[AD] [PA] Dreaming in the Past [F] [PW]

[The Macintosh Ninja: SOH CAH TOA]

Leo offered his bit of advice, suggesting that everyone's higher ups gave them some instructions and sent them on their way. Mocedad began skimming the manual he was given, glossing over some of the history and other details that weren't too important right now. The manual included the Code that the Order followed: listing several rules and mandates. Chief among them were the standard warrior/protector statements: protect those that cannot fight, support allies in combat, recognize when falling back is advisable, and so on. He turned back to the Table of Contents, checked the page number for how to activate class abilities, and turned to the page. It detailed the steps required and preparations needed for certain attacks. There weren't many skills, but the ones that there were looked to need good tactical management to pull off. Mocedad was glad he was wearing some tough looking armor.

The Dragoon (to be) heard...the guy with the axes (Leo, like lion. Claws, paws, mane, pain. Ax, facts, Lion, fangs. Axes are like fangs maybe?) talking to Close Combat Chris. He suggested she lead the group, given that she was a warrior. This was fine by the Dragoon, though he thought he should offer his two cents on the matter and support Leo in his decision to suggest Chris lead. He approached Chris.

"I agree with Lio-Leo." he started. "Curses!"
"Chances are us three will take a more frontal approach to combat. It'd be easier to give out orders and advice. 'Course, all of us can offer our ideas and advice, since we should be gettin' familiar with our abilities and stuff." he continued. His eyes widened a bit.
"N-Not to say you don't know how to lead! I mean, we all hardly know each other! But we will. Know each other that is. Ah...maybe...well..." he stopped here to rub his chin in panicked contemplation. He breathed in slowly.
"If you want to lead, I'm sure we'll follow. But we're a Party. So don't be afraid to ask for help, ya know? Took me most of my life to learn askin' for help is a great thing." He took a bit of a step back.
"Ready and waiting." he said with the sort of tone a soldier would say to a general.

[Kpyna]

"I agree. The ones who stand in the front should take leadership initiative," Theo said with a nod. "I think designating one leader at this time would be a bad idea. Honestly, it's true we don't know each other and we don't know if we're going to be forced to split up," Theo added, noticing that the dragoon had opened his manual. Theo was already having a difficult time with the names, but she wasn't too worried. She'd learn them soon enough, for sure. Theo put the bag in her lap, and opened up the spell tome.

The first few pages were lore that explained being a druid, which Theo decided to skim over in favor of what the rest of the book held. The only two spells she had were "Wild Shape", and "Growth". Under the spell names small black handwritten notes explained the spells, followed by an incantation that Theo wasn't going to try to pronounce at the moment. Wild Shape appeared to allow her to change herself into an "appropriately" sized animal. Theo had no idea what an appropriate animal would be, but she would have to figure it out. Wait, how is this going to work with clothes? Theo realized, with a look of silent panic overcoming her face for a split second. No, I'm sure it'll all work out... she thought, continuing to read about growth, which... made plants grow.

Theo shut the book, put in in her pack, and slid off of the fence, making her way closer to the group with Jasper in tow.

[SirBlaziken]

Leo packs everything quickly, in time to see Mocedad and Theo ((who I keep thinking is a boy)) talk to Chris. They seemed to agree that Chris would make a strong leader. He nods to himself. Everyone seemed to like Chris as the leader, and she didn't mind leading, seemingly. Many of the others were either packing or talking to her. Leo, meanwhile walked over to Fay and said "Would you like some help with that?"

[kindtocrows]

Fay noticed a few people gathering nearby. It looked like everyone was planning to leave soon. She heard Leo's offer for help and responded, "Oh, sure. Not much to help with though, I'm almost done packing." She sighed, "I don't know about you, but I'm feeling incredibly nervous. Who knows what we will run into. I just hope we can keep everyone alive. I'm just glad there are two of us healers here, imagine how stressful it would be if there was only one."

[SirBlaziken]

"I'm not as nervous about it as I should probably be. Something just....feels right about this situation, like i've been preparing for it." he says, standing by as Fay finishes packing. "Just glad there's another cleric-type person, because if everyone gets injured, it would put a lot of strain on that one person. Of course, most injuries are avoided my common sense, it's nice to have someone else to help out." Leo holds his ax in one hand and offers Fay the other one.

