[IRP] Beginnings of Change

[Swift_Assassin]

"Stand back!"

A faint sound reached Shad's ears. It sounded like Paige. He tried turning over, but caught on something. A shock of pain burst out of his right shoulder as the bolt moved around. He then turned the other way and climbed onto the crossbowman under him. He began hearing a ringing in his ears as he moved around. He managed to withdraw his legs to try to support his weight as he took in the surrounding area. His eyes began playing tricks on him. They were in a marketplace all of a sudden. He looked around some more and recognized it as being the Ostian shopping district. He looked at his side and saw an axe head sticking out of his side. Huh. That's what caused the scar. He looked behind him and saw a young girl with red hair crying. He smiled and handed her his signet ring. "Don't cry. Nothing bad will happen to you if you wear that ring. Go on now." Shad said to the girl, completely out of it mentally.

Anyone who was watching would have seen Alice attempting to help Shad, having been watching since contacting Yuri. As he turned away from her, she slipped the ring back into his shirt. She just retreated a bit, holding back tears. What Shad had said to her in that moment, she had heard once before. It almost upset her to hear that again, but she retreated. If he was indeed the one to say that to her the first time, he didn't need her help.

Shad got back up and staggered over to his sword. He picked it up off the ground and staggered back a few more feet. He slapped himself with his left hand and the battlefield had switched from the market back to their escape. It was then he saw monk get stabbed by someone. He then charged at the guy, barely able to run in a straight line. He gathered enough focus to fire off a gust from the wind enchantment, disrupting the guy's casting. Feeling his grip was weak, he positioned his sword as if he was a lancer and dove right into the mans stomach, schiavona piercing him as Shad dragged them both to the ground.

It was at this moment that Cass had rejoined the group to find Shad bleeding from several wounds collapsed on a soldier. She turned her head to the monk not too far from her and ran over to check on him instead. Near death situations were almost routine with the Hyperions, so she opted to focus on the more fragile monk. "What is their name?" She asked coldly. She shook the monk a bit to keep him with her. "We need their name. A name."