COURTESY CALL | CAPTURE THE FLAG / RAID

[roman]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 600px; text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10pt;"][color=black]Shit, a raid. After the nation's split, Mare had hoped that the conflict would come to an end. Hoped. Sometimes she thinks that she should stop being so optimistic and naive, but can anyone blame her for wanting the peace to return? The young woman is so tired of war. She just wants to go back to those lazy days in the fields with her cattle dog relaxing beside her as they monitored the herds in the distance. She misses the comfort of a rifle in her hands in the face of danger. Times when famine and war and pollution did not rule their lives. As the curly haired girl observes the tense interaction between King Frederick and the raiders, her fingers slowly inch towards the hunting bow on her back. It's not quite as comforting as her rifle, but Mare makes do with what she has. Not to brag, but she's gotten pretty good at it. You know...like archery and stuff.

Even so, Mare must admit that the Blackfall leader and his little band of thugs are downright terrifying. She just wants to run and hide. She doesn't want to fight. Not really. Would it be bad if she just runs away and hides? Would they blame her? Would they hate her? If she is going to be honest with herself, Mare does not wish to give up her life fighting for a country she does not pay any loyalty to. This is just a pit stop in her journey, really. She has no friends and no family, and the only thing keeping her in Griffingate is a roof over her head and food on the table.

This is what she loses herself in thought about when the fighting begins. Startled, the young girl begins loosing arrows almost by reflex. "Oh god, oh god, oh god. Fuck, shit, crap--" a long stream of curses and exclamations escape her (vulgar) lips as Mare begins to realize what she's gotten herself into. Seriously. There is a girl slinging fire around. Fire! And that Cain guy? He has electricity or something. Sucking in a deep breath, she notches an arrow, aiming it at Amren's torso. "I swear to God, Mare Young, if you die...if you die I will kill you really dead," she mutters under her breath. Somehow, yelling nonsense at herself fills her with an odd sort of confidence. Mare is clearly more concerned with staying alive than actually harming the other person in any way, but she feels somewhat obligated to at least try and defend Frederick or whatever. He is pretty hot. It'd be a shame if he kicked the bucket before she got a chance to accidentally bump into him or something.