A singular peak oversaw the broadest forest on the continent. It pierced far into the sky, unimpeded by the clouds surrounding its base. From the top, you could look down and see a thousand miles in any direction, though none shared the view but the Dragon of Battle, who laid claim to all that the mountain oversaw.
The endless wilds covering Battle's domain were rarely disrupted, except by the occasional spot of civilization. Looking closer to the west, however, a long dirt road cut a wide swath through the woods. Viewed from above, it went on for miles, gently curving, as if some great leviathan had once slithered across the land and the forest remembered, still fearful to grow in its path.
However, one section of this path could not be seen from above, hidden as it was by a small patch of rainclouds. The odd stormfront moved straight along the path in defiance of the wind, leaving a lingering trail that fanned out toward the east, gradually dispersing as it dropped its payload below, or drifted off in pieces to join their brethren elsewhere in the sky.
Under this inclement weather walked three youths, somehow remaining dry amidst the rain. Even as they continued down the path, the apparent 'eye of the storm' followed them perfectly, having done so for the week-and-a-half they had journeyed thus far, except for times when they wished for some sun.
Kael kept the rain going so often because it was their warning system for the approach of any people - rare as that was out here - and as help for their hunts. He could often detect the animals that decided to brave the rain, or those that failed to take shelter quickly enough, and would direct Shaela and her bow toward them. She'd skin and gut them, while Gus would prepare their meals.
Regardless, they'd yet to actually see anyone else on their journey, civilization rather sparse around their home town.
The town - if it could be called that, with only a few dozen families - was small enough that it didn't even have a name until the children came together and decided to call it Woodpeak, after the largest structure there. Only two-and-a-half stories tall, but with a sharply pointed roof, the spacious hall served as a community center and meeting place, as well as a last bastion whenever the town came under attack.
Visitors rarely came by, and when they did, they were usually hostile. They would generally approach and issue a public challenge, demanding the town either present their goods or fight them. In response, everyone but their best fighters would simply pack themselves into the woodpeak, then emerge a few minutes later to find the troublemakers dealt with, usually by Aether and aunt Anna. Those two made sure everyone in town at least knew how to defend themselves, though it was rarely necessary, since Aether never lost - ever.
The occasional marauder might've tried picking off some farmers, or slinking around in the night, but Kael figured they were always stopped by Anna. Her facet allowed her to breathe wind into the shapes of animals, which could then move on their own for as long as she wanted, allowing her to leave an army of sentries around the hamlet. Kael knew they could last forever because he always asked to play with the same deer, and it would recognize him each time.
Her creatures acted as an early warning and prevented anyone from trying anything too nefarious with their home.
It seemed, however, that the peace they had enjoyed was about to change.
In a conversational tone, Kael casually began, "I'm so hungry... I feel like I could eat a half-dozen boars." He started subtly motioning his hands to point out six hiding places to his friends, all along the upcoming path, where he could detect the shapes of people crouched in the foliage, outlined in his sight by the raindrops that fell upon their shapes.
Gus snorted, but responds quietly. "A 'half-dozen boars,' really? You couldn't think of anything better?"
Kael defensively replied, "It's not like they can hear us through the rain anyway. I just figured we should try to be subtle about it, just in case."
Shae jumped into the discussion. "We'll work on code words later. Any closer and we'll be in the middle of them regardless."
Gus replied, "She's right." They slowed to a stop, with Gus taking position up front, Shaela to his left and a bit behind, and Kael furthest back, ready to provide covering fire and track everyone's position.
"Feel free to come on out, we know you're there!" Gus bellowed, his hands cupped around his mouth.
After a moment's pause, three of the unknowns emerged, all but one seemingly reluctant to do so. One of them seemed to have a large rug rolled up on their back, while the only female of the trio had a smaller device, likely a crossbow.
The lone confident man called out in response, waving as he walked to the center of the road ahead of the other two, "Hello there! Our positioning was just a bit of caution! Can't blame us, can you?"
Kael kept his focus on the three who had remained in hiding, allowing Gus to handle negotiations while Shaela eyed the opposing trio. "Looked more like an ambush to me." Gus rebutted with his arms crossed.
The likely bandit shrugged. "Fair enough. How'd you spot us, eh? That one of your facets?"
They remained silent, not looking to give anything away before a potential fight.
