No One Man Should Have All That Power

[Miranda Weaver]

All Miranda had said that morning when she'd grabbed her sword and run out of the hideout was "Convergence." She'd winged her way towards the eastern end of the ruins, landing hard somewhere in the Bexley borough. She'd immediately found a patch of ground, scratching furiously in the dirt, trying to build a ward. She managed to get the words out, power suffusing the pattern.

The air bulged and shimmered. The ward on the ground sparked and hissed and Miranda knew it wasn't going to hold this time. With a shower of sparks, the power in the ward died and a raiding party of elves tumbled through, coming up ready and looking for a fight. Miranda was there to oblige them. The fight was both brutal and elegant, matching blades and dodges. Miranda was holding her own until the arrow pinned her left wing to her left shoulder. She'd felt it coming, knew it was going to happen, but there'd been no way to avoid it that didn't end in a worse injury. She fought on, but her strength was failing now, seeping out with the blood that was staining her feathers. A heavy overhand blow drove her to her knees and she waited for the end to come, the end she clearly saw. Her head swam as her life flashed before her eyes, a series of regrets and missteps that she'd been trying to atone for for years.

The blow never fell, but MIranda was too dazed to notice. As one, the remaining elves dropped to their knees, clutching their heads with cries of pain. They all developed nose bleeds and finally collapsed to the ground, quite dead. Miranda sagged to the ground as well, fighting passing out. Through her clouded vision, she noted a hooded young woman step out of the surrounding foliage, one hand extended. She was speaking to Miranda, but her words didn't really register in Miranda's brain.

"You would try to die on me," Wanderer said. "I'm sure I'll live to regret this, but I still need you, girl. You will get in my way eventually and then I won't be your guardian angel, but for today I'll fill that role." She picked Miranda up, holding Miranda in her arms. She took a step forward and they both vanished.

****

Outside the hideout, there was a loud, piercing whistle. Jen and Vertie might sense a psychic presence that was unfamiliar to them though the presence promptly vanished. Whoever responded would find the injured and unconscious Miranda, the elven arrow still pinning her wing to her shoulder. No one else was in evidence.

[Jennifer Newgate]

"What the hell happened!?" Jennifer bursts out when she steps outside and notices Miranda's crumpled form on the ground. She briefly glances around to see if she can catch a glimpse of whatever that other presence was as she runs over to Miranda.

[Miranda Weaver]

The other presence, and Miranda herself, are coated in some sort of Astral residue. Miranda stirred and groaned, "Elves."

[Jennifer Newgate]

Astral shenanigans aren't exactly Jennifer's strong suit, so she doesn't really notice. Especially with her friend injured. "That looks nasty. Can you move?"

[Miranda Weaver]

"Not even sure how I got here," she croaks. "Last I remember I was in Bexley."

[Jennifer Newgate]

"You certainly didn't fly." she jokes dryly. "Come on, let me help you inside so we can get that cleaned up."

[Miranda Weaver]

"Goddess damn it, I must have dropped my sword," she said, feeling feebly at her waist, but allowing Jennifer to help her up.

[Jennifer Newgate]

"We'll go and get it some other time. Possibly when you're less of a pin-cushion." she says as she moves her shoulder under Miranda's good arm and helps her move inside.

[Miranda Weaver]

"No choice," she said. "It was pin-cushion or being less an arm."

[Jennifer Newgate]

"Good call then." she says, sweeping a table free of clutter with one arm before helping Miranda onto it. "Hang on, I'll go get a first aid kit."

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda dropped onto the table, resting on her good shoulder. "It's weird. I was sure I was going to die. I actually saw it."

[Jennifer Newgate]

"You better not gonna try to find a reason why that's bad somehow." she says as she returns with the kit and a knife to cut away some of the fabric around the arrow. "I think it missed the bones in your shoulder. Hang on." she finds some small hedge trimmers and carefully clips the end of the arrow and the middle between shoulder and wind. "This is gonna hurt." she warns her needlessly and carefully moves the remaining shaft testingly before quickly pulling it out when she's satisfied it didn't get lodged anywhere.

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda's fingernails dig into her palm, "Yeah, that hurt. And I'm not looking for reasons it's bad. It's just... confusing. I think I'd have a headache if my shoulder and wing weren't hurting so damn much."

[Jennifer Newgate]

"If it gets too bad let me know. We have a few painkillers left." she says as she disinfects the wound and bandages it up on both sides.

[Miranda Weaver]

"Yeah, one of those would probably not be a bad idea. I wouldn't want to set Theresa off if I accidentally broadcast."

[Brigid Plunder]

Brigid returns from her bathing. As she spots Jen and Miranda she picks up the pace, a frown on her face.

"Who did this?"

[Miranda Weaver]

"Elves, the Norse variation," Miranda says. "They weren't particularly happy that I didn't want them here."

[Jennifer Newgate]

Jennifer frowns and draws up a small shot of local anesthetic to inject into Miranda's shoulder, followed by one into her wing.

[Brigid Plunder]

"They're going to be dead elves. I'll get Vertie."

[Miranda Weaver]

"If they're not already. Something had to run them off. Otherwise, I wouldn't still be here talking. Last I knew, I was out in Bexley about to have my skull split open."

[Jennifer Newgate]

"I thought I felt something outside. Someone brought you here and didn't want to be seen." she says as she tries to pull back feathers to get a look at where the arrow entered the wing.

[Brigid Plunder]

"There's someone going about who can hide herself."

[Miranda Weaver]

With the anesthetic in her wing, ruffling her feathers didn't seem to bother Miranda. The shot seemed clean and didn't seem to have clipped too close to the bone. "Hide herself? Hopefully it's not that Armament that Sundancer was going on about."

[Brigid Plunder]

"Calls herself Wanderer. Seems like she's been watching us."

[Miranda Weaver]

"As long as all she's doing is watching," Miranda said. "Where did you run into her?"

[Jennifer Newgate]

"And pulling people out of trouble, apparently." she says as she carefully pushes the arrow all the way through so she can pull it out safely.

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda winced, "That's possible I suppose. When did you see her, Brigid?"

[Brigid Plunder]

"Caught me while I was cleaning up. Gave me a tip about a dragon that's moving into the city."

[Miranda Weaver]

"Wonderful," she said. "Though if she was just with you not too long ago, she's not just capable of hiding herself."

[Brigid Plunder]

"I don't know the extent of what she can do. She just knows too much about too many people."

[Miranda Weaver]

"Definitely should keep an eye out for her then. I won't believe she's up to no good until given evidence, but doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. Especially if there's a dragon awake and moving into the city."