[PQ] smiling out of fear

Amalia wasn't the only one caught by surprise at the fourth voice in the Attuned link, but the grim situation didn't allow for being picky. The clouds look less dark this way, Jigano called through the link, glad they didn't have to try and speak over the storm in voices that would get lost in the thunder. And the winds seemed to resist us entering, so I'm hoping they'll push us back the way we came. Watch out for stray wild gusts and try to follow the steady pressure.

His raven's body was being buffeted by the storm, even staying low to the ground as he was, but with the lightning striking so near at wing Jigano wasn't sure he wanted to take his larger and more stable horse form - not, and become the tallest point in the surrounding scenery to attract the electric lashes. Crouching low until his throat hackles nearly brushed the bare earth beneath him, he dug his talons against the ground as anchors and stepped forward (and sometimes sideways, as gusts struck) with slow, stubborn deliberation, eyes focused on the brighter wall of cloud he hoped led to clear skies nd daylight even as he used the howling wind at his back and ruffling his rectrices to help keep him pointed in the right direction. I think it's letting up a little this way!

Ashe    Ashe looked down to the snowy leopard and gave a sharp nod. "Smaller I can do."    She turned her attention to Remi and took a wavering step back. Jigano called out directions, and nervous, magic energy crackled along her shoulders in bright blue sparks. She rarely dared to shift to anything smaller than the wolf with the raging storm winds, so she took a hold of Remi's arm to wrap behind her back if she could.    "Hold onto me," she said, and a vicious clap of thunder followed. She held his shattered eyes, her heart racing. Don't let the storm take me.    Lightning burst apart overhead, and Ashe shifted. The world exploded in size, and powerful winds knocked into her, threatening to rip the little sapphire hummingbird away. and yet I swear, I love this earth that scars and scalds and burns my feet.

i'll meet you half way

The alchemist sent a pulse of appreciation in response to Jigano's words. Everything the bard said made perfect sense and hearing it Remi thought there was no more obvious solution, but it was not the sort of reasoning he could have worked out on his own. Not with the world sounding as though it was ending overhead. Not with his cheeks slick with tears and rain, and Ashe finally back again. "Felix, yes." Remi almost laughed, but the emotion was too think in his throat. "And Vai. Everyone is alright." Not Devrum no.. but that departure could wait.

Listening to the exchange, Remi's grip tightened against the assassin. He'd not seen her hummingbird form until now, and so as she begged him to keep her in place, Remi expected to see the tall and dark wolf that he'd encountered in the Rathskeller. The jewel-toned and infinitely more delicate bird was a complete shock. "NO—" He cried, reaching out and cupping his hands around the ball of fluttering blue.

If the winds were strong enough to buffet the small fox, a man erect in their path hardly stood a chance. Falling to his knees with his hands still creating a protective cage, Remi closed his eyes and tried to think. I am going to make a bag for you to stay in, so that I can carry you safely. I know you will hate it. This last sentiment was added with a bit of raw humour, knowing full-well that being thrust into a small and weak body and then further shoved into a bag was probably fairly close to Ashe's version of hell. But lions were not known for their ability to keep delicate things safe and in the moment, it was all he could think to do.

In his hands, Remi created a bag around Ashe with a thick leather piece at the top. Thick enough to withstand fangs. Hold on. So saying, Remi placed the bag into his mouth as he shifted. Teeth turned sharp and pointed, but the leather seemed to hold. At least he could clamp down to ensure the bag wouldn't be lost to the wind without worrying about slicing off a few of Ashe's feathers in the process.

---

Remi puts hummingbirdAshe into a bag (sry) and carries it in his mouth as a lion, following Jigano.

if you're coming the long way

Coding base by Sky!

AMALIA

She wants the silence but fears the solitude

She wants to be alone and together with you

Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow

Fortunately for the group Jigano's heading is nearly perfect. He leads them true, and as they press on the storm begins to wane around them. Relentless winds buffet the quartet of animals, pressing particularly cruelly on Jigano, who is almost too small to withstand their attacks. Luckily, though, his strong wings keep the raven from flying away. Ashetta, too, is in danger of being swept up, but the lion's grasp on the bag remains true, and the captive hummingbird is safe and secure.

Though the storm is clearing, they are far from safe. Around them a beautiful flash of lightning arcs, blindingly luminous in the dark of the storm. It lands close enough that all the animals will feel their hair stand on end - all except Amalia, who feels far more than that. With a yowl of pain the leopard shudders, collapsing momentarily to the ground as the stench of singed fur fills the air, an electric and toxic odor. She has been struck on her right hip, and the joint blazes with miserable pain, almost too much to carry on- almost.

