Menagerie of Adventures

Basic Training

Pick had proceeded to training without delay. He was notably the only person to have brought his own wooden weapon, a sword, and his hand remained on it while the instructor spoke.

He remained silent, having no questions, merely waiting for the exercise to begin. His body was clearly tensed in preparation.

The moment that Maya moved, Pick did as well. Small as he was, he was quick on his feet, throwing himself between Maya and Shard, keeping his body low and swinging his sword in an overhead slice that would hopefully catch her even if she tried to jump over him.

Shard

Shard practically squealed in excitement, clasping his hands together. "Yay! It's starting!"

Then, the words settled in. "...wait. Pop quiz?"

Before he could think on that any further, Maya was sprinting towards him. Before he could react to that, Maya's haymaker had slammed right into his unprotected face.

Time stopped. Shard's body suddenly went numb, distant. He was vaguely aware of the pain, but it was impossible to think straight through the fog in his mind. For a long few seconds, he was stunned, frozen in place...

...before gravity caught up with him and Shard flopped to the ground on his back, knocked out cold.

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Sep 15th 2020 at 4:17:00 AM

Sieglinde von Brandt

“Awww...~” Sieglinde pouted upon being denied a bow, frowning to herself and staring down at the floor a moment as she toed the ground. “...Okay. Maybe later... damn it...”

She tuned out partially as to her answers to the others' questions, but tuned back in to listen with subtle attentiveness to the rules. Then out again when Shard made his overenthusiastic... mistake, as it turned out... then once more back in once Maya burst into action.

Was she trying to...?

Sieglinde's face contorted into a truly infuriated scowl upon Shard going down, made outright horrifying due to the contrast it made with her prior innocence. She kept a deadly eye on Maya as she rushed towards the rack of wooden weapons, picking out something small and light and at least vaguely dagger shaped—aiming to throw it handle-first towards the top of Maya's head while she was concentrating on Shard; all the while also trying not to hit Pick as he dove in-between him and Maya.

...Of course, she'd at most had experience in throwing her dirty laundry into the corners of her room, so it was up in the air whether she'd actually accomplish any of that. She was focused and determined, however; jaw set firmly in place as she once again searched for something resembling another knife on the racks.

Not to throw, this time. To keep. She'd probably need it in the next microsecond or so. She was keeping her advice in mind too.

Don't rush into things. Which unless Maya was a hypocrite, meant she was more than prepared. They were all screwed, basically. But Sigi wanted to at least show she was listening.

Or at least, when she cared enough to.

Edited by Enirboreh on Sep 15th 2020 at 12:29:35 PM

Zoss had spent that entire opening speech from Maya half-asleep. As... agreeable as Maya was, Zoss honestly had very little interest in melee combat. They'd only showed up because it was the first class and, hey, first impressions matter. They seriously considered flunking it next time around - more time to focus on the stuff they actually came here for, that sneaky crafty magic stuff. Shooting stuff, too. But melee combat? Come on now, what is this, the dawn of creation? Zoss is no barbarian. They might as well learn how to bang rocks together to set a bundle of sticks on fire!

To be sure, Zoss had gotten in a few scraps - in their old line of work, it was unavoidable - but that was before the accident; and they'd always wind up on the floor, anyway. More reason to hope they nod off and excuse themselves from any combat exercise, then.

No such luck. Practically out of nowhere, the instructor just went apeshit and punched out the overexcited idiot! Okay, well. They were not expecting that. That jolted them wide awake, and suddenly their respect for Maya increased; I mean, that was clever, you have to admit.

But this also meant Zoss was going to have to actually go barbarian and start whacking things with a stick. Well, whatever, as long as they're kept as far away as possible. Hoping that Maya was distracted by the others, they limped over to the weapons rack, pulling out the longest staff they could find. The sort of thing you bring out to poke rats and other vermin infesting the place, which Zoss figured would help sum up their attitude to this pointless exercise.

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Sep 15th 2020 at 12:35:47 PM

Freana

Well, that was a shame. Not that Freana wasn't expecting it, but it would've made things easier. Still, she was a Frenir. And she had the muscles to prove it. Push came to shove, she could make do with punching everyone in the snozz if she had to.

...and she guessed she'd have to.

She wasn't too pissed about Shard getting knocked on his ass. Sure. It was sneaky, deceitful, and completely unfair. But so was she. It's the same thing she would've done in the teacher's place. And it's not like she knew the guy. They were in the same dorm, sure. But it wasn't like they'd gotten to know each other or anything.

