Ajax, Shaula, and their gang have been busy. As the march reaches sunset and more people enter the square, they've split up to take care of their own tasks. Dzan and Sigvor have been lifting coin pouches from the human supremacists walking through the area. This is less about helping the protesters and more about them having stumbled upon a good feeding ground.
Cel and Sito have been tending to any injured who are affected by the brawling that takes place nearby. Fights seem to occur every three or four minutes. Sito tags along to protect Cel as he does what he can to help any injured. It's impossible to deal with everything, but healing up injuries in the aftermath is manageable for them.
Prisca is doing her own healing work while Ajax accompanies her. She was annoyed at first, but Cel and Sito insisted on someone accompanying her as protection. Their other friends attending the festival were stretched thin and doing their own important healing (and preaching) work.
The three of them still didn't trust Ajax completely, but he and Shaula have proved themselves when they jumped into the fray and helped protect protesters from that pain spray. When helping Prisca, he only has to step in when the time is right and keep a distance otherwise to not get in her way.
Inevitably, Prisca noticed how his (mostly) subtle intervention makes her work easier. He and Shaula were aware that she didn't want too much attention on her because she was an associate of the old draconid man.
All they had to do was protect her well being, and he was happy for the opportunity to help out in a way that didn't involve hurting others when it wasn't needed. If he had to pick between being a commando, soldier or warrior, or being a firefighter or paramedic, he would pick the latter.
However, Shaula was happy to protect people by hurting others. She and Angelidis have been walking around the protest helping shield demihuman protesters from some of the more confrontational humans.
"Do you really think you should be doing this right now?" Shaula asks, exasperated.
"He hit me in the face! I was just talking to him and he punched me!" A tall, young human, appearing to be in his mid-twenties, argues, blocking up his bleeding nose with a handkerchief. There are three men to his side who are trying to close in on a short, stout demihuman man who appears to be in his late thirties.
"H-He pushed me down to the ground! What, was I just supposed to take that? All I fucking did was tell him how much the 33rd divinity sucks!" Although he speaks that last sentence unwaveringly, his body language indicates to Shaula that he is truly afraid. The demihumans nearby assume that he is telling the truth and make their voices heard, shouting in agreement with the man.
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However, there are plenty of humans nearby as well, who simply watch the scene carefully. Their presence alone makes the four young men feel secure enough to act. One of the bloody nosed man’s three friends approaches the demihuman as he speaks, his voice laced with indignance.
“You’d really badmouth the hero venerated by God Himself? Do you want me to call the guards over, you fucking apostate?”
“T-That’s not illegal! I wasn’t blaspheming God! I don’t believe the church of that era was speaking for God. I don’t know if God has ever given His true word during the time that slavery was legal!” The demihumans watching in the surrounding crowd shout in affirmation of what the beastkin man had said. However, the sounds of booing from the humans overpowers the cheers.
The beastkin man starts to get nervous hearing it, he covers his ears at the loudness of the audience. Shaula can hear his heartbeat increasing a lot.
“I-I only said that–”
"I didn’t even push him down, he's lying! The three of my friends were right here, he just sucker-punched me out of nowhere!" The bloody nosed man shouts in anger, interrupting the demihuman man. "I think he stole my coins too…"
Shaula notices a slight twitch of the right corner of his lips. He seems to be holding back a smile. She carefully pays attention to his three friends as well. The way they speak, it feels angry with little of their bloody nosed friend’s malicious intent. Obviously, the beastkin man did strike him, and his friends at least believe he was hit out of nowhere.
Shaula still stops the three of the man’s friends from moving any closer to the beastkin man by standing between the three of them and him.
"...What do you think you're doing?"
"Why the fuck are you getting involved–"
The three men stop speaking after noticing something. For a fraction of a second, Shaula's face shimmers and distorts slightly. They wonder if they imagined it. However, they feel the air in front of their faces get warmer.
It looked to the three of them that a heat mirage materialized out of nowhere. No one in the surrounding crowd noticed this however, only the three right in front of her face.
Just a simple way she had devised to get them to stop speaking and listen. Shaula smiles with a warm look on her face. If only she could get back home with the power she has at her disposal right now. She could actually change her world, do what needs to be done…
Shaula doesn’t believe in a lot, but she does believe that incredible power, as well as the will to use that power to bring change through violence, can move the world forward. Whether for the better or worse is only up to those who lead that will and power.
The three men approaching her back away just slightly.
"Do you think you can take us all on?" One of the three asks, his voice shaking slightly. That slight tremor is imperceptible to everyone by Shaula.
"Yes." She answers back without hesitation. Her smile vanishes and her eyes become cold.