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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: Neshaten [Kingdom Fall] - The Fight Begins

Infirmary

Seeing the new recruits, Del kept to himself for a moment not leaving Misha side. The two troublemakers were out of his hair, but what would that mean for the team itself. Were they going to be more on one line now or what were they expecting? Del looked at the interaction of the two and narrows his eyes at the kid, another to keep watch over it seems. Del was not pleased, they manage to ...get in the area of mish and now they would deal with children.

Taking a step back to let the others get closer to Misha, Del crossed his arms and leans to the wall watching the interaction. A friendly interaction, an interaction that Misha didn't know about. He looked at the others and even though Del was a real talker, charmer and such....he kept to himself, lost in his thoughts of what all happened.
 
The difference in the newcomers seemed almost lost on Misha. One of them looked far... Cleaner, in a greater sense than just overall cleanliness. It was a quality of clean that only occurred in specific circumstances. The kind of difference between a metal statue that was cleaned and polished daily versus one left outside to rust, and only cleaned intermediately. Both were, after each cleaning, absolutely marvelous to the eye, but the one kept at its peak would clearly stand out better with higher overall quality. It was the image Misha had of Zoya, which struck her as quite odd given the near sickly appearance of the child.

The other one, Ta'Jana, seemed much more like the standard person she'd see walking the streets. The kind of person who'd glance haphazardly in the direction of those who lived on the streets but would quickly look away. A conscious, but that still left so much room for movement that anything was possible. Both of these individuals were unpredictable, for the moment, in Misha's eyes, and cautionary bubbles formed in her head.

Quite notably, Misha did not introduce herself, taking to following the group as it was and to try and blend back into the following role she had previously taken. Already, she had made the mistake of standing out, and already she had paid the price for it. Because of her, someone had been shot, and her face clearly stood out to those around her. Misha had survived worst things than this, clearly, and no one had batted an eye then, what made this so different? Why did they care?

The other three who were in the dorm joined them, and when approached, Misha seemed... Confused. The look she gave was almost a blank one, with no offer of thanks or even a clear sign that she understood. He had moved away before she gave a response, and even then she could only look down, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together in a way that made sense. But nothing did, there was kindness, but this didn't add together. It was like she was trying to create a picture of a fruit when the pieces were of a different one. Similar, but something was missing, some clear defining thing that escaped her reasoning. It felt like something they knew that she didn't, and such a prospect hastened her heart in a beat of worry.

Keeping up, she muttered a half-hearted "Thanks." Not really checking to see who caught it.

This is a strange place. She decided. Like I'm playing a game without knowing the rules.
 
Infirmary


She felt their eyes on her; Gazing, judging, tearing apart her very being bit by bit to the very bone.

There was a soot stain on the hem of her dress, A small cut on the back of her hand, she had stutter a syllable in her introduction, one of her slippers had a scuff mark on it. Suspicion and envy drew from these imperfections made commonplace from the natural mystery of new acquaintances in high-stress environments...


Zoya both knew and knew this not as more a feeling than anything she could put in her slowly growing vocabulary of words. Her thumb and forefinger tapped a frantic buy rhythmic staccato on the back of her free hand as she opted to remain silent and sanguine for all intents and purposes despite the raging turmoil from non-existent specters whispering tragedies and conspiracies in each ear in words too far above a child's capacity that she knew only by a tone she could barely grasp from the demons behind her ears that flared again as the sad one, Misha, glanced at her for a moment that lingered a fraction of a second too long to be simple appraisers.

Suspicion. She knows.

Equally, she could feel the gaze of her fellow arrival on the back of her head for even longer. And then another from the one, Del, who looked at her with what the diminutive daur could only prescribe as pity.

She offered a warm smile that didn't quite reach her eyes long after he had looked towards the newest distraction that was for nobody in particular as she simply watched over the fodder gab over Misha in a way that made her jealous.

But not enough that it would ever show beyond the flush of her cheeks.


An obstacle course sounded fun...
 
Hallway

Eliana smiled as she watched the timid Daurs report their small deed to Misha before scampering away. It looked like an innocent gathering of grade school kids trying to make friends, but the reality of what Kingdom Fall was crossed her mind again. These kids will probably be exploited for their innocence to lower people's guard and make them vulnerable to attack, she thought, a small frown forming on her face as she stared silently ahead of her. She began to doubt whether agreeing to join was a mistake or not.

