Aftermath and Afterglow (Open)

[Bailey Oleander]

With so many injured after the battle, Bailey had made her stay at the infirmary as short as possible, ducking out once it was decided that her would was already past anything that wouldn't waste the healers' qi.  Campus had been in an uproar, the dead listed along with the injured and otherwise.  The walls closed in, the voices grew louder as people kept asking the same questions over and over, wondering about it or the reveal of the Earth Dragon's presence.  One who had been among them all along.  She needed out, a place to breathe and think.

Ironically, that place was the same battlefield.  She was more than happy to duck out of the gates of Cabal, roaming the edge of the bloodstained and broken earth at first, closing her eyes as she absorbed the energy of the area.  A lot of power had been used; she could feel the remains of the chaos, the destroyed land and buildings.  Could remember people screaming as blood spurted and bodies burned.  She took another step forward, reveling in the energy rather than the peace she had sought.  She tried not to think of Krane, one of the moments that still made her heart twist.  She'd saved him from battle once not so long ago, and now she had watched him turn to nothing but dust and debris.  He had protected her, saved her life.  But she didn't want to think about that.

Instead, her steps took her further towards where the main force had been, the charred and broken earth, mounds of it and even a small mountain standing still with gaping holes where it had been.  She'd helped with that.  She'd helped to decimate an entire force of people. A small smile formed on her lips at the memory as her head lowered, her hair masking her eyes as she let her senses roam free, feeling the raw energy around her..

So this was war.

[Mathew Amtrum]

Mathew would be where the main force had been, walking over his handiwork, a cigar in his mouth as he paced along the carnage. His footsteps sending his Qi into the Earth as he tried to pinpoint the location of where the leader might be. His so-called "reckoning". It was short lived and disappointing, as he had thought it would be. But all the same, he'd like a trophy to remember this day by. The day the Earth Dragon returned. He thought that his sword would do nicely. He could start up a collection.

OOC: Charging Jade Dragon 7/50

Qi use 1/50

[Bailey Oleander]

She looked up as she sensed someone else on the field, her gaze growing clearer when she spotted Mathew on the field, smile fading. The Earth Dragon. The one whom this entire orchestration seemed to revolve around. No sooner had he been revealed than the destruction broke out. She'd been lucky to finish changing into the tunic she'd been lent before the invading force came in.

And now he was just roaming the field, though there was purpose in his expression. More than her, anyway.

"Looking for something?" She'd make her way towards him, curiosity stringing her along.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"A needle in a haystack."

Or graveyard. Either way.


OOC: Charging Jade Dragon 8/50



Qi use 2/50

[Bailey Oleander]

"Clearly." Hence he was still looking. She'd let him be for a few moments, looking out over the field. It was his business, after all, and not hers. Just as the reason she was here wasn't his. But she did wonder, as she had discussed with Blake, what the real purpose of this had been. This "round two."

"So what do you make of all this?"

[Mathew Amtrum]

"Define this."


OOC: Charging Jade Dragon 9/50



Qi use 3/50

[Bailey Oleander]

"This." She raised an arm to encompass the battlefield. "The whole notion of this being 'round two' invasion." She shook her head. "It's too orchestrated, too well timed."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"Doomed to fail from the start. It wasn't an invasion, it was a sacrifice."


OOC: Charging Jade Dragon 10/50

Qi use 4/50

[Bailey Oleander]

"A sacrifice for what? To test our response?" She frowned, still soaking in the feel of the field. It was hard to miss on such a magnitude. It was refreshing.

[Mathew Amtrum]

He shrugged.

"You tell me. What do you think?"

OOC: Charging Jade Dragon 11/50

Qi use 5/50

[Bailey Oleander]

"If it was a sacrifice, then it was a test. Maybe for our defenses, maybe for our ability to retaliate." She frowned, thinking a moment.


"But they also attacked with four dragons on the field shortly after your identity was revealed and broadcast.  Two that they knew about."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"I doubt it was to test defenses. Probably to send a message or make a point."

Not to Cabal.

[Bailey Oleander]

"Mhmm." She agreed not to Cabal they more they spoke and hte more they thought about it. She closed her eyes a moment, standing still as small swirls of red and black began to form around her, no more than an inch out from her body.

"It was a very pointed message, then." She looked at him and raised a brow. It was hard to miss the timing, despite what she and Blake had discussed.

"I suppose the allies who fought with us worked to find a way to control when it would happen, then, rather than leave it in enemy hands."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"And what do those do?"

He motioned to the swirls around Bailey.

[Bailey Oleander]

"Hmm?" She blinked, the aura fading away as he gestured to them, pulling her away from her thoughts.

"What does what do?" He hadn't even responded to her musings, which was odd. Normally he'd prompt her with some sort of vague comment or observation.