[NEXUS] WATCHTOWER 14: Now a Family Business.

[Gullara]

[Lobby]

Sakura giggles. The floodgates finally give way and tears flow freely down her face. "A little bit, yeah." She leans forward to kiss him, and then kiss Laela on the top of her head.

The dryad gets off of Adir, but only so she can sit next to him and wrap her arm around him. She beams at Harnel. A person couldn't be more happy. "He's back." She says, just loving the sound of the words.

Laela meanwhile reaches toward Adir's face, her little hands opening and closing.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lobby]

"Hi dear." Cessie says with a smile at the half-dragon, close to tears herself which Harnel probably can tell. "It's beautiful isn't it?" Of course, she was holding back other things she might feel at Adir's sudden disappearance at the moment. Sakura seemed to be happy and that was all she needed. It looked like Adir had been through a lot after all.

[Zefir]

[Lobby]

Some may or may not notice it, but MDM leaves this Room. Mia lays in his hands obviously to exhausted.

[Murkus]

Lobby

Adir certainly notices Mia's departure. He's got to thank her a bit better later, but figures she must be tired.

The stag switches hands, moving Laela into the crook of his left arm with Sakura on his right. "I missed you guys. All of you," Adir smiles around the room. His eyes eventually come around to Sakura. "I'm just sorry I couldn't be back sooner." He looks at Laela again, leaning toward her outstretched hands and jostling her playfully.

[Halae]

[Lobby]

Harnel can't help but just smile and move over to Cessie, watching the pair of them. He's going to have to talk to Adir later about what had happened to him, but for now he can let the happy family have their reunion.

[Gullara]

[Lobby]

"I'm just glad you're back now." Sakura certainly has to talk to him about his absence as well. And pry every little detail out of him. But right now all she wants to do is enjoy being near him.

Laela grabs Adir's nose and giggles. The other hand gets plopped right over his eye. Sakura looks at the two with a look of absolute adoration. "At least you never missed the first time she laughed." The dryad is dangerously close to tearing up again.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lobby]

"I'm so glad he returned..." Cessie says quietly, wiping away a tear.

Now where did Zelia go? Seems like she's run off... or something. Harnel won't be able to see her at least. "After all this time... I really thought he was gone for good like Aegnor." The sorceress sniffs a bit, warping her hands around her husband.

[Halae]

[Lobby]

Harnel wraps his arms and his wings around Cessie as well, closing her into his embrace. Nobody should see their loved ones disappear like that, but at least this time Adir came back. Even being here, he can't eliminate the memory of Aegnor,m though he can do his best to ease that burden.

[Murkus]

Lobby

Adir chuckles at the tiny fey, shifting a hand to hold the back of her head. On one hand, it feels fantastic to be here now. On the other, he should've been here for everything else. "Pretty laugh, too."

The stag lets Laela play with his face all she wants. This makes it hard to act serious when he looks at Cessie and Harnel. He doesn't seem to care.

"Um, Harnel, Cessie? Thanks. For taking care of them." It's good to know he can depend on them for so much.

[Gullara]

[Lobby]

Laela sure won't let her newest plaything have any respite. Hopefully she won't make holding a conversation too hard.

Sakura smiles at Cessie and Harnel, somehow managing to tear her attention away from her husband and child. She will definitely have to do something for them as thanks for taking them in.

[horngeek]

Suddenly, there's a-knocking at the door!

[Morty]

[Front Door]

In this case, a plotclone of Wenomir opens the door by the virtue of being currently available. Yes?

[horngeek]

A woman is standing outside!



"Hi. My name's Susanna Fields, and I'd like to join up."

[Shadowcaller]

[Lobby]

Cessie is actually over Aegnor considering she married someone else.

She's still reminded by his disappearance though, she hugs the half-dragon gently before slowly turning her attention to Sakura and Adir again, having wiped away the last tears.

"We just helped, it's what friends do." She says with a faint smile.