...buuuuuut her little Sig was pissed and jumping straight into the fray. Probably wasn't keen on her dormie getting sucker-punched.

Guess she'd better do something, huh?

Reaching for a shillelagh, she darted off to the side and aimed at Maya's ankle. With any luck, she could hook her on the end and sweep her off the floor. Followed by one big dogpile.

Assuming it even worked.

The things she did for her friends.

Edited by kkhohoho on Sep 15th 2020 at 11:04:52 AM

Verona

Verona’s heart sank as Maya addressed her. She’d already made a bad impression, and apparently her question was ridiculous enough to make the instructor laugh, which was certainly not inconspicuous! Not to mention the content of what she had said. ‘Magic eventually’ meant that, of course, her time in this class was limited. She’d been a fool to hope otherwise.

Of course, Verona didn’t have much time to dwell on these thoughts, because the Maya held out a hand and Verona’s next inhale felt like it was being forced through a piece of sackcloth. The unexpectedness of the magic use left Verona unprepared, and she curled in on herself, releasing several racking, painful-sounding coughs in an attempt to clear her suddenly blocked airway.

Gods, I thought I had more time.

The magic use that had triggered the reaction was relatively small, and the coughing fit had been more from the shock than anything as Verona felt the tingling in her throat dissipate almost immediately. Still, she was winded and had managed to miss the entire rules speech, which did not bode well.

And then Maya attacked.

Well, that was great.

Verona took a quick look around. She didn’t have much-or any-weapons experience, and Maya had them all physically outclassed. Not to mention she was a little too oxygen deprived for fighting at that second.

Distract her. Don’t let her get near you.

She was the furthest away from Maya, standing near one of the weapons racks. She'd prefer to keep that distance.

Verona paused for a moment, yanking off one of her solid leather hunting boots, and once a clear path opened up in the melee as Freana darted to the side, she threw the boot hard in the direction of Maya's head, aiming for distraction more than accuracy.

Edited by furnacedoor on Sep 15th 2020 at 5:37:16 AM

Xera

Xera was excited to finally get to the combat room. Finally no more reading from some dusty scriptures, praying or listening to lectures. This was her element. This was where she shined. Or at least… that's what she thought before she saw Maya jump into combat.

She was so much more agile than Xera that she honestly wasn't sure how she was going to land a hit on her. Not to mention she had only fought against other teenagers - not adults with years of experience over her. But she had to at least try, otherwise she'd probably get a failing grade for the day.

With that in mind, she grabbed the largest wooden great sword she could find on the rack. Her thought process was that maybe going for a weapon with long reach meant she'd have a better chance of hitting her target. She waited for the rest of the class to do their thing, hoping the ensuing chaos might provide some sort of opening. Then, she charged at Maya and swung her sword down at the ground.

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Sep 16th 2020 at 12:55:49 PM

Even with how Maya had faked them out at the beginning of the lesson, Elliot still couldn't help but flinch at the teacher lashing out at Shard and getting the message loud and clear that he'd better act fast if he didn't want to end up in a similar predicament.

...the first thing was dragging Shard out of harm's way, well, if he was even in the way that it'd be necessary. Sure, to Maya chivalry might be exist but anyone tripping over the poor guy wouldn't be fun for anyone. Either way, it was just a matter of quickly grabbing some equipment before Elliot ended up being Maya's or someone else's target.

Considering some of the options, it was bit of an obvious choice.

...A mace...club thing would be too unwieldy. Doubt I'd be able to lift those big swords and shields like Alec...and an axe is for cutting firewood, so...

Quickly grabbing a longsword and fastening a buckler to his right arm, Elliot did his best to look confident as weighted up his options while trying to take up a defensive stance.

Basic Training - Brief Intermission

As Pick swung his wooden sword in an overhead arc, Maya's feet instead went to the side, pulling her course around him as she carried on sailing towards Shard and landing the punch in his face. Cue a look of shock as he crumpled like a sack of potatoes, the half-Dragonfolk raising one hand up to her face as she went a bit pale.

"Uhhh...whoops...aw geez..."

As she felt the shillelagh hook around her ankle though, she didn't budge, twisting her feet for more stability. Freana would have another thing to worry about though, with Maya's draconic tail whipping back and forth to deflect Sieglinde's thrown dagger, sending it on a new course straight for the Fenrir. This was merely a distraction however, as Maya's foot then tugged hard against the hook around her foot, aiming to dislodge the club from her hands and maybe even pull the Fenrir off balance and right into the underside of Maya's boot as she performed a rear kick. Verona's boot was easily caught, earning her a bit of a quizzical look, but also a smile as the instructor tossed it absent-mindedly over her shoulder.

