Ellen groaned, dozens of scuffs and scrapes blending together into a quilt of road rash. She was beginning to have second thoughts about her combat attire; one of these days, she would have to ask her outfitter to find her something with more coverage than shorts.
"You're weak," snorted the bull, fingers digging into the hood of the vehicle beside him. "Weak in body, weak in will. You turned your allegiance around in an afternoon. You turned your back on a whole nation to save your sister - you sacrificed hundreds, maybe thousands, for one girl who can't even contribute to society."
There was a hideous metal scream as Strong's fingers bent and crushed the hood of the delivery truck around some grippable part of the engine beneath; he palmed the side with his other hand, lifted, and turned.
"That's your problem, Lawful. Your sense of right and wrong begins and ends at you. That's the difference between us and you. If one of you does something wrong, you coddle them, you tell 'em you understand. Me? If my brother did half the shit you all do, I'd kill him myself."
Ellen groaned as she rose, swiping bits of street off of her bloody arms. She didn't doubt the hero's latter point... but she knew, firsthand, what the Korps was and wasn't capable of. Her fists tightened; if ever there was going to be a time to set the record straight...
...she had missed it, seconds ago. The truck creaked and tilted, and then, all of a sudden, it was coming toward her.
Ellen barely had time to scream before
Ellen blinked. The truck was gone. Strong was gone, and the parking lot around the both of them. The sun shone brightly between the clouds above and gleamed off her pauldrons and gauntlets, their--
Wait. She felt heavy. A quick glance confirmed that she was wearing armor - nice armor, too, and a sunflower yellow tabard over it. A blade hung in its scabbard at her side, a shield on her back. More distressingly, a horse kept a steady pace between her thighs, carrying her dutifully forward.
"Prince Ellen? Fare thee well?" asked the armored woman on the next mount beside her. Her armor was nearly as nice - or maybe nicer, even. It was hard to tell exactly what her own looked like while wearing it. "You looked... distant, a moment."
"Uh. Yeah, I'm fine!" she lied, quickly, as a dozen questions swirled in her head. "Just... deep in thought."
"Mm. These are thoughtful times, Highness."
Ellen rolled her lips between her teeth, sucking nervously.
Where the fuck am I?!