Gritting her teeth to hide her agony, the leopardess pushes forward toward the sun. She can nearly taste non-electric air, and now more than ever all she wants is to see the storm clouds clear. With an obvious limp she presses on, claws extended into the barren ground for leverage, eyes nearly closed to keep out the wind. Almost there, she cries out mentally, trying and failing to hide the pain from her voice. I can feel the storm letting up.

---

Jigano's heading was accurate!
Jigano gets hit by a gust of wind but keeps his footing!
Ashetta gets hit by a gust of wind but Remi keeps a grasp on her!
A lightning bolt strikes near the whole group, hitting Amalia, who takes a significant amount of damage to her right hind leg but is able to carry on!

Last round! Will we the group keep their heading and make it out of the storm?

No post order

The raven staggered and nearly plastered himself to the ground to avoid being carried away by the unpredictable gusts, being forced to rethink his stubborn refusal to change shape in front of an audience. Surely everyone else was far too busy to worry about watching him when the storm was still raging around them? A storm that gave him little chance for introspection as lightning struck close enough to send him scampering and nearly bowled him over from the nearness of it. He whipped his head around to check on his companions--

Amalia! he cried out through the bond as the blindness from the lightning flash faded. Hang on! Even as the leopard limped forward the raven dove back, but feathers were shed between heartbeats as the bird stretched and grew into the shape of a slender, long limbed horse who snorted and shook his head against the driving winds and rain. Jigano moved into place on Amalia's uninjured side, using his body to provide a buffer between her and the wind even as he sent a call of: Remi, can you support her right side? to the lion, who was of a better size and gait to actually help her. Together, he hoped, the three of them - and the bagged assassin - could make it back into the clear skies of the Outskirts, moving steadily forward towards the lightening clouds and lessening winds as fast as Amalia's wounded pace would allow.

Ashe    The wind buffeted Ashe mercilessly. Her heart raced so fast she thought it would burst, and she couldn't stop the instinctive flutter of her wings. Sparks of pain burst before her eyes - the stupid wing was broken.    The world darkened and the storm quieted, and it took her a moment to realize that Remi had caught her. Her good wing fluttered delicately against his palm, and she crouched low into his hand with waves of gratitude sent his way. He explained what he was going to do, and her little body shuddered in his grasp.    Oh no, I'll just love it, came her dry response as the bag formed around her. She let out a small sound of displeasure as she was closed in, her body tensing. There was no hiding the tremor in her voice as she spoke again to the lion. Keep talking?    Crack!    Her heart jumped, and her wing flapped against the bag as the deafening sound of thunder exploded in her bones. Remi? The lightning reverberated in her skull, whining with painful energy.    Amalia. That was the snow leopard, and judging by Jigano's tone, the storm had chosen her to strike. Let me out if I'm needed! Ashe beat her wing rapidly against the sack. She could walk if she had to. She'd limp and she'd stagger, but she'd been trudging through this storm this long. I'll shift and try to redirect the lightning.    Her magic might not like cooperating in this storm, but she could at least do that much. Ashe has offered to shift and use her lightning magic should the lightning continue and she's needed and yet I swear, I love this earth that scars and scalds and burns my feet.

i'll meet you half way

What shall we talk about? How about how your little brother is definitely going to grow up to be quite the heartbreaker? Remi mused, affection coating his mental voice. About how Aoife already has a dragon and a unicorn in her arsenal? The alchemist knew that the topics didn't really matter. Hearing his voice was probably all that was keeping Ashe from shifting into a wolf to break free of the cloth-prison he'd placed her in.

As they walked, the lion's eyes were mostly squeezed shut. It wasn't as though he could truly see anyways, and with the sands threatening to scrape away the last shreds of his eyes, it made more sense to keep them tightly closed. The smell of singed flesh intermingled with Jigano's cries made Remi's eyes immediately snapped open. Though he wasn't expecting to suddenly see a tall pale horse, Jigano had already alluded to the fact that he had more shifts other than those Remi knew about, and now was certainly not the time for questions.

Yes. As much pressure as you can take, Amalia. He encouraged softly.

To the morsel in his mouth, Remi thought about arguing for a moment but knew it wouldn't do much good. The wind seemed to be dying down some, and if Ashe could indeed direct the lightning that would be all for the better. Dropping his muzzle to place the bag softly down, he inserted a claw to make an opening at the top. Trying to block the wind with his body, he moved to let Ashe out and to shift.

if you're coming the long way

Coding base by Sky!