I'll have to see what they're asked to do, she concluded, remembering that the accusations were just what-ifs in her head. The idea of an obstacle course sounded like a good workout, though the theory-based exercise already filled her with dread. Ugh.
 
Courtyard

For the first time in a few hours, the group was led outside the mountain bunker, the group at the front breathed a sigh of relief, no one had really thought about if they'd get to go outside since the doors were closed behind them but now that they were their spirits were lifting a tad. Ba'rota, out of the group of Daur at the front was by far the most attentive to detail, he'd worked in safety assessment jobs for a few years and had picked up a keen sense of when things were off and something felt wrong to him so the brown-furred Daur moved up beside Felonia.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed Zoya is still a child, not even old enough to have gone through the coming of age, but what I want to know is how she ended up here. I don't doubt Kingdom Fall's ability to persuade but this is different, it's like she's fully aware of the situation so what haven't you told us."

Felonia for her part lost her smile, instead, her features went slack while her eyes stared straight ahead.

"She was given to me, not literally, but even we as the leaders have superiors and that's where she came from. Suddenly this child appeared in the bunker with a message for us informing us she'd be put into the dorms with the others. If that is all you wanted we should be ready to begin shortly." The red leader flashed the man another quick grin as if to reaffirm he didn't need to worry though Ba'rota wasn't convinced, the hierarchy of this place seemed to be shrouded in fog it seemed but nothing could be done for now.



"Alright everyone welcome to the exercise yard, we have the obstacle course just behind me as you can see along with various spaces around the area for other activities depending on what your dorm is scheduled for. Anyone who's been through youth corps or the navy, think of this as basic training again though less intense, we're not here to train fighting machines unless you decide that's the role you want."

Behind Felonia stood the obstacle course, it wasn't anything intimidating like boot camp and its horrors by any means but it did contain a decent mix of activities for them to complete. Starting off was the hardest looking activity of them all, a half-pipe wall that seemed to curve back overhead at the top meaning they'd have to run partway up and jump to grab the ledge it seemed, beside the large wall was a slightly shorter one. Next up was a standard tyre section where they would have to try and get through without tripping, after that was a rope swing over a crash-mat instead of mud as some might expect and finally there was a bow on a table with a single arrow, a pair of bracers and a target five metres away from said table.

"Now unlike boot camp we don't make you run this drill every day for hours on end, this is a one time course we use to assess your thought process and basic physical ability so its up to you how you complete it but no obstacle can be skipped by walking around it unless you are unable to complete it. You may begin when ready, I'll be watching from the sidelines here."

Course

Before anyone had even moved Cario sprinted towards the larger of the two warped walls and ran straight up making a small leap to grab the ledge and hoist herself up with barely any effort, the orange-furred teen did so happen to be a youth corps graduate and this course in her mind meant one thing, they'd almost certainly get timed on how quickly they could complete it and she wasn't going to wait around for the boot out of this place. In no time at all she'd high-kneed her way through the tyres and was swinging across the small drop before coming to a stop in front of the bow. In her haste and lack of experience with such ancient devices, she disregarded the bracers and notched the arrow and pulled the drawstring back. A split second after she released it the Daur yelped in shock more than pain as the thread smacked her fleshy forearm inside and the arrow flew wildly off to the side.

With burning cheeks, she retrieved the arrow and placed back on the table with the bow, since there was only one arrow and she missed her shot Cario was sure she'd made a fool of herself and would be sent home for sure now. Dejectedly she went to sit beside their teacher and watch the others attempt to complete the course, with any luck her speed would make up for her blunder with the bow she hoped.

Looking amongst themselves it seemed like San'net, Francis and Ba'rota weren't as confidant in going for the course as their companion had been, Francis was especially worried about Misha and Zoya, they seemed like the least capable based on their physical figures and he was trying to figure out if it would be a good idea for them to do the course when he had an idea. Moving back over to Misha he gulped, like Cario, Francis was also somewhere in his teen stage and was still nervous around strangers.