The leader tried again. "Maybe we've gotten off on the wrong foot. If you're that good at scouting, I'm sure we could find place for you all in the revolutionaries." He lowers his hands and adopts a relaxed posture. "Your packs look a little light. Low on food, maybe? Probably tough to find much in this rain. How about we get a meal in you, hmm? Hear us out, enjoy some hot chow, and if you still aren't interested, we can see you on your way, no fuss."
Unfortunately for the apparent leader, the others did not possess the same level of calm, remaining clearly tense as they shuffled in their spots to his sides, the rug-wearing one shooting a questioning look at that final statement.
Gus replied, "And if we say we'd like to be on our way right now?" The three still in hiding shuffled at that, one of them clearly picking up a weapon, which Kael took note of.
The leader, seeing which way the wind was blowing, finally sighed. "Then I'd ask you to drop your packs and turn out your pockets, and we'll let you go."
Gus briefly glanced to Shaela, who shook her head slightly, while Kael tapped a simple code on their backs with his fingers, coordinating who would target whom and reminding them of the three still in the brush.
After a moment of faux deliberation, Gus replied with finality: "No deal." His arm cut through the air, and the rain followed, now coming down in sheets, severely limiting visibility, while Shaela's bow popped into her hands from nowhere, already strung, and firing an instant later - the path to her target having been left clear of any droplets.
"Tch! The rain!" the leader called out, the bandit to his right looked up and flicked open the rug, which expanded above their heads to shield them.
That bandit dropped as their torso was struck by the arrow, the rug collapsing once again, while the two bandits who had been hiding on that side of the road emerged to replace him, one charging Shaela with a sword while the other sprung up with a bow of their own. Shaela began strafing and put away her bow, not wanting to hold onto her bow for too long in the heavy rain, as Gus advanced on the two bandits who had started in the open, his skin taking on the texture of tree bark.
Meanwhile, Kael had hopped backwards in concentration, focusing on accelerating a single droplet to near-lethal levels, and sending it plunging on the lone bandit who had hidden to their right - it cracked their skull before they could emerge fully, knocking them out of the fight.
The other bandit standing with the leader pulled out her own crossbow from behind her back, unloading at the approaching Gus, who crossed his forearms in front of his face as he hunched to reduce his profile, accelerating into a jog. Her crossbow seemed to operate itself, cranking back on its own and ready to fire by the time she pulled out the next quarrel, allowing her to get several shots off, though none of them penetrated further than skin-deep into Gus' enhanced physiology.
The sword wielder finally closed the distance with Shaela, having been sprinting the whole way, and swung his blade down in an arc. A second blade phased into existence just behind his swing, delayed by a split-second. Shaela merely swung her own hand into the side of the blade - and the sword vanished. An instant later it reappered in her other hand, already poised to thrust into the bandit's chest, which she immediately did, while the phantom swing dissipated harmlessly, never having reached her.
The enemy archer had decided to Kael, not wanting to hit their comrade as they closed with Shaela, but Kael had remained in motion throughout the fight; his movement and the heavy rain resulting in several whiffs from the archer before they gave up, instead making their way to the leader's side at a clipped pace.
While the crossbow-woman's initial bolts had failed to slow Gus overly much, that changed when the leader began briefly gripping each bolt-head before she fired. When the first of those bolts barely missed, but exploded violently in the mud, Gus began taking more extreme evasive maneuvers, and called out "Kael!"
Kael began dumping water on the crossbow-woman's head, intensifying the rain all around the bandits in the process. However, as he did, the duo had already begun moving to join the archer, meeting them shortly after, and adding a second source of explosive projectiles for the teenagers to avoid as the bowman set up on the leader's other side.
Then, the leader began slinging mud - literally. The dirt didn't go far in the rain, but it didn't have to, when the clustered explosions prevented Gus from getting any closer.
The leader began speaking again, shouting to be heard over the downpour, and pausing whenever an explosive would go off. "It's not too late to surrender, you know! We appreciate talent in our group; it's a shame what happened to Ash and Stanley, and given Lou hasn't joined us yet, I'm not optimistic about his chances either, but all of that can be forgiven! Stop the rain and I'll take it as a sign of your surrender!"
