[Training] it all falls down

A M U N I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife Amun might not be able to outrun his problems, but he was certainly giving it the old college try. Finding himself with too many hours in the day, he ventured out of the Hollowed Ground more and more often these days. After Samuel's murder and the debacle in Stormbreak, the potter had taken to wearing his camouflage patch to alter his facial features to the blandest of men. Once more, he found himself wandering King's End in search of something, anything, that might give comfort. The beautiful and serene surroundings he stumbled upon should have done the trick. Instead, what he saw shattered the peace environ and caused him to snarl under his breath: there was a Fae already there. Breaking into a run, leaving Zhanshi behind, the Ascended felt the iron bracelets he wore along his arms coil shift as he activated his metal manipulation upgrade. The metal pooled into his hands to form a thick chain, which he began to swing over his head like a lasso. "FAE!" he roared at the woman. "I've got a bone to pick with you." With that, he let loose, aiming to wrap the chain around her legs or an ankle so she couldn't just fly away.

Juniper had barely even noticed the man approaching before he shouted at her. She turned, confused by the hatred in his voice; her eyes widened as she saw him already launching an attack. What had she done to earn this? What bone could he have to pick with her?

It had to have something to do with the Ascended. What other conflict could have brought him to violence, simply as a result of her being Fae?

But she could ask questions later. For now, she had to defend herself. Caught unprepared, she tried and failed to dodge Amun's chain, which wrapped around one of her ankles with bruising force. Quickly she moved to pry the chain off; the last thing she wanted was to be pinned down -- or worse, tugged about at the end of his chain.

Juniper

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A M U N I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife As the chain wrapped around the Fae's ankle, Amun snarled. Still running, he tugged at his end of it with his free hand. At the same time, he activated his metal manipulation upgrade again. As Juniper went to try and tug it off, she'd find the metal started to crawl over her fingers, trying to trap them in cages of metal. At the same time, the coils around her ankle would tighten. On the Ascended's end, he had the metal snake around his wrist so he wouldn't lose his grip. Shifting the metal like that took up some of the slack in the chain. "So you'll let just about anyone but Ascended crawl through your borders now?" he bellowed at her, though the distance between them was rapidly closing.

As the metal tried to trap her fingers, Juniper snatched them back, giving up on her attempt to pry the chain off her ankle. Instead she drew her bow as Amun dragged her towards him -- through the air, at least, not along the ground, as she took wing when it became clear that she couldn't keep her feet.

"I don't know what you mean," Juniper replied, trying not to sound as afraid as she felt. She should have known better than to come out here alone. For all her experience as a diplomat, she still wasn't much good in a fight. "I don't want to fight you -- can't we talk about this?"

Even as she spoke, though, she drew her bow. If he wouldn't listen to reason, she'd have to shoot him -- and soon, before she got within melee range.

Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here

A M U N I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife As the Fae took flight and drew her bow, Amun glared at her. Snarling, he raised his free hand. A pulse of electricity shot from his palm; his target wasn't the woman herself, but her weapon. Although an arrow probably wouldn't slow him down in the slightest unless she hit a joint, he didn't want to risk it. He let out a laugh that was more like a cackle than anything else. "Talk? Well I'd love to, but I seriously doubt your fucking allies ever give anyone the option to talk." Still running towards her, he growled. "So why should I talk to you, hm?' He narrowed his eyes at her.

Amun's lightning charred Juniper's bow, forcing her to drop it as the heat seared her palms. As he spoke, Juniper realized that her attacker was not merely hostile but unhinged. Talking him down would be a challenge, but if she didn't, he might very well kill her.

With that lightning, he had to be either Abandoned or Ascended, and she had a feeling she knew which -- which meant that he was probably referring to the Order. Would it help if she tried to tell him that she didn't like them either?

Probably not. He'd just think she was lying -- or call her a hypocrite, with some justification.

So all Juniper said was "Because I asked nicely?" as she gave up on running and prepared herself to fight, drawing her hunting knife with one hand and her dagger with the other. She stopped trying to escape Amun's chain and instead used its momentum to propel herself towards him, knives out.

Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here

A M U N I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife The bow dropped and Amun darted forward. His goal was to try and kick it out of the way so that the Fae couldn't retrieve it. However, his eyes widened as she drew two knives. Jerking on the chain, he activated his upgrade once again. The links just past her foot shivered and elongated as he had them form into a spike that he sent shooting towards the ground. He was hoping to anchor her and prevent her from reaching him. "And what is talking going to get me?" he snarled back. Glaring at her, he growled low in his throat. "If I ask nicely will you help stop the Order from using your forest as a cover to murder any more Ascended?"

Amun's spike did manage to anchor Juniper, but she didn't mind too much, as she'd just as soon not get within grappling range of him. Instead she stood at bay, knives drawn, stance wary. But she didn't attack. Her intentions had always been defensive, and if she'd managed to buy herself a little time, she'd rather use it to try to talk him down than to strike.