"Hey uh, Misha. Felonia didn't say we had to go solo so I wondered if you wanted any help, since you are still recovering and all." The boy may have stuttered his words slightly but his eyes were clear indicators of his good-natured intent, he wasn't afraid to look the raggedy Daur in the eyes as he asked her.
 
Course


Zoya, getting a good measure of the course and noticing a few odds and ends casually stepped forward to go next. It was natural for the future leader to show her initiative and intuity after all.

Approaching the curved wall it looked a lot more imposing to the sickly daur up close. In her slippers, let alone in her current state there was little chance she could make it even if she had any extra juice with her morning meal. Instead, interpreting the rules to her own accord she walked away from the wall and off to the side to go behind it.

There was no rule states about using the ladder on the back after all.

Once up top the smaller wall was easier and with a light jog she was able to get a couple of fingers on the ledge and pull herself up with some effort. She could tell the logic behind the first wall was to make people use up all their energy in the first hurdle and make the second wall almost as hard after the exertion. Instead, Zoya started on the second and took the course at a light jog that if anyone would notice seemed to already have her breathing hard.

The tires she avoided running through and instead opted to run on the unstable rubber before coming to the rope. Without missing a beat she tucked her elbows together and dropped down onto the mat with a light plop before casually walking across and pulling her way up the other side.

And to top off the final act of the course she walked past the table and bow without even a glance and walked up beside the target.

Without missing a beat she raised a single index finger at the bullseye of the target and with a simple flourish from her thump the small ring on her finger discharged a dual-beam of energy point-blank from the concealed weapon into the target to leave two spider bite style marks in the center with a small billow of smoke from the smoldering holes.

Rather proud of her self for simple not walking around any obstacles, purse, and taking an imaginative approach Zoya took a casual pace back to the group and her group leader and waited expectantly with a rather deadpanned look as if she was still studying the course to see how she could have done things more optimal.

She could have probably shot the target from the top of the wall... Freedom fighters like her mother never followed the rules or fought predictable after all...
 
Course

Everyone was getting thrilled and excited to do this course and you could see it at their faces while they were running the course. But Del was not that thrilled, he hated sports or any form of it. He was more the charmer, the engineer, and not the runner or well-shaped for any kind of sports activity. He shook his head as he moved forward to get this thing over and pushed himself over the walls and climbed what needed to be climbed. The instructors would be having a keen eye as to who was worthy and who was not for this overall job that was required of them.

He observed the little kid that was trying to be a hero of the course, the concealed weapon did surprise him a bit, but he had to focus on his own performance and continued the course with a sigh of disappointment doing this whole situation. He felt his heartbeat faster after every jump or climb he had to do. And finally took a breather as he grabs the bow and arrow. Luckily for him, he lived years at a farm and hunted animals in the forest for fun. He pulled the string and took a good breath focusing on the target and with a simple move lets go of the string as the arrow hits the target. He mutters a bit to himself that it was slightly off and placed the bow back.

Walking back to the group, he pats Zoya on the shoulder with a soft smile on his face "Well done kid" He said as he moved on letting go of Zoya shoulder and excluding him from the group leaning against the wall. Looking at the next fighter to do the course with his arms crossed, not showing how fast his heart was beating from his simple course.
 
Course

Eliana bounced on the balls of her feet, eager for her turn. She'd certainly fail at the more logical challenges ahead, but now was her time to shine. Once she was signaled to begin, she ran forward at a moderate pace, stepped up the slope a few feet, then pushed herself back towards the edge. Using the momentum from the jump, she let her body flow past the lip, curled her knees, then pulled herself onto the edge. Coming from her Navy background, this was more of a warm-up stage, so she tried to have some fun with it. For the tire section, she lightly jumped from one wheel to another that was further away than necessary for the hell of it, looking almost like she was skipping through a rubber meadow.

At last, she approached the bow section and frowned lightly. Arrow's aren't really my thing, she thought before picking up the bracers. Actually hurting yourself with the bowstrings isn't common, but it's still important to use things for that small chance. Not to mention poor Cario failed the luck lottery already. Equipped with her safety gear, she readied the bow, focused with her dominant eye on the target, then held her breath before firing. Not a bullseye, but withing a couple inches at least.