"Strange, but nice thinking on - and with- your feet!"

This minor distraction almost made Xera catch Maya off-guard, but the teacher's deft footwork brought the wooden sword slamming down onto the ground, passing mere millimetres from her body, eyes wide. Not a beat was skipped though, as one foot quickly planted itself on the back of the blade to keep it from moving, as well as to use it as a makeshift springboard to launch Maya upwards at the giant, aiming an uppercut at her jaw. When she came back down, she noticed Shard over at the edge of the room after Elliot had dragged him out of harm's way.

"TIME!"

One could barely track of Maya having moved through the space inbetween her and the unconscious boy, the silvery draconic human kneeling down by him and pressing one hand against his head.

"Time to heal you up, sleeping beauty."

Almost immediately, a soft glow emanated from her hand, seeping into the unconscious Shard and opening up the floodgates of Life energy to bring him around, as well cause him to rapidly recover from the dark bruise that was likely to have been formed.

Edited by UndyingPhoenix on Sep 16th 2020 at 2:46:04 PM

Sieglinde von Brandt

Sigi watched this entire display from a safe, wary distance—eyes flicking momentarily over to where her thrown wooden dagger had been deflected over towards Freana and grinding her teeth together a moment. As Maya seemed to focus on tending to Shard, the half-Alvar took a moment to outright snarl and snap the remaining wooden knife in half over her knee—breathing raggedly and rubbing her temples for a second or two before forcing a smile onto her face and cautiously approaching their instructor.

“Maybe don't put so much into that next time...~?” she smiled tightly as she watched her heal the unconscious Shard, hands clasped innocently behind her back as she leant curiously forward. “I mean, most pain I know is stubbing my toe in the middle of the night, nevermind getting haymaker'd~!”

Her tone was lighter than she truly meant, but that was probably detectable anyhow. There was a certain line that'd been crossed with her, and her stance (as much as it was trying to be relaxed) was still tense. She wasn't happy, that much was certain.

...Well, at least she cared enough to call it quits after noticing how much of a hit Shard had taken as he glanced at his fellow unconscious student and remembered how he seemed a bit flustered when talking to him back at the assembly hall.

Probably for the best Elliot had gotten some distance after putting Shard down to get some equipment rather than him waking up while being dragged along and giving the young man a panic attack or something.

Still, he kept the buckler raised and quietly nodded in agreement.

"I believe she has a point. While I'm sure some of us present may have been able to take such a punch..." He idly remarked, glancing at his fellow classmates, well aware some of them were...pretty tough-looking compared to how plain he looked. "...It still might be a bit too much."

And just as quickly as it started, it was over. It was over so quickly Zyan couldn't help but blink in silent surprise, slowly rising from his defensive position and looking at the chaos that had unfolded.

It was over so fast.

So, maybe it was time to unlearn something his master had taught him. Don't start a fight, but be ready to finish one. Sitting back and waiting for the fight to come to him had ultimately resulted in the class getting tense and upset and he thought, maybe it was a good idea to sit that one out.

Sigi was currently talking at Maya and he could feel that anger, frustration and self restrained fury. A feeling he knew all too well. And she was kind to him, and he figured that put him in the range of friendship with her. But he knew now that it wasn't a good idea to force himself into a situation that didn't call for him.

AFTER class perhaps.

Shard was being tended to and it didn't look like anyone got majorly hurt, so all he could do was just...edge himself back into the group surrounding Maya, keeping his mouth shut silently and being only a bit upset he missed the chance for a fight to show what he could do.

He eyed his friends for a moment, worried.

Freana

Freana had barely a moment to catch a breath as everything went topsy-turvy. Ears pricking as Sigi flung her dagger, they locked onto the sound, able to capture the image in her mind while their dear instructor turned her weapon against her. With a quick tilt of her head, she evaded the dagger with ease (still too close for comfort), but she couldn't stop their asshole teacher from pulling her in and knocking her flat on her ass.

And before she could get back up and tear her to shreds, it was over.

...

That could have gone better.

She hopped back up on her feet, lightly rubbing her chest. Her physique kept her from getting too bruised, but it hurt like a mother******.

But that wasn't the only thing that got bruised.