AMALIA

She wants the silence but fears the solitude

She wants to be alone and together with you

Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow

Amalia winces as the rain continues to slam into her burn, her sharp teeth grinding against each other as she pushes through the pain. I'm fine! she tries to tell the others, but it is the furthest thing from truth. In truth she feels as though her entire leg is on fire, but she isn't about to tell them that.

She is grateful, though, when Jigano stands beside her, his large form blocking much of the wind. She is grateful too for Remi, leaning a little into his weight, a pulse of apology and appreciation flowing through the attuned bond. Luckily for the quartet, the weather is truly letting up now; ahead a patch of blue sky peeks alluringly, and the lightning seems to have retreated away. And though the three more minutes they push through the storm feels like a lifetime to the wounded leopard, it is almost unexpectedly that at last they wind up outside of it, daylight pouring down through a Leafchange sky, the dry ground blissful beneath her paws.

Immediately Amalia glances around, breathing heavily as she takes a head count. Is everyone okay? Did we make it? Shrinking down, the leopard becomes an owl: it will be easier to move if she is flying, based on the current state of her leg. Let's get to the infirmary, she suggests. Then Ashetta, maybe you can tell us about what you've found.

---

Good job PQ team! We made it out of the storm and avoided being hit by any more lightning!
This PQ is officially over but feel free to put in a closing post.

Jigano did not believe the leopardess, and he didn't think Remi did either, but the pair of bigger beasts was able to sandwich Amalia between them and make their slow, careful way to the edge of the storms and finally out into clear air again. The lightning and thunder still raged behind them, but out here the wind was only the occasional gust to ruffle their fur.

Just as he tried to crane his nose down to inspect her burn, the baker became an owl, and Jigano snorted gently in reproof. Her wings would take her back faster and with less pain than any number of legs, however, and he nodded his large head in agreement that the Infirmary was their next stop. I don't think there was a way through that storm, he admitted reluctantly. So. To the east and west we are stopped. A different kind of barrier, but still a cage, for all its size. The south remained, but rumors had it just as harsh. They had to try, of course...

But not today.

Let's go give Vai a surprise, shall we? he said instead, shaking his mane out and stamping a hoof in encouragement to Remi and Amalia... and Ashetta, too, at least by default. He wasn't sure how to feel about her, but perhaps the journey back to the Settlement would give him some time to reflect on it.

He would walk slowly enough to let the others get ahead of him, dropping back gradually until he saw their eyes had focused forwards before he shifted back to his raven form and went to join Amalia on the wing, flying a little behind and below her in case the injury became too much and she needed a catch or a boost on the way back.

i'll meet you half way

Shifting to wrap an arm around Ashe's waist (careful to avoid her shattered arm), Remi let out an exhausted sigh, concluded with a boyish grin. Ruffling a hand through his hair, and then through Ashe's as well to relieve them both of a considerable amount of debris, the alchemist shot a wry smile towards the flighted pair.

"If you think Ashe will let you take her anywhere but to her family, you are in for a real surprise." Exhaling a mouthful of air over tongue and lips which felt exceedingly dry, Remi shook his head and glanced towards the assassin. "What say you? The guild is on the way, we can grab Ronin and Aoife? Isla might even be able to set your arm before we go." Given Ashe couldn't fly and as a wolf she'd have to deal with a broken leg, there was probably no way of expediting her journey into the woodlands towards Vai's hut. But perhaps the guildhall would do in the meantime.

if you're coming the long way

Coding base by Sky!

ASHE.    As soon as the bag was opened, Ashe shifted. She had to hunch over in the wind, her hand resting on Remi's shoulder to keep her footing. Blessedly, she didn't have to try and fling her magic at the wild bolts. As it was, she could hardly stay standing as the storm lashed against them.    And so when the sky gave way to blinding sunlight, Ashe gasped and stumbled forward without the storm's resistance. An arm wrapped around her and saved her from another fall, and Remi's scent followed. At the sound of his sigh, she squinted up at the shape of him in the sun.    His hand ruffled through her wet hair, and she let out a shaky, dazed laugh at the familiar gesture. Her head sagged against his shoulder, and she let her eyes fall shut. She had lost a lot, but she hadn't lost everything.    Remi turned his attention to her, and her eyes snapped up to look at him. "Yes," she choked out with a smile. "I want to go home." i may be broken, but I'm not done.