R U [ I ] N E D

Throw Me to the Wolves

The Crue brothers didn't waste a moment in making their way to the other room. They made haste in regrouping the others, aside from Callan having to wrestle Sachi the rest of the way out of bed. He considered carrying the boy piggyback, but eventually he chose to move of his own accord instead, on his own two feet. Across the hall, the door was left cracked open, so the two were able to go in freely. The others were busy making sure they had all their supplies together, but once Callan and Sachi arrived, those endeavors lulled and focus shifted to the new arrivals. "Are we almost ready to go?" Callan asked. The room seemed relatively empty, not that their group had brought much to begin with.

"Nearly," Soleil said, before shoving a neatly folded bundle of clothing into Cal's arms.

"What's this?" He noticed then ghat she, Brady, and Erzia had all donned fresh garments.

"When we were coming to the inn last night, we bought some clean clothes from a vendor. We thought it might be nice not to as noticeably dirty and travel-worn," she explained.

Brady nodded, standing at Sol's side. "It was all her idea. Don't let her try to convince you otherwise."

"For you and Sachi both," she assured with them warmest of smiles.

Callan unfolded each piece carefully, passing the smaller set off to Sachi. "Thank you. It's much appreciated."

"Of course." Sol beamed.

It was odd, however, that unlike the others, Phoena still wore the same light armor she'd started off their journey with. Cal doubted Soleil would have been so callous as to exclude the blonde. Despite the tension between the two in the beginning, they seemed to have come to an understanding with one another, harboring no ill will. So, what was the reason?

Erzia found it an absurd choice as well, but unlike Callan she wasn't going to sit quietly and wonder. She'd make herself heard. "I still think you should swap out the solider get up for what Sol brought you." Her thoughts weren't a matter of polite courtesy for the sorceress having bought them— as she heard, Brady and Phoe had pitched it for them as well— but rather, of strategy. The telepath expected Phoena to protest, and she did.

"I'm more than comfortable like this..."

Erzia shook her head. "That's not the problem here. Common clothes don't draw much attention, but even your casual armor is conspicuous. The more people who take notice of us— and we're already plenty unmistakable as is given current events— the more likely it is that trouble will find us. I think we can all agree that's the last thing we need right now."

Trouble would find them one way or another. It was just a matter of time, but there was no point in them making its job easy...

Phoena swallowed roughly, that visible distress painting her face as she rubbed her forearm. Her hand running down the sleeve, she tugged at the end of it, the fabric unmistakably that of the Acadamy's training gear, the same gear used by the army corps themselves. "It's just that—"

The Academy was all she knew. Being a warrior was all she knew. She didn't know how to part with it. The very idea was like casting aside a crucial piece of herself, of her identity. There was a sense of security in its familiar touch that she wasn't sure she wanted to be without...

"If she wants to keep the armor—" Callan started, but Phoena stopped him.

Erzia was right. Comfort wasn't always a given, especially not for a Runeholder, and she needed to come to terms with that sooner than later. She was meant to be Bravery incarnate, after all. The least she could do was take this baby step for the sake of her comrades.