[not chloe]

((If you spelt it Jaime then it would actually be the Spanish form of the name - pronounced "Hi-me" as in Jamie Algersuari - ex-F1 driver. Just saying))

"Oh sure, when I say 'let's go!' No one listens but as soon as someone else says it everyone jumps at the opportunity like no one ever suggested it before." Jamie moaned to exasperated sighs and tuts from Anna. She had greeted the other archer, Andy, with a smile as she'd been checking her - and Jamie's - packs. They'd been very similar and contained only stuff that appeared to be standard issue.
"So, have you ever shot an arrow before, because I sure haven't." She said, directing the question at Andy.

Seeing Anna wielding a huge bow and looking confused about it made Jamie feel suddenly protective over his sister. It was clear that she and Andy would have to be stationed a little further removed from the action than everyone else in order to have clear air from which to shoot, but what would happen if some enemy somehow managed to get close to them? He still didn't quite believe that death in this dream meant real death but, he reasoned, this wasn't like normal dreams and perhaps the reason for his warrior class being such an intimate class in terms of fighting was because he had to be there to protect Anna in case something did get too close for his sister to shoot at it. Perhaps for the first time, Jamie realised that the sibling bond truly meant having each other's backs, not just Anna having his back like all the times she spent a night in jail, covering for him. Jamie sighed inwardly and put his arm around Anna.

((That was way deeper than I meant it to be lol idk))

[kindtocrows]

"Yeah," Fay responded, "I'm pretty sure I'd just freak out under the pressure if I were alone." She took his hand and pulled herself up. Letting go, she swung her bag comfortably over her shoulder. "It looks like just about everyone's ready to go. So, what do you think, should the two of us stick together while we travel, or split up to make sure at least one of us is close to everyone incase something happens?"

[SirBlaziken]

Leo stands there, a bit surprised she took his hand, but shakes it off quickly. "Honestly, I don't know. If we stay together, i'll reduce the risk we get injured, but if we split up, we cover more ground. I'll be towards to front to middle because I happen to know a lot about this stuff and will be giving advice to our widely accepted leader. If you want to join me, feel free to." he says, looking out into the flowers. The boy said, half to himself, "They are pretty, aren't they?"

[OpalRhea]

With Leo and Moceda's reassurances, Chris felt a lot better about the decision she'd made. When Theo suggested that a proper leader shouldn't be chosen at this point, she nodded agreement.
"I'm happy to take point, being the one with a shield, but we're a group of complete strangers. You're probably right that we shouldn't trust just one person for the nine of us." She acknowledged thoughtfully.

At Anna's question,  Andy nodded slightly. "Yeah. My dad has a property in the mountains. He taught me how to shoot a bow. He never really held with guns. Always said that anything you're hunting should have a chance to avoid getting hit. I've got a thing of notes if you want to read over them? They might be more help to you."

[The Macintosh Ninja: SOH CAH TOA]

"How urgent is this quest exactly? How long will we be out there? Are we gonna need food and water? Other supplies? Hey, I wonder if we can get wooden versions of our weapons to practice with. Some sparring might help us learn our weapons better and feel more comfortable with each other. What was the name fo–Blood Brothers? Some trope."

"Does anyone know...when we have to go? You'd think we'd have more training. Or at least a chance to practice our weapons." Mocedad said. He slightly regretted saying this aloud, fearing it'd make him look cynical of the whole matter. Or eager to fight. "My boss didn't say–she only said it was an urgent quest. But if this is anything like a video game we have as much time as we need to grind." he added. He chuckled slightly, though his expression was more of a "eh? maybe?".

[SirBlaziken]

Leo snaps out of his little trance from the flowers to respond to Mocedad, "I would think they would at least give us that luxury, but from the looks of it, it's going to be trial and error with melee weaponists. Andy, Anna, Theo and..." He trails off as he takes a moment to remember the last name. "Mira have the chance to practice. The rest of us, well, let's just hope we learn quickly."

[OpalRhea]

"Well.. it might be possible to make practice weapons if we can find some decently long pieces of wood. I don't know how to imitate an axe with that method though..." Chris suggested mildly, looking briefly at the weapons she could see, and trying to guess their respective lengths

[SirBlaziken]

"I suppose you're right." Leo responds, but he suddenly gets an idea. "Well, if we can find some smaller sticks as well as some twine or rope or something, that could work out. Sadly, I don't have either."

[kindtocrows]

"Well, if anyone gets hurt, I guess it will give me a chance to practice healing," Fay pointed out, "though I don't suggest purposely hurting anyone."

Mira decided to speak up, "If the melee types are going to be training, maybe us long-range fighters should do some target practice?" she suggested.

[SirBlaziken]

"Honestly, that's a great idea and all, however, I think we should do that once we make camp for the night. We should probably get going." Leo says. He was itching to leave the garden so they could go home. "I mean we could stay here but we may want to start while we still have daylight."