in his other shoulder this time, and swings all four swords at the enemy's neck. A head, recently divorced from its body, rolls lazily on the ground.

Eclipse fires a trail of lightning at one more, knocking him out. "That's the last of them, sir."

"It was about time." Griff says, chuckling.

"Oh give it a rest, will you?" Ician snaps. "Eclipse, go and alert the others. Tell them to arrest the living and clean up this mess."

"Yes, sir." Eclipse flew off quickly.

Ician stares at the bloodied place. "Huh. First blood for me." He eyes his bloodied sword. "I don't feel any different. Maybe commanding battles desensitised me."

"Or maybe you were a cold-blooded killer since the beginning. Who knows." Griff says with a chuckle. "Just where is the god damn captain now? I wanna get drunk."

"Beats me." Ician shrugs. "All I know now is that we're just waiting for Storm. Maybe there's some heavenly power holding events back until he gets here, or something. You never know."

"Or maybe he's just sleeping." Griff guesses. "He went through a lot."

"Possibly." Ician accedes. "But... well, there's nothing to do but wait till then."

A cleanup crew of Guards arrives behind him, and begins to clean up the scene and arrest survivors as requested without a word.

"Oh well." Griff sits down, looking around and starts whistling a tune, waiting for his payment to arrive.

"Waiting..." Ician looks up into the sky and winces.

"A healing potion for your wounds." Quimia offers.

"Thank you." He floats one of her bottles over to him and drinks it. "... Better..."

Finally, the ship goes quiet, only some lights staying on. Sky looks overboard. "Good evening, officer." she says with a smile.

"Good evening." Ician calls back. "You missed a little fight. Nothing too severe."