She wasn't expecting to win. Not really. She wasn't a total novice, but it wasn't like she was a gladiator or anything.

But she at least thought she'd do better than that.

Grumbling, she trudged over to Sigi and the others, currently busy calling Maya out on her shit.

...and after that bunch of horsecrap, she'd have to agree.

"Same. I've been in a few scraps, and one little scratch ain't gonna do me in. But most of us aren't ready for this shit! Like, you wanna throw us into the fire, sure. Someone goes and pulls a dagger on us, we gotta ready be for that, yeah? But maybe don't pull that crap on the first day?"

Edited by kkhohoho on Sep 16th 2020 at 12:44:46 PM

Verona

Verona was torn. She was still reeling from the sudden burst of magic, on the one hand, but on the other, it was the first time she’d been complimented by an instructor for her unconventional mid-fight decisions. Admittedly, this was because most of her (very limited) fighting experience had been in much less controlled settings, but she felt a glow of pride nonetheless. So although she still suspected she would eventually end up flunking combat class by dint of her allergies, she would take the little victories where she could get them.

Seeing the class begin to gather around Shard’s prone body, she first awkwardly darted across the room to retrieve her thrown boot. She then rejoined the rest of the class, hopping over as she tried to put her boot back on at the same time.

Only once she had arrived on the edges of the throng did she notice the tension in the air. Freana and Sigi looked angry-or at least annoyed. Sigi more so than Freana? Strange. Verona figured as long as there were no lasting damages, their instructor could test them however she pleased. She seemed really smart and cool, so she probably knew what she was doing.

“Hey, really, no harm no-”

Then she noticed what Maya was doing right that minute.

She was healing Shard.

Using magic.

Verona stumbled several steps back, instinct and past experience with other types of magic telling her to get away, before she realized. She could breathe fine, her face didn’t feel the warmth of inflammation.

She turned to Zyan, who was watching the argument with a worried expression, and who didn’t seem likely to interject himself in the immediate future.

“Pssst, Zyan. Does my skin look any...different...than usual? Like, redder?”

She’d never not reacted to magic before (her previous exposure primarily being the wind magic that her instructors had constantly attempted to use in her presence), so there was a chance that her lack of immediate reaction was the precursor to something much, much worse. Fatal.

Edited by furnacedoor on Sep 16th 2020 at 8:14:47 AM

It had all gone more-or-less how they expected - with Maya preoccupied with the rest of the class, Zoss had hoped to slowly, slooooowly inch their way forward, wait for an opening to poke the instructor - very hard, in the gut - and see if that helped at all. Which it probably wouldn't, but whatever. What even was the point of this, if the whole idea is to turn them into bland jacks-of-all-trades, masters-of-none, that's going to help them out in the adventuring market. Not.

Fortunately, it seemed like luck struck. Maya had hit the overexcited idiot - Shard, they think? - in the face hard enough to instantly knock them out, and they'd called for time. Amazing. The way the lesson was going, it was as if Maya was some kind of experienced veteran beating up a bunch of untrained amateurs. ...Maybe this was actually just a way to let off some steam for her.

"...Oh, lesson's over already?" Zoss said, already limping over to the weapons rack to put the staff back. "Well, that was fun, guess we'll see you next week, then."

Zoss began to make gestures towards leaving - perhaps in the hopes of taking advantage of that very, very angry Alvar's indignation... to get everyone else to storm out? Maybe? Who even knew, Zoss was just making it up as they went along, at this point.

But wait... Maya was using some healing magic. Okay, things just got interesting, they weren't expecting that, either. That sort of skill could come in handy later. Zoss always figured that healing magic is only, at best, a short-term remedy for minor ailments - no amount of magic on Menagerie could heal a major illness, or Zoss'... condition. But if they could figure out how to bottle that up, maybe amplify it with a few things...

Zoss rather unsubtly stepped back in, leaning over to inspect what was going on. They didn't pay any mind to Shard's injury, they'd seen worse. "...On second thoughts, that's a neat little trick you've got there, Inst- uh, Maya. Perhaps if we knew something like that, we could play a little rougher... uh, so to speak. I mean, I'm all for this whole 'school of hard knocks' thing you've got going, but it's ideal if the participants can survive the beatingssssss... youknowwhatI'msayin'?" They said, beginning to gesture increasingly wildly as they went on.

