i have no idea how to respond to this, so can we ts to later? i think we planned to have the workout be interrupted by ripley needing to go fight, and quinn secretly following.

-//

if that's not the case i'm good to change tho!!

Sounds good to me. Should I start?

please do!

The workout had been going well, Jack actually was feeling more confident by the second, that was when a loud horn blew exactly three times, and Ripley froze. Their nostrils flared and their eyes widened, the red patch of scales darting across their body rapidly. The sound of the conch shell could only mean one thing, a fight was brewing.

Ripley immediately stiffened, gone was the relaxed posture and smiles. Now they were making sure their armor was on properly, securing the latches with deft fingers, all while speaking to their friends. "You all need to get out of here right now. Head back to your homes and don't come out until the shell blows twice, no buts, just do it. I'll be back." Ripley looked to the three other Mer, Jack looking mildly concerned but not speaking. They nodded and swam off as quickly as possible, they needed to grab their spear and then head on out.

Kiache hurriedly rushed Quinn and Jack into the safety of their shelter, and into their room. She gave them a stern look, and quickly conveyed a message, "I must make sure the rest of the village is in lockdown, and preparations are set in case our front breaks." Once she had Quinn and Jack's confirmation, Kiache quickly left.

Quinn turned to Jack, "I'm going," she said flatly, "Don't try to stop me - I need to figure out what is going on." Quinn was already by the door. In a moment of rare softness, Quinn hesitated, "Stay safe. I won't put myself into danger - I'll be back before anyone realizes I'm gone."

"Your sappy eyes are not the reason I am agreeing to tell you what happened, but yes, I shall share," Quinn said firmly, then swam out of the door. Once out of sight, Quinn figured she should now actually test out her theory, which would be a crucial part of this mission.

She settled down near the sand. and focused on what she wanted. There was a ripple over her skin, and when Quinn opened her eyes, and looked at her hand. A smile danced over Quinn's features as she looked at her hand, and then at herself. It worked.

She was camouflaged - the same color as the sand below her, and out be invisible to most eyes. There was not any time to waste, and Quinn bolted off.

Jack chuckled softly in Quinn's wake, but said no more. Kiache was probably going to kill him for letting Quinn leave by herself. The thing was, if he wasn't such a pest, he would have left too, so he understood why Quinn had done it. Regardless, that did not stop the fact that Kiache was going to murder him. That was fine though, at least it was Kiache and not some random person. Better her than anyone else really.

Ripley had to be fast, very fast. Although they themselves were a weapon, they still needed weapons just in case. Plus, they only had so much blood to spare. So, they swam quickly to the guard station, which was completely abandoned as everyone had left to meet the incoming soldiers. Fortunately, there were still plenty of weapons, and that was exactly what Ripley needed.

By the time they had finished raiding the weapon store, Ripley was fully decked out. To spears crossed on their back, and a belt that sat on the space where their scales met their skin, though this was covered by their armor. The belt had plenty of knives and such covering it, and soon, Ripley was out.

Swimming as fast as they could would take to much energy, so although they swam fast, it was not nearly as fast as they would have liked. Within thirty minutes, Ripley was there, the sharp taste of blood filling their mouth. This was bad, very bad. The opposing Mer were closer than they'd ever been before, and it was startling indeed.

Quinn assumed that Ripley would have to stock up on weapons, as while the Mer did have weapons, it was probably not as many as what is required for true battle. It was true for many other Mer warriors as well, so by sticking low to the ground and avoiding the homes of citizens, Quinn was able to find the battle grounds easily.

It was.. odd... to say the least. Every Mer on the opposing side moved as one, and while that should make it easier to fight, they were all packed tightly together, moving in a mass formation. For every one taken down, another took their place, and if Quinn was being honest, not many Mer were being taken down.

As Quinn observed from her hidden spot, there was an odd tug to her mind, telling her to fall into line with her assigned spear, but not with Kiache's people. No, hermit was saying to join the enemy. Quinn may not have the most stellar streak of being a good person, but there was no way she'd fight against her friends.

Ripley fought with a fierce passion, their face a terrifying sneer. Not once did they falter, and they didn't get injured for a good while too. Whilst fighting a huge Mer that was twice their size, they noticed Kay, a sweet Mer who, much like themself, had no living family. They were good in a fight, but tiny, and Ripley had been pretty sure the runt wasn't even allowed to be there. With a scowl, they finished off the Mer in front of them and darted over, just managing to block the Mer's dagger from giving Kay a killing blow. Now that they were close enough, they could see that Kay was seriously injured, and the cloud