bravenewworld | Elite Four Aftermath - In The Blizzard's Wake

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Elite Four Aftermath - In The Blizzard's Wake

The warriors of Union fought hard, and in the end, victory was their reward. Seeing the battle lost, the fanatics of the Elite Four fled into the night, those that were not killed or captured of course. Sveta was nowhere to be seen, nor was her mysterious companion, and as its rage was reaching its peak, the mighty Dragon simply vanished in a blaze of energy, recalled by its trainer but not before slamming the mysterious red dragon into another tower for good measure.

As quickly as they had come, the gods of Union vanished, leaving behind the ruined, devastated city. What was once panic has subsided to a quiet shock and horror as the dead and wounded are gathered and people try to find out what was damaged and if their family and friends are still among the living.

While the damage is great, the defenders of Union can take heart in the fact that it could have been much, much worse. The habitat suffered a major blow with a great hole blasted into it, but it is otherwise undamaged and salvageable. The forge likewise had one smithy station destroyed from a divine claw smite, but is otherwise unscathed. The signal tower took moderate damage from the initial attack, but it is reparable, given time. The biggest toll, however, is on that of the people. The Residential District, as well as parts of the Entertainment district lie in tatters. Several towers are gutted, and a few even fell completely, many of the citizens inside them trapped and unable to escape. In all, the death toll numbers around 700, with at least 1,000 wounded, and is expected to rise as rescuers desperately comb the wreckage in search of survivors. Never before has Union lost so many of its citizens, never before has such suffering and violence come to Union. People are afraid, they are angry, but, in the true spirit of Union, they are banding together. The City of Union has survived. But it will never be the same.

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[ She watches him sip from the mug, before her gaze drops to her lap, and hands turn palm upwards as she frowns. Long fingers on her left hand close inwards, rubbing along the center of her palm, as though checking for something, but she honestly doesn't know...what. ]

Until today, I didn't either.

...

You didn't Awaken today, did you?

[Union's habits had been brushing off on him, and he had been pointedly trying to avoid Analyzing strangers on sight like he had in Sanctuary. He didn't know this detail because he had respected her privacy.

And, if this had been how she Awakened, he couldn't imagine a worse scenario for it.]

[ The frown flattens her lips into a thin line, before her head shakes. ]

I don't know.

If I've ever used it before now, or if it awakened due to... [a beat] It may well have always been there, and I just never noticed. Didn't know to notice, with everything else that's been going on.

Yeah, you are new around here...

[And, even if her words sounded like it was more than simple culture shock that she was adjusting to, it wasn't Waver's place to pry. Now that they were coworkers, her privacy was definitely something to be respected.

If she wanted to speak, she could. If not...then it wasn't his business to know anyway.

Waver took a sip from the mug again, just glad for the warmth of the drink.]

Sorry if that was a little too far. This isn't the time for that sort of conversation.

It's all right, I don't mind. [It would come up sooner or later, especially as they'd be working together to support the rangers. And Yuuna knew her situation. As did Raine and Martin, for that matter.

Sitting a little straighter, eyes cast out towards the city rather than look at her hands, or him. ]

A lot of people here seem to awaken quite young, as far as I can tell. But, it's a little [a LOT] more than just knowing about having powers.

I just can't remember.

You....don't?

[Waver's eyes widened in surprise-- and he suddenly looked away, kicking himself for not realizing something that should have been blatantly obvious.]

So that's why you joined the Rangers so quickly, so you can find answers and have back up support. I...I'm sorry for not realizing this.

Actually, I joined because I was at loose ends, and this was a way to help Yuuna in return for helping me. [albeit still getting help in the form of said job] Ymir and Elhaz are tough, but I'm no fighter. So this would have been a way for me to contribute. Especially as Yuuna's unit will be working with the seekers..

Anyway. You don't need to apologise. You know now.

Of course, it makes sense now.

[Waver nodded, and allowed himself to relax a little bit now.]

Yuuna is...a special person. She knew I was from Sanctuary on my first day in the city, and she made no fuss about it. We've been working together on and off since, and I should have realized it would only be a matter of time before I joined the Rangers myself. The world is a big place....but I'm not terribly strong on my own, either, and the people of this city have been nothing but helpful every step of the way.

