-Strategy-
[A plan, often of attack, detailing what a group of people need to do to accomplish a shared goal.]
Kuro and Oroske had been watching the J’alyr from afar - on a bridge on the layer above. Seeing Ari and Xeron leave was their signal that it was almost time to return. Oroske pushed himself off of the rail they were leaning on. “Well, shall we head back?” He asked, turning to Kuro.
“Guess so,” Kuro said, stretching as he walked after his mentor. “How do you think it went?”
“Given how short it seems the meeting was? Poorly.”
The two walked in silence for a few minutes, until Kuro spoke again. “Do you think it’d be possible to survive jumping down to the next layer?”
Oroske looked back at Kuro, not slowing his pace at all, a small smile on his face, “I’d say so. I could definitely survive. It might be more of a gamble for you, but I’d say the odds are in your favor. You have an affinity for sentem, which is probably the best and safest option to catch yourself with. That or gravia, but the latter is much harder to control. You’d have to have good timing and aim with either. Thinking you want to try it?”
“At some point, sure. I’ll pass for right now, though,” Kuro said, a similar smile on his face.
It didn’t take long for them to get back to the J’alyr headquarters - they’d caught the lift at a good time - and Ensaru was outside waiting for them. “I’ve called Jisei and Guir already, we need to discuss our next move.” He had forgone any greeting, and was already halfway through the door by the time he finished speaking.
Once they were in the usual meeting room, Jisei and Guir giving friendly greetings, Ensaru put up a barrier, quickly saying some words that Kuro wasn’t able to catch. “No one will be able to hear us. I trust my staff, but I want to be sure,” the director explained.
“So, I take it the meeting went poorly?” Oroske asked, leaning against the wall.
“Correct,” Ensaru looked stressed, leaning on the table as he spoke, “I delivered the accusation that Recen has been working with the Mienr. Yenva took it in stride, saying that even if Recen is working with them, she will side with her sister.
“I believe this little feud has reached its boiling point. I had hoped I could make her see that someone is trying to pit us against each other, but alas, it seems I’ve only made her more angry.” He looked to Jisei and Guir first. “You two, prepare defenses for both the headquarters and the J’alyr itself. Open up the rear chamber on the top floor, that is where I will receive our guests.”
He turned to the Hunters. “If you two would like to do any more investigating into Grand Stone, I suggest you do it tonight, the sooner the better. It would be wise for you two to decide on your combat plan.”
Oroske took a step forward, “Just to confirm, you are telling us to go on the offensive?” Ensaru made eye contact, and nodded. “I suggest we watch to see how they move, and respond in kind. We attack when they attack. What do you think?” He indicated he was asking both Ensaru and Kuro.
“I agree, that seems logical to me,” Kuro said firmly.
“As do I. I trust your judgment, both of you.” Ensaru said, “I’ll let you two figure out the details. For now, I must plan for our actions here.” He turned to his assistants, who had already been discussing plans, looking at maps and blueprints. Kuro had no idea where they got them from, perhaps they brought them in with them.
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Oroske beckoned Kuro to join him at the far end of the table to discuss their strategy. “So,” Oroske began, taking a seat, “I want to hear your thoughts first. How do you think we should proceed?”
Kuro thought about it for a moment. He agreed that they should let Ari and Xeron make the first move, and simply respond in turn. He had no idea how strong either of his opponents were, and how he would match up against them. He’d never been in a serious fight against another Hunter, only bandits, a necromancer or two, and Sigils and other wild beasts, so he had no idea what to expect. After some further consideration, he spoke. “I think we should have you on standby near Ensaru, playing defense. They’ll probably be defending Yenva at whatever location she’s at, probably the Guild headquarters. I’d like to try playing offense, if that’s okay. So I’ll go somewhere I can monitor them from afar, waiting for one or both of them to leave on their attack.”
Oroske smiled, “I agree, having you go on the offensive will be a good experience for you. Having me defend Ensaru of all people might be overkill, but I’d rather you get the combat experience for sure. We’ll start this plan tomorrow. I do have an errand I’d like to run in the morning, so if you see them moving, contact me through your pendant.”
Kuro nodded, “Sounds like a plan. I’ll probably contact you regardless once I see them move. What errand do you need to run?”
Oroske was hesitant to answer. “Both sides of this battle have children to worry about. I’d like to ensure they’re both prepared for the worst.”
That sounded like something Kuro would like to be a part of, but he understood the importance of his own role. Still, he’d not seen much of how Hunters deal with the families of their targets - all of the people he’d been involved with killing were pretty far removed from their relatives by the time he got to them. He’d get another chance, he’d probably have to in order to get his black cloak.
“How do you think I’ll fare against Ari and Xeron? Think I could beat them?” Kuro asked, voicing a different concern.
“Ari I think you could defeat pretty easily,” Oroske started, then paused to consider. “Xeron, though. I’ll be honest, he’s pretty strong, especially when he’s passionate about what he’s fighting for. I think you could beat him, but it’ll be a difficult battle for you. Not only does he clearly beat you in size and physical strength, he has loads of experience.”
“What do you mean about ‘when he’s passionate?’”
“I won’t go into details right now, but I expect he feels like he can identify with Yenva, and therefore will feel passionate about defending her. From what I can see, the two have more in common than you’d expect.”
Kuro rubbed his chin with his left hand, considering. His right arm was slowly regaining feeling, but he wasn’t confident it would be back completely in time for his fight. He had spent his free time practicing using various weapons with one hand, especially the spear. He usually switched between a one-hand and two-hand grip with his sword, so he didn’t need too much practice there. He was thankful it was his non-dominant hand that was paralyzed. The scythe was definitely a no-go though, he couldn’t properly swing it the way he wanted to with only one hand. It’ll be tough, he thought to himself, but I’m sure neither of them would kill me, not in a way I couldn’t be revived at least.
The thought of killing reminded him, “Oh yeah, what do you think about Yenva? Do you think I should just immediately go in for the kill?”
Oroske made eye contact, a small smile on his face, “That, my boy, is for you to decide. Think about it carefully so you don’t regret your decision. People like Ensaru and Yenva do not have the same privilege we do to simply return from death.” He placed a hand on Kuro’s shoulder, awkwardly leaning across the table to do so. “I trust your judgment, Kuro, and will back you up regardless of what you choose to do. That said, if you end up needing to kill Ari or Xeron, just try to make it so they can come back. That means no dismemberment, and try to make the killing blow clean so it’s easy to heal. Of course, don’t kill them at all if you can, Danfis would be upset even if they can be revived.”
Kuro nodded, a smile appearing on his own face. “Anything else we need to decide on?” He asked.
Oroske shook his head, “There shouldn’t be. Take tonight to prepare. Tonight will be the last night we report to Danfis until we return. We’ll tell him about what we know regarding Recen and the Mienr, and our current action plan.”
The two looked to Ensaru, who was still deep in conversation with his assistants, planning. Oroske called to him to let him know the two were done and about to leave. Ensaru gave them a wave, his gaze never leaving the paper he was looking at.