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Sep 16th 2020 at 5:14:12 PM

Basic Training

After Maya had deftly avoided him, Pick turned to run after her and follow up. However, the instructor yelled the word 'Time', and Pick paused, uncertain of its meaning. The others had stopped attacking her, so Pick gathered it was indication the exercise was paused.

He slid his wooden sword back into his belt loop, stepping closer to observe Maya's use of healing magic. Not with his eyes, for they were closed. But with his mind.

It wasn't Rift energy, but it was still energy, so Pick focused on it, humming softly to himself as he tried to shape his own internal energies into roughly the same wavelength.

Though there were limits to how much life energy a physical organism could handle (Pick made a mental note to figure out how he knew that later), healing magic was still worthwhile to have, and there was no time like the present to begin practicing.

Shard

"AFISDABADA WHAAAAAA—"

The moment the Life magic seeped into him, Shard shot up into a sitting position, eye wide. "Who— What— Where—"

And then he remembered where he was.

"Oh yeah." A pause. "So, uh...is the class over?"

He'd missed the entire thing, hadn't he? Well, that was...terrible. He wasn't going to lie, getting knocked out and missing the whole fight was just plain lousy. At least there'd be other classes...he hoped.

Zyan had been zoning out during everyone's vocal annoyances with their teacher, just kind of listening to everyone and how they handle this sort of situation (Sigi was a surprise, Freana wasn't, Zoss' was...suspect to say the least, and Pick was...well he didn't really know where to start with Pick.)

So when his name was uttered in an attempt to get his attention, he snapped back to reality with a little jump of his body and turned to face the person whispering for him, Verona.

A strange question was asked and he found himself looking down with a curious gaze, wondering exactly what she could be saying in regards to skin looking different-

Oh. So it was a tint redder. That was...not something that should apparently be? If she was asking if it did, then it was obviously abnormal and immediately his alarms in his head went off.

"A little yeah." he said, turning back up to her. "Are you okay? Do you need to go to a healer? Are you hot or something, can I do something to help?" His worry getting the better of him and it starting to come out faster and faster.

Xera

Unfortunately, Xera’s attack fell short of her target, and she found herself getting punched in the jaw for her troubles. She winced in pain, unused to being attacked by such a brutal opponent in a setting that lacked the rigorous rules of Bogovian one on one sword duels. Still, she would have to learn to cast aside these rules eventually, anyways. Monsters, bandits and other foes she met on her adventures would certainly not abide by them.

Watching Shard return to consciousness thanks to Maya’s healing spell distracted her from the sting she felt in her jaw right now. She was glad that he was alright, and also she was reminded of the utility that magic potentially had. Even if she was primarily a physical fighter, she hoped to one day dip her toe into the arcane as well.

“You are a harsh teacher,” Xera said as she put her sword away. “But I do hope that I can learn from you.”

She looked neither upset, nor overwhelmed. Her facial expression and voiced maintained the air of seriousness and strength she displayed since arriving.

Verona

Well, now Verona was panicking. Her breath was coming fast (though still, surprisingly, unobstructed), and she could feel herself beginning to sweat. She forced a smile in Zyat’s direction, all too aware of his worried gaze, and wiped her palms on her tunic.

“Oh, I’m completely fine! Just, you know, it’s a bit stuffy in here, I’m just going to...step out to get some air. Don’t worry about it! I’ll be back in a minute.”

She forced an air of calm, and with long strides ducked out the door and into the corridor outside. Empty, luckily. Less embarrassing to die without witnesses.

Only...that didn’t seem to be happening. When Zyat had said she was a little red, she had of course assumed this was a natural progression of her allergy, that this lack of feeling was the calm before the storm. But no. She took stock, for the first time, of her racing heart and adrenaline induced panting, and held out her arms. Red, yes, but not the splotchy, raised patches of an allergic reaction. The natural flush of exertion.

She abruptly sank to the ground, head in her hands. A hot rush of shame displaced both her previous adrenaline, and any thoughts of why she hadn’t reacted to the healing magic like she’d reacted to other types of magic thus far.

You should have been prepared for this, Verona. It was nothing, just a bit of a cough and some exertion, and you’re already making a scene. You should just run for the hills and never come back. Let everyone down once and for all.

No, not yet.

What you need is a plan.

...And to go back inside, sooner rather than later.

Siegelinds von Brandt

...Hmm. Her classmate wasn't looking so hot, for some reason seeming to react strangely when Maya had used her magic. Sieglinde frowned both thoughtfully and with concern, and as she detected panic rising in Verona's voice she made a decision—glancing at the others as her fellow Alvar hurried out of the room before hesitantly pointing a finger in her direction.