....I think I'd rather be here than at home, even if this place is a mess right now.

I think I know exactly what you mean.. Had I arrived anywhere else, I don't know that I would have received the same sort of help or support. [certainly not from Ever Grande] I suppose arriving during Salvation helped too, it really did show what the people of this city are really like.

[she looks out, then, at the distant smoke, the collapsed towers]

...I hope that this doesn't change that.

....I don't think it will, [he replied, following her gaze with furrowed brows while he sipped more of his drink-- and offered some to Orpheus when the little Foongus squeaked impatiently. Holding the mug up, the Foongus delicately took a tiny sip of the soup while Waver continued speaking.]

The people here are sturdy, and they work together no matter what happens. Though things will be tense for a while....the people are strong enough to recover from this.

..I hope so. We certainly have enough to take care of, before anything or anyone else.

[a thought, then] Have you heard from Yuuna at all?

....Not yet, but I'm sure she's fine.

[He would have heard something from someone if she had been hurt, after all. There were so many people in town who were connected to the woman that it was nothing short of impressive.]

[ But would they? She resists biting her lip, but Waver is probably right. Yuuna seemed pretty resilient, and if anything bad had happened to her.. Well, that would likely have spread like wildfire via the rangers who'd been popping in and out of the area on patrol. ]

It seems like those who fought the dragon are scattered around the city. Hopefully we can get word about them tomorrow.

[there's a glance to the device still on her wrist. funny how you come to miss such a vital thing once it's gone]

Agreed. All we can do right now is take care of ourselves...

[He sighed, feeling helpless in the immensity of the situation.]

....I don't know if I told you, but I'm a Magus. and....I'm out of spells I can use today. Teleporting lots of people at once...that's tiring too.

[A shrug.]

I'm not going to be much use as a Healer tonight...

A magus..? [he hadn't mentioned it, but it's clear she's at least heard of the term.] Well, you put those spells you have to good used. You saved a lot of lives today. And I've no doubt that those you helped appreciate it, Waver.

[the shrug gets a smile; trying to downplay your accomplishments, are you?] I'm sure that you did what you could to help with healing during today. How much rest do you need to recover your spells?

[Compared to the more accomplished magi from the Towers and the Academy, his tactics that evening were hardly worth mention. He chose simple spells for simple things, like he always did.]

Just a good night's proper sleep and a few good meals, nothing special. I'm not very skilled at it, yet.

For someone who isn't very skilled, you still did the best with what you had.

[she's going to chide him gently on that one - more would have lost their lives if he hadn't intervened]

I suspect sleep may be long in coming for a lot of us. We'll have to hope that the weather holds.

We can only hope-- the weather patterns in Union are different from those in Sanctuary, but we have a good few more weeks of this kind of cold if the seasons hold true between the two cities.

And only slow, older ways to be notified about a change in the temperature.. [eyes fix on the shadow of the distant signal tower] Another thing to find other ways to track.

We will not lack for work in the coming weeks, at least.

We're Rangers-- and that's how its going to be.

[Waver sighed, already dreading the mess that was going to fall into their laps in the coming weeks.]

We'll just have to adjust like we always do.

Perhaps in a few days, once things are more secure, we can take time to check the rangers' lodge. See what survived and what did not. If there's maps and records we can recover, we'll need to do so post-haste.

I'm good at making hand copies of documents, so long as I have the reference source intact. If we need back ups of anything, I can make it with a little time....and a lot of tea.

Perhaps you can learn a spell to make those copies. Would that make it easier? [then again, trying to spam something like that would be tiring...You'd want to save it for very important documents] Or maybe there's a printing press we could make use of.

[she does smile at the mention of tea, though]

There might be a press....but this is how I managed my studies on my own. I'd borrow books from the library, scribble out my own copy, and return the original later-- that way no one felt insulted, and no information was lost.

It's not that big a deal. I did it for my first few months in Union too.

[Until Yuuna confronted him personally and forbade him from spending all night in the library ever again.]

Well, we'll hope that too much recovery and copying will be required. And this time, you won't be alone in doing it.

[ She'd make a note to look into access to a printing press, for certain. If only to speed up the creation for forms.. ]

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