"The Order came through the Greatwood to murder Ascended?" Juniper's heart sank. If the Order was moving through the Greatwood, she should know -- especially if they were committing acts of war on the other side. Unless perhaps Remi knew and didn't tell her? That prospect was almost worse than her own ignorance. "I am sorry. I am not in a position to bar the Order as a whole from our lands, but if you tell me who it was, I can seek justice for you."

Juniper

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A M U N I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife Amun narrowed his eyes at the Fae. However, she made no move to attack, so while he watched her blades, he was content to simply keep her chained to the ground while they talked. "An Ascended was murdered on the border of the Hollowed Ground and the Greatwood." Watching her reaction, his grip on his end of the chain tightened. "Since they don't use the portals, I'm left to assume he teleported into your Village and made his way over to us. But please, present me with a different scenario." Growling under his breath, he gritted his teeth. "He's dead. The murderer. But if you can't prevent it from happening again, what good are you?!" The words thundered out of him.

Juniper's mouth tightened. Another Ascended dead, murdered by the Order ... It seemed that the war was coming to them, whether they -- and Juniper -- liked it or not. And she agreed with Amun that the Fae held some responsibility for the actions of their nominal allies, who had presumably come through their lands -- if the Fae were responsible, that meant Juniper, as their leader, was responsible.

"I can't," she said simply. Actually, there was another scenario -- he could have come via the skyport -- but that didn't absolve anyone. "No good at all. I'm sorry."

She wondered if he'd try to kill her. As regretful as she might feel, she couldn't allow that to happen without a fight, so she kept her knives out.

Juniper

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A M U N I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife Amun couldn't actually spit on the ground, but he went through the motions anyway. Glaring at the Fae as she gave her response, he wound the chain around his wrist and gave it a little tug. Still, he didn't remove the anchor he'd made on the ground or the loops around her ankle. "I see," he muttered. For a moment, the skin around his eyes tightened and he gritted his teeth. Keeping his palm trained on her, his nostrils flared. "So. You're no good to me. The man I..." Voice trailing off, he swallowed. "And the Order is going to continue using the Greatwood as a staging ground or a safe haven, right on the doorstep of the Hollowed Ground. The one place where we're supposed to be safe."

There wasn't really much Juniper could say to that, was there? Amun was right. A bunch of murderers were using her home as a conduit for their violence, and there was nothing she could do about it, Greatwood Guardian or not.

"I'd like to ban the Order from the Greatwood," Juniper says quietly, "as Halo has done. But Remi would never allow it."

She's certain of that, based on Remi's reaction to Halo doing the same thing.

With a sigh, Juniper adds, "I'm sorry about your ... " She almost says "friend," then goes with something that seems more accurate, given how she knows the Ascended refer to themselves: "Family. And I'm sorry about this, too."

And with that, she throws an illusion of bright flashes and loud noises into Amun's face, hoping to startle him enough that he'll release the chain and let her slip away.

Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here

A M U N I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife Amun narrowed his eyes at Juniper. A growl escaped the potter's lips at the mention of Remi. "And do the Fae do the bidding of Remi now? I thought you were the masters of the Greatwood, not him." Snorting, the Ascended shook his head. "How the might have fallen," he taunted. "And I take it that you won't grant the Ascended equal access to the Greatwood, either? Or rather, Remi won't?" Arching an eyebrow, his lips parted. "About what--" that was all he got out before the lights and sounds erupted. Flinching and blinking against the onslaught, his concentration wavered and his metal manipulation upgrade deactivated, allowing the links around her ankle to slacken. "What the fuck?!" he shouted throwing up free hand to try and block whatever it was she'd thrown at him.

Amun's words definitely hit home. It's not the first time recently that Juniper has found her hands tied by Remi's involvement. But what is she supposed to do against a demigod? Especially when some of the Fae still don't support her -- would choose Remi, outsider or not, over a former pariah. The irony of their position doesn't escape Juniper, given that it was openness to outsiders that originally damned her family, but there's not much she can do about it now.

It's a poor excuse, Juniper knows. If she wants to oppose the gods' war, she could at least start by standing up to her local demigod. But as far as she's seen, her only real option is to step down, and that would leave Remi without any moderating influence.

She doesn't say any of this to Amun, because she's too busy shaking his chain off her leg while he's distracted and flying out of range. Which, given the length of the chain, puts her out of easy earshot too. For a moment Juniper hesitates; their conversation didn't exactly come to a satisfying conclusion. But what is left for her to say? And, more importantly, how foolish would it be to risk this stranger attacking her again just to say it?

It's for his sake as well as hers that she leaves, she tells herself as she flies away without another word. The Ascended really don't need more Fae blood on their hands.

- FIN

Juniper

"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here