Not bad, she thought, before placing the bracer back on the table, retrieving the arrow, then jogging back to the others.
 
The group was composed of strange people, though Misha could only tell such from the reactions of others more than anything. Despite the odd collection, she could already feel the labels growing between them, and no doubt ones such as 'pitiful' or 'weak' were arising for herself. The last thing she needed was to look for someone else's hands for help, especially when she couldn't see what would be taken in return. Food and shelter were provided here, but commands were given in response. It was a fair deal, thus far, and one she could accept with relative ease. People that saw her spoke to her, and interacted with her personally, with their own particular wants and needs were quite different than a large group that offered and took in large quantities.

Zoya was unexplainable, and any words of her that came from others were lost on Misha. It was an introduction and flat instruction of acceptance that spoke blatantly of the fact that something was not presented. While Misha would think nothing of it if she were introduced in any other way, as the rest of them had, it was the same suspicion that came when someone gave you food and claimed, unprovoked, that it was absolutely safe to eat. Zoya was an unknown variable, but for different reasons than the others, as something about her clearly stood so far from the median that Misha immediately refused to try and guess why.

Then she saw the obstacle course.

She honestly didn't know what she expected, cautious eyes running invisibly through it as if pacing a ghost, and any worries about whether or not she could pass it vanished. A challenge? In the same conceptual way that a puzzle was, yes, but by explicit, obvious design, it was a puzzle meant to be completed. You did not make a maze without an exit, and you didn't create an obstacle course designed to fail. Unconsciously, she slipped her bag onto her back, where it sat snugly.

Dimly blunt eyes stared back at the stuttering Francis before she began to quietly move passed him. She didn't have time to dissect his words or their real meaning, she had something to prove that was quite contrary to his suggestion. Recovering? She'd felt worse and still done more. "No." She said quite bluntly as her face felt coldly taut. "I'm quite fine." It was fairly true, after all, the only part that caused her worry was the bow and arrow. Had she even seen one being used outside of cartoons from years ago? No, she didn't believe she had.

She quickly shuffled into line with the others, until she was given the clear to begin. Running was difficult, but it was also something she was used to well enough to do it in quick, brutal sprints. While this wasn't a sprint, she also wasn't entirely sure at what kind of pace she was supposed to be holding. The first wall, of which she chose the shorter, loomed as she ran towards it, but its design to be completed, paired with memories of similar climbs, flared in her mind as she bound from the start of the wall upward, hands clapping against the top, imaginary reflections of similar situations baying distantly as she suddenly swung her body horizontally, quickly, and effectively, flinging her legs up as her arms bent upward, catching herself with her left foot, using the sudden leverage to haul and roll herself over. It was not pleasant and was about as brute-forceful as she could manage, but little else could be done.

The tires, as they came up, seemed like one of the lesser problems at first, but as she slowly hopped through them it became apparent that the problem came from the height she had to raise her legs to properly avoid getting caught on the inner rim. Her pace came to a crawl, and her legs burned harshly in response as she forced her way through once more, though she did almost fall from a trip near the end as her legs stopped raising as high.

The rope swing came next, and she barreled towards it with intent to get over it as quickly and easily as possible, even the potential drop did little to discourage her. After all, it was designed to be complete. Her rough hands grabbed the rope as she leaped, and though she stumbled the landing pretty badly, it was obvious that she rammed the obstacle as headstrong as she could. The forceful, brutish way she approached each obstacle seemed almost reckless, as she moved towards the bow and arrow, but as she cautiously put the bracer on, and hefted the bow and arrow with plenty of obvious confusion, it was clear why she acted in such a manner.

When there was a puzzle, it was clear that there was a solution. Why would everyone be given a puzzle that none could solve? She could brute force it with reckless abandon, the only thing that could potentially stop her was the anxiety of doubt and self-delusional belief that it couldn't be done.

Until, of course, the archery, the one aspect that required skill and experience, of which she had neither. She, after a prolonged period of preparation, aimed the arrow forward, pulled back the string, of which she struggled and once more forced with frustration, having to try a third time before it came back a suitable amount, and let the arrow loose. The effect was notable for two reasons, the first being the wild inaccuracy of the shot as it hit the dirt, short and to the right of the target, and the second the sharp sound of the string scraping down the bracer, which she stared at in confusion as if she hadn't even considered the possibility or the purpose of it before she put them both down and moved onward.