[Morty]

[Front Door]

Oh hey. Been a while since anyone joined up. Time for some standard-issue questions.
Alright... why do you want to join and what skills can you donate to our cause?

[horngeek]

[Front Door]

Susanna shrugs. "Always like helping protect people. Considered GLoG, but my skills are useless in that area.

As for what I can do... for lack of a better term, I can 'hijack' weapons. If it's mundane, I add a magical boost, if it's already magical, I can use any and all magical abilities it carries."

[Morty]

[Front Door]

Wenomir frowns. Another bizzare ability. And... how does that work? Do you just snatch them from people's hands, or what?

[horngeek]

Susanna chuckles. "Sometimes. Had one guy chuck a magic sword at me once. It was meant to come back to him, but... well. Once I get a grip, I'm the owner for all intents and purposes, at least until a bit after I let go."

[Morty]

[Front Door]

So let's say I try to cut your head off with my sword. If you manage to grab it, you can just take it away from me? Wenomir finds it somewhat hard to believe. Besides, grabbing your opponent's weapon can get you a lost hand.

[horngeek]

[Front Door]

"Sure. But I've got to go through the difficulties of actually grabbing someone's sword off them- I'm not good enough that I can just pull that sort of thing off easily.

If I managed to get your sword off you, I'd be able to use any magical properties it has as well as or better than you, and I'd understand, at the very least, how to wield it as a sword."

[Morty]

[Front Door]

Alright. Let's see for ourselves. You need to be tested before being accepted here, so as the first part of the test, you'll show me how your abilities work. Follow me. Wenomir turns to lead the newcomer to the arena.

[Halae]

[Lobby]

Cessie is actually over Aegnor considering she married someone else.

She's still reminded by his disappearance though, she hugs the half-dragon gently before slowly turning her attention to Sakura and Adir again, having wiped away the last tears.

"We just helped, it's what friends do." She says with a faint smile.

[Lobby]

"If you can't depend on your friends, then who can you trust? We're here for you three." Harnel says, smiling. It's nice to see Adir letting Laela play with him like that

[horngeek]

And Susanna follows him to the arena!

[Morty]

[Arena]

After arriving there, Wenomir picks up a practice sword - his gvalchir is in his room and he doesn't feel like fetching it - and assumes an offensive stance. Ready when you are.

[horngeek]

Susanna picks up a practice quarterstaff, and she she picks it up, red lines start spreading across it from where she touches it, covering the entire weapon.

She takes up a quarterstaff stance, then attacks, aiming several quick jabs towards Wenomir.

[Morty]

[Arena]

Wenomir moves fluidly, deflecting the jabs. The last parry is quite forceful, attempting to knock the quarterstaff away so he can proceed to aim a whack at Susanna's forehead. Needless to say, all manuevers are performed with master grace, skill and precision. Wenomir wants to see the "weapon-snatching" ability so he's not holding back.

[horngeek]

Susanna is pretty good herself, recovering from the knocking away of the quarterstaff to attempt the same trick herself while deflecting the sword away from her forehead.

The force from the parry is noticeably more than she should be able to get from that sort of movement.

If she succeeds in pulling the same trick off herself and knock the sword away, she attempts to drive the quarterstaff into his gut.

[Morty]

Wenomir isn't really the one to fall for a trick he just used, so his sword isn't knocked away. Instead, when the two weapons connect, he pushes his sword down, trying to bring the quarterstaff down with it, then jab Susanna in the chest.

[horngeek]

The rest of it works, but Susanna just barely dodges the poke to the chest.

She'd taunt, but I'd be surprised if it's been six seconds since they begun, so I doubt she has time.

Instead, she spins the quarterstaff around, trying to hit Wenomir in the shoulder. Again, with more force than should be possible.

[Morty]

[Arena]

It's probably been three of four seconds since they begun, by my count.
Wenomir backs away one step and raises his sword to block the incoming quarterstaff. Immediately after, he aims a sweeping kick at Susanna's legs, trying to knock her over while her defense is focused on the upper part of her body.