Seeing Gus still under fire, Shaela merely crouched and pulled out her bow again, prepared to end the fight quickly. Gus was struggling to find his footing, the ground having become rather loose at this point, between the heavy rain and explosions. He had taken a few knocks but was still holding up so far.
Kael didn't let up, preparing to snipe the three the same way he did the now-named Lou, but requiring some time to prepare the drops while maintaining the deluge of water hampering their shots.
"Fine then! Don't say I didn't warn you!" The leader reached into his pockets, then flung another cluster - this one flying much further than before, and this time in Shaela's direction. Pebbles - Kael could tell by how they hit the rain - formed an unavoidable scattershot, forcing Shaela to store away her bow as she charged forward, swiping her hands ahead of her and vanishing at least a few of the projectiles before the remainder went off around her, breaking bones, at the least, as she fell to the ground, concussed and potentially unconscious.
Momentarily hating himself for allowing that to happen, Kael realized he should've just taken out the leader to begin with, instead of dividing his attention. He abandoned all his other efforts to concentrate on the single drop, momentarily allowing the rain to lighten as he brought up a hand, his index pointed straight down, and thrust his whole hand downward. A needle of water rocketed from the sky, piercing straight through the leader's clavicle, and hopefully shredding several organs.
The leader collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, while Gus charged the remaining two. The crossbow-woman cried out in anguish at his apparent death as she began firing at Kael, while the bowman decided to cut his losses and ran off into the woods.
Deciding to prioritize the threat this time, Kael resumed pouring water on the woman's head, and began swiping his hands through the air, sending batches of droplets from various angles, the groupings altogether holding the approximate force of a punch, successfully disrupting any further shots with their impact as Gus finally closed in and clocked her in the jaw - likely shattering it with his wood-encased fist - then splintering her crossbow with a stomp.
Kael began looking for the fleeing bandit again, but noticed his body lying amongst the trees, unmoving. How did that happen?
"Well, that was rather disappointing." A new voice drawled. Kael tensed, preparing for another fight. A lanky man sauntered out of the foliage, along with a blonde child - one perhaps just a few years younger than Kael.
The most concerning part of the situation was that he hadn't detected either of them until they chose to reveal themselves, walking out into the rain where he could see them, when he should be able to at least vaguely feel anything the rain touched, out to nearly a quarter-mile in each direction. Had they avoided every drop? How far did they travel since the start of the fight? Were they there the whole time, just watching?
Not wanting to get back into a fight so soon, especially while Gus was still reeling from the previous fight and Shaela was out of commission, Kael decided to stall for time. "Were you expecting more from common bandits?"
The man gave a little shrug as he scratched his cheek. "Eh, one or two of them might've been able to impress me if they'd shown some more initiative. But no." He sighed, then flung his hand out toward Kael, making him tense again. "I meant you, actually. A facet that versatile, why, I'd almost believe you were an Aspect."
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Kael stilled at that, before forcefully relaxing, quickly enough that he hoped they hadn't noticed- "Oh?" The man sounded more amused now, if that was even possible. "Truly? An especially good find, then. And exceptionally disappointing as well." He clicked his tongue, then began counting off his fingers, seemingly prepared to lecture. The boy at his side just continued to stare at Kael, not paying much mind to Gus, who had begun moving to recover Shaela.
The man continued, "Why give away your control over the rain at all? You practically broadcast your aspect as your opening move, when the weather could've just as easily intensified 'naturally.' With the reduced visibility, you'd have been able to silently pick them off one by one with those sharpened raindrops of yours, without ever moving from your spot on the road or pausing the conversation. Instead you engaged in a hit-and-run with unknown facets, drew out the fight, and even took an unnecessary injury." He tilted his head toward Shaela's unconscious form, now being carried by Gus.
"And while your rain seems to provide you with some degree of wide-ranging awareness, it's clearly not infallible, given how I had to announce myself and Claude's presence." Kael's lips thinned at the repeated critiques; pointed as they were, he couldn't deny them.
"Oh!" He snapped, causing Kael to tense again. "I've forgotten to give you my name, yes? How rude of me" He smirked and gave an overly dramatic bow, though with how strange he was, perhaps that was normal for him. "Alexander, at your service. I also answer to Alex or Lex, but not Lexi."