She took the momentary solace in solitude to breath as she slowly walked back to the others.
 
The trip to the obstacle course was less than eventful for Ta'Jana, who kept to herself and preferred to just listen. During her time at her grandfather's martial arts school, she would often spend days training and meditating without a word. Not speaking was an art she had long since mastered.

When the group was shown the obstacle course, she could see the nervous and confident expressions all around her. Ta'Jana internally smiled but buried her feelings and thought the others were giving too much away by letting their emotions dictate their fate. The course itself was nothing special to Ta'Jana, she had completed FAR worse and longer tests, some of which gave her lasting scars and broken bones. It would be a piece of cake. Despite this, she wasn't about to fail due to overconfidence or second-guessing herself. She would complete it swiftly and with care. Archery wasn't her forte but the skill was already ingrained into her from a young age, so she was covered on all fronts, for now. The later obstacles courses were what worried her, she wasn't exceptionally intelligent or good at puzzles but she did have the perception and wisdom of a warrior.

As the last person in front of her completed their attempt, Ta'Jana was called forth. Back straight and emotionless, she approached with elegance and bent her knees into an athletic stance at the starting area. Once the words start left the instructor's mouth, Ta'Jana was already bounding up the wall and made it atop the ledge with little effort a second later. The next wall she cleared just as easily. At the tire section, she already knew what to do and passed it by with simple, quick movements that conserved her energy. Every step she took was wasteless, revealing her forethought and years of training. Not breaking her stride, she made it to the rope swing and swung herself over, where she didn't lose her previous momentum and was propelled forward to the archery station. Without a second thought, she put on the bracer, grabbed the bow, notched an arrow, steadied her breathing, aimed, and released. The arrow soared through the air, embedding itself almost dead center.

She had missed, or so Ta'Jana thought. Letting out a sigh only she heard, Ta'Jana put down the equipment and jogged back to the others. Being a perfectionist was something she prided herself on. It's what allowed her to become as skilled as she was by spending countless hours working on the most minutia of martial arts. But as most things do, it had it's drawbacks. Having such a narrow mindset made Ta'Jana unable to rest and acknowledge her accomplishments until she had perfected what she wanted. This small failure would result in her spending a day doing nothing but shooting arrows.
 
Courtyard

Felonia had indeed been standing off to one side watching as promised, noting down how each person went about completing the course and the initial notes she'd got for each of them, the hidden weapon had surprised her as much as everyone else, it was definitely not Shukaren technology which begged the question of where she'd gotten it so young and who taught her to use it. Shaking those questions from her mind for now she wandered back to the rag-tag group, from children up to adults it seemed.

"Well done everyone, all of your results have given me a good idea of what sort of role you'll fit into here. Not all of you are fast, or strong or acrobatic. But at the same time, not everyone is intelligent, or cunning. With a bit of steering in the right direction and training, you will all become a close-knit and effective unit. For the rest of the day you'll be splitting up to train your natural ability and skills with others of similar nature so I'll give you your assignments now." Felonia looked at her notes and started from the top of the names, there was a lot of potential in these initiates and she had high expectations they'd learn to work together in the coming weeks.

"Cario, Ta'jana, and Eliana. You three are suitable for the Infiltrator role, speed and quick thinking relying on your judgment and ability to get in and out. Delfino, Francis, San'net and Ba'rota you four are suitable for the Fighter role, protecting your teammates and being the first to engage in combat when necessary. Zoya, and Misha you two are suitable for the Concealer role, physical activity isn't your strong suit but careful planning and cunning strategy is along with the conviction to execute any plan, Concealers are also good candidates to move around inhabited areas without drawing attention, information gathering and such."

With the roles assigned Felonia looked at her tablet, she had a few errands to run while Red dorm went off for their first time training. "All right Red dorm, head back to your room for now and some senior members will be along to show you to the training areas for each of your roles soon."
 
Courtyard

Eliana felt like the words not everyone is intelligent were directed at her for some reason, but maybe that was just her jumping the gun on being a downer.