“...Uhhh... I'm just gonna go... make sure she's okay. I'll be back in a minute, Ms. Maya~! Just... excuse me a sec...”

She promptly rushed after Verona, momentarily losing her once she left the room before picking up a trail again and eventually spotting her leaning against the wall. Expression softening considerably upon seeing her state, Sieglinde slowed before carefully approaching her—sinking down on the ground near Verona and crossing her legs beneath her as she gave the Alvar a gentle grip on the shoulder.

“Hey... what's up? You look a little freaked out... what's wrong...?”

Verona

Verona started dramatically at the sudden touch, before settling back down as she realized it was a classmate, not the instructor or a stranger.

“Ah gods-oh, it’s you, Sigi. I...I’m fine, I just. Can I ask you a weird question?”

Verona didn’t wait for a response. If she was going to say anything she couldn’t give herself time to hesitate. And if she was going to figure out how to survive at this school, trying to find allies in her classmates might be a start.

“Have you ever met someone who...didn’t like magic?”

She paused, then shook her head.

“Not, like, had a personal grudge against magic or anything. Did you ever know anyone who...hurt...when magic was used around them?”

Nobody in her village had known anything about her affliction, and she hadn’t really had a chance to ask visitors. Her parents hadn’t believed her when she’d told them, had thought she wanted attention or to get out of magic lessons. But Sigi was from a different part of Vandia, Verona was fairly sure, so maybe she’d heard of it. Maybe there was a cure.

Sieglinde von Brandt

“Hmmmmm... what, like feeling magic-sick? Dunno! Haven't heard of anything like that before. But I don't know a lot about anything, so...” Sieglinde shrugged, cocking her head slightly at Verona in a manner akin to a curious puppy before gaining a Pensive™ expression; clutching her chin between her fingers. “Maybe Mom knows about it... she does magic-y stuff. Dad's a big hitty guy, so I don't think he'd know... awww, sorry Verona~! Were you feeling sick back there?”

She peered at Verona with a slight bite of her lip, trying to check her over for any symptoms she could identify and genuinely looking supremely worried about her. It less seemed like she hadn't realised until that point, but more that her priorities were a little askew.

“You want me to tell Ms. Maya if you're feeling sick around magic and stuff? That seems bad... I don't want you to be feeling bleurgh in the middle of a class; it's not fair on you...~”

Verona

“NO!”

Verona shouted loudly enough to startle even herself, and she winced, checking furtively to see whether she had attracted any attention before directing an apologetic grimace Sigi’s way and speaking at a much quieter volume.

“I mean, I don’t think that’d be such a good idea, Sigi. I mean, what if they kick me out of the academy? I mean, maybe they’ll figure that an Alvar who can’t breathe around magic would make a lousy adventurer no matter what, so there’d be no point in one taking up space here.”

Maybe they’d be right.

“Besides, I don’t even feel...blergh...right now. It’s weird, but Maya healing Shard didn’t hurt at all. And I’ve recovered from the other magic she did earlier. I just overreacted, that’s it. I’m fit as a fiddle, as my mother would say.”

With that she hopped to her feet, using the wall as leverage. She took a deep breath and smiled, just a bit sadly.

“Let’s go back in. I’ll figure something out later. And...thanks for coming to check on me. That was cool of you.”

Edited by furnacedoor on Sep 16th 2020 at 2:13:35 AM

Sieglinde von Brandt

Sieglinde flinched at Maya's loud and sudden outburst, but it at the very least snapped her usually skittish attention fully onto her. She pursed her lips as the other Alvar apologised and followed up with an exclamation, but upon her standing up Sigi hopped back onto her feet and clutched at her arm—eager not to let her go just yet.

“Wait. Listen just a sec,” she frowned, all but ordering her in a stern tone and still making no move to release her arm. “If it's bothering you then it's worth it. Doesn't matter if it's just a little sneeze or something; you ran out the room. It's bothering you, and it's not fair if you bottle it up, okay? If the staff here have a problem, they'll have a problem with me too, got it? I'm not sticking around in a place that'd kick you out.”

She gave Verona a rather devilish smirk that promised she had her back, before letting go of her arm finally and giving her a solid poke in the side—spinning her around and giving her an encouraging shove back towards the classroom door(s).

“Now we head back~! Together. Get the picture? Don't say thanks either. I did what I should, and I'm not leaving a poor girl crying in a hallway by herself.”