Gus, still off balance at Shaela's current state, and seeing Alexander's continued interest in Kael, left the conversation to him to handle. Kael kept it going, fishing for information with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. "Kael. Charmed. What's your facet then, if you're so gung-ho about providing unsolicited advice to children you encounter on the road."
He smirked. "Nothing so impressive as an Aspect, I'm afraid. A rather minor facet of teaching, focused on improvement. I call it Guided Learning."
"And you use it to aid common bandits? Couldn't you, I dunno, become a bigshot teacher at the Spire or something?" Claude's eyebrows scrunched in the background, upset at the disdain being shown to his teacher.
"Well, to be fair, what we're doing here is in service of a higher cause." His grin became slightly sardonic. "We are with the revolution, you know. Though I'm sure you've realized we weren't with these pretenders here." He lightly kicked the leader's corpse at his feet. "Especially considering you should've noticed the corpse we left back that-a-way." He waves behind him, toward the unmoving form of the bandit who had tried to flee.
"And, to answer your second question, I'm here because sometimes, in this big dump that the Aspect of Battle leaves running, you find a true diamond in the rough, like Claude here." He mussed Claude's hair, though Claude's eyes never left Kael. "Or..." Alex drew out the 'r' as he turned back to Kael and smiled brightly as he pointed "...like you." Claude frowned at that.
Kael didn't like where this conversation was heading, hoping to disengage now and get Shaela some medical attention. "I'm not sure I'm all that interested in whatever you're offering, sorry."
Alexander's eyes closed as his smile grew even more. "Don't you worry!" His finger thrust into the air. "Your consent is not required at this stage."
Kael's expression darkened, and the rain intensified once again. Gus deposited Shaela behind a tree to the side of the road, hopefully out of range of the fight that was about to take place.
Alex looked up, shielding his eyes. "The Aspect of Rain, hmm?" Then he turned to Claude. "Think you can take him?" Claude gave a decisive nod and brought his hands together, scrunching his face in concentration.
Kael immediately felt something odd in the clouds above him, as if his control over a section of the weather was... weakening? A similar feeling appeared in all of the rain directly above him, forming a line almost straight down to where he stood. He decided he didn't want to be anywhere near that, and flung himself back to make some distance, just in time for the world to explode in his face.
Everything was white, his eyes burned, his ears felt like they had shaken apart, and he wanted to vomit.
He felt both drunk and hungover simultaneously, having tried alcohol once before, when Gus managed to sneak some for the three of them. As it did during his hangover, though, the rain felt immensely refreshing on his skin, and perhaps the damage wasn't as bad as he thought, because his eyes and ears recovered over the next few moments, in the midst of his stumbling.
" -eed to speed that up." He thought he recognized Alex's voice.
Claude grit his teeth in the distance as his brows scrunched further. "I know."
Somehow, the noise didn't seem to have affected those two, though Gus had a hand to his head, having staggered from the noise as well, despite his barkskin having activated once again.
"And you!" Alexander called out to Kael, shouting over the ringing in Kael's ears. "Try not to be so predictable. You've opened with a backwards hop both times now." At that moment Kael finally noticed another pillar forming above him, likely preceding another strike. He juked left, sprinting toward the trees, forced to zigzag as he detected more pillars of weaker control along his path.
As he ran, Kael began pelting the area around them with harsher rain, hoping to accomplish something, but unable to focus for long enough to prepare anything more lethal, or precise. Meanwhile, Gus seemed to have engaged Alex in a melee, if missing every strike in his dogged pursuit counted as melee. Alexander didn't seem to be expending much effort in avoiding his blows, though he was speaking to Gus, hopefully offering something instructive rather than taunting.
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"Come on now! This is pathetic! Have you never been in a fight before?" Alex continued casually stepping away from every strike Gus sent forth, barely looking ruffled even through the rain.
Gus heaved for breath, exhausted running through this mud. "Oh, go shag a dragon, you prick."
Alexander stopped to chuckle. "Pffft. Where'd you hear that one?"
"I dunno, why don't you ask your mom?" His banter had lost some of its wit in his exhaustion.
Alex clicked his tongue. "Tsk, quite the tongue on you, eh? But really, was this your first time in a lethal fight?" He spread his arms. "Ever killed before?"
Gus exhaled sharply through his nose as he paused. "Never had to. Our teachers didn't lose."
"Hoh! Rather impressive teachers then. They still at home? Would you mind sharing directions? Maybe the place's name?"
"Hells no. Not with you." He spat.
Alexander's smile never seemed to dampen. "Then maybe you'd tell Claude there?" He pointed to the ongoing battle between Kael and the boy. "He's been dying to rest his feet for ages, you see. Been running him ragged with our antics, I'm afraid the poor boy's feet will give out."
Gus merely returned a deadpan look, preparing to resume his pursuit.
Alex clicked his tongue once again. "Well, have at it then."
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As his senses - and ability to focus - recovered, Kael began his counterattack, flinging droplets directly from his hands to his opponent now that there was no one friendly in the line of fire. He wasn't very practiced with the technique, and it couldn't achieve the same force as a falling droplet, but would hopefully be sufficient to disrupt Claude's incessant lightning bolts.
Both combatants remained on the move, though the frequency of Claude's bolts had dropped sharply - whether out of exhaustion or due to Kael's interference, he didn't know. As they continued. Kael began preparing another needle drop to end things decisively, not wanting to waste more time when Shaela was still heavily injured and Gus was busy struggling in his own battle.
As he ran, Kael suddenly felt something small flying through the rain, his attention caught by a glint rapidly arcing down toward him. He skid to a stop, forced to jerk his head back to avoid the knife which just flew through the spot where his head would've been. Before he had a moment to process the new variable, he had to launch himself to the side in a roll to avoid the next blast.
He looked to where the knife came from, seeing Alexander now juggling several knives one-handed as he sauntered over. With his other hand he wiggled his fingers in a wave. "It didn't seem like you were trying hard enough! Keep going." He twirled his finger in a roll, before palming another knife. Gus was leaned against a tree behind him, still breathing but not in any state to fight. His bark skin looked splotchy, mottled with bruises and dents. He was unable to maintain it any longer, parts of it having reverted to base skin.
Claude stopped moving at Alex's re-entry to the fight, upset at his interference. "I don't need any help! I can do this!"
While he was distracted, Kael brought a drop to near-lethal speeds, sending it at the back of Claude's head. It might've been a direct hit, but Alex had somehow already thrown a knife to deflect it, turning it into a glancing blow that merely shifted one of Claude's shoulders, spooking him.
"Oh come on..." Kael complained.
Then Alex called out to Claude "Pay attention! Your own life is more important than your opponent's. Your first priority should be survival, and that means situational awareness. That goes for both of you, obviously."
They resumed their dance, though they were both flagging by this point, the fighting having dragged on for too long.
Not that Alex seemed to mind. "And I shouldn't have to tell you to lead your targets! Both of you!" He continued to unload critiques as if it were normal, when they were both fighting for their lives.
Eventually growing tired of this, Claude suddenly stopped running, taking a low stance for stability as he separated his hands, extending his arms out to the sides, as if exulting in the rain - but his face maintained the same concentrated frown.
Alexander saw what Claude was doing and clicked his tongue again, then stuck his fingers in his ears in preparation, as he backpedaled far faster than he shown himself capable of moving before this.
Kael launched several piercing drops - from several angles - toward Claude's stationary form. They weren't forceful enough to kill, but should be plenty enough to incapacitate. But seeing Alexander fleeing at Claude's actions, Kael began doing the same, becoming fairly concerned as he moved his hands toward his own ears.
Before the drops could fully close in - Claude clapped.
Noise ceased to exist. The blast was pure force at that point, cascading outward and scattering the rain. The closest trees barely remained standing, losing most of their branches while the rest of the nearby forest grew bare. Gus was knocked over, though Shaela should have been far enough to hopefully only suffer some hearing damage.
Kael had covered his ears and luckily left his mouth open, allowing the shockwave to pass through him without inflicting entirely catastrophic damage. The rain finally resumed a moment later, passing its rejuvenating effect unto Kael once more.
Alexander suddenly appeared in the center of the now-widened clearing, looking back and forth between the recovering boys: Kael rising to a crouch; Claude somewhat wobbly but still standing.
He began, "Well, while that was quite riveting-"
*ROOOOOAAAAGH*
For the first time since Kael had seen him, Alexander lost his amused look, turning to grab Claude and flee, but before he could, something broke through the clouds. Kael hadn't detected it from up there; another weakness of his rain he hadn't considered.