"Infiltrator," she muttered after hearing her assigned role. She felt a bit let down after hearing the Fighter description, who got to stand on the front lines and charge into battle. She felt her fearless, chaotic energy would be well-placed there, but she didn't say anything. Infiltrator doesn't sound half bad though, I still get to rush into battle. Our leader has more experience with this kind of thing, she can probably see qualities in us that I don't.

Eliana nodded as Felonia left the group alone to head back to their rooms. A light breeze blew over them in the open courtyard, making Eliana wish she could stay outside for a bit longer. She noticed a few reddish-brown hairs of hers had broken free after their test, so she undid her hair tie, ran her hands through her shoulder-length hair to even things out, then pulled it back tightly again.

"Alright, everyone ready to head back?" she asked, jumping up to the front of the group and looking back at everyone with a smile.
 
The others, she noted, were of particular expertise on various aspects of the tests. Some flowed through the physical aspects as if they were born to do nothing else, others evaded what they could, and others still proved Neshatan's martial nepotism with strange hidden weapons and a particular fondness of archery. She couldn't accurately compare herself to others, but she figured it was a poor performance at best, and a sloppy, forced one at worst.

She found herself exhausted as she stood solitary for that moment, but not for the exertion. Her body would ache, of course, particularly with a light stomach for the day. However what exhausted her was that connection with people, trying to read them, trying to keep from being read. She wished, for a moment, that she could stand apart for longer. With a grim swallow, however, she returned to the group in time to hear the results, and to find that the group would be split among different skills and practices.

Concealer.

She wasn't particularly well taught, but Misha wasn't dull. They were hesitant around her, watchful eyes that regarded her with caution and interest. They wanted something from her, be it in a warning for themselves or as a tool. There were no coincidences, and this was chosen before any test. It was too specific, too controlled, and as her cold, uneven focused eyes briefly stared at Zoya, the younger one seemed to take a new shape in Misha's eyes.

Was she already in on something? Already connected? Already important? Her heartbeat seemed loud suddenly in her ears, and she turned away lest she is caught staring too long. She said nothing, having nothing to say, but suddenly found herself just... Thinking, trying to grasp the larger image, the context, and shape and shifting methods of it all.

They would stay together, all of them, that much was obvious. Beyond that, something continued to keep it all at arms distance. Was she in Kingdom Fall? Yes, of course. Was Kingdom Fall in her? Was she Kingdom Fall?

No.

Never.
 
Courtyard

When Misha turned to look at Zoya the smaller, sickly daur was already looking at her and made eye contact with her new partner. The intensity of her gaze on the older kingdom fall recruit was tempered only by the slight smile pulling at the side of her lips when she looked at the other girl.

Concealer. The name sounded really cool. Clearly her new partner had to agree and was looking towards Zoya for a confirmation.

The daur nodded ever so slightly to the inside knowledge only they knew. Some were fighters and infiltrators but Zoya and Misha? They were spies! The kind of cool stuff her mother did on a daily basis now open to Zoya. She could attend lavish royal parties dressed as fancy consort or upper echelon officer, Perform espionage without anyone ever suspecting them, and... Just generally do spy stuff.

She ignored that the infiltrators did most of that and assumed they did the less cool stuff.

The thoughts lasting only the barest of moments Zoyas lunge forward towards misha was as unpredictable from the daur as any might expect and was only over when she clasped her hands over the other daur and whispered conspiratorially "We're Concealers!"

The intensity of her gaze still practically burning a hole through Mishas head the younger daur looked at her expectantly.
 
Courtyard

Keeping to himself, he was trying to recover from the obstacle course and kept calm breathing until their leader started to speak with the results as she opens his eyes hearing his name to be a fighter. He rolled his eyes knowing that fighting was not his strong suit, as he may be overdoing it with the course showing something he might be not? If at all, he would be a supporting character to give some arrow support. He never held a weapon other than a bow, but now they shoved the fighter label on him that made him shrug and he crossed his arms.

He rose his hand "What if disagree with the given function within the team?" Del finally spoke looking at their leader "I might be good with a bow, but I have never held a weapon, I am an engineer and I can use my charms if needed. But going around with a weapon?" He shook his head and lowered his weapon, he might be bolt to voice up at this, but he suspected that other people were possibly disagreeing with the given function.
 
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