Not a full dragon - merely a wyvern - the red-scaled beast crashed into the clearing, settling down with minimal aggression, it merely bared its teeth at Alexander.
A rider hopped down from its back, surprising both boys, though Alexander merely seemed resigned, before pasting a cocky smirk onto his face again. "A Centurion? It's an honor. What can we do for such an august personage?"
"Oh, I'm sure there's quite a bit." The centurion stood up to their full height, displaying a set of ornate crimson plate - sans the helmet, which they held under an arm, revealing a clean-shaven face with intense violet eyes. He looked around and whistled, before homing in on Claude, who was struggling to put on a brave front.
"That was a nice attack, eh? Though looking at you now, I reckon you don't have another one in ya. That your teacher, there?" He tilted his head toward Alexander, who still held his smile, though it looked a tad forced. Was he nervous?
Claude nodded slowly, before the centurion continued, patting the wyvern's head as he spoke, "My buddy and I heard the clamorin' from leagues away; had to come take a looksie. Figure out what was goin' on. You know how it is." He was looking at Alexander now.
Alexander kept his smile as he nodded. "I'm sure I do."
"Now, having taken a look, I'm thinking this sort of stinks, don't it?" He motioned with his hand as he continued. "I see some injured kids, some dead scum smeared across the dirt; I figure the kiddies had a good old triumph, didn't they? A bit pyrrhic, but that's how all the best ones are. Then you come along, with your own lad, and it don't look like you gave them much of a choice whether to have another go." He shook his head. "Not very sporting of you, I say."
Alexander leaned his head to the side, nodding along as he listened. "Fair... Fair." He raised a finger in objection. "But! I'll have you know, I am a teacher. And I'll tell you the same thing I told young Kael here..." He motioned to the boy in question. "Sometimes, you see a diamond in the rough - in this pile of shit Battle calls a domain," the centurion and Alex shared a smirk at that, "and you just can't help but want to give it a good polish, even if you have to get a little rough." He brought his hands together, as if scrubbing one with the other. "You know what I mean, I'm sure."
The armored man looked considering, nodding very slowly to himself. His wyvern was busy eyeing the bandit corpses, as if it wanted a snack.
Kael had gone his entire life without seeing a centurion, though he had heard the stories. The pinnacle of what a warrior could be, they'd been acknowledged by Battle himself for their valor, and for their prowess in combat. Peacekeepers and enforcers of Battle's will, there were only about a hundred scattered across his territory, hence their name.
Were they all like this? Kael wondered.
The man finally replied. "You know, you raise a good point," Kael got a sinking feeling in his gut, "but I'm here anyway, and the way you went about this kind of pisses me off." The centurion walked back to his wyvern companion, and reached into a satchel hung from the saddle strapped to its back. He pulled out a vial and tossed it to Kael, who by this point was standing once again, and had caught most of the conversation.
"Give this to your friend over there," He nodded to Shaela's spot, then continued, "Then it's up to you whether you bring your friends out of here or hang around while I beat this one..." he thrust his hand in Alexander's direction - Alex merely brought a hand to his chest, as if to say 'Who, me?' - and finished, "...black and blue."
Taking the invitation for what it was, Kael jogged over to Shaela and fed her part of the potion now, planning to give her the rest later, once they were far away from these maniacs.
Alex began rolling up his sleeves. "Well, this'll certainly be an educational experience." He then called out, "You'd best head out while you can, or you might end up becoming a participant regardless of your enthusiasm." He blinked. "...again, I suppose."
Kael's eyes rolled to the back of his skull as he scooped Shaela up onto his back, turning to Gus' position so they could continue west.
While he eyed the wyvern warily, Alex continued: "And Claude, why don't you pick up the other one, go with them for a bit, and play nice, alright? I'll catch up with you later."
Nobody looked enthusiastic at that - except the centurion and Alex, who were too focused on each other at this point to bother with the kids. Gus initially refused help, but stumbled when he tried to walk, causing Claude to click his tongue and swing Gus' arm over his shoulder.
Claude and Kael left the area, carrying Gus and Shaela, while Alexander turned back to the centurion, amused once again as he flicked his knives across his knuckles, blowing out a breath and shaking his head. "Well, you know what they say..."
He gave a carefree shrug as he closed in. "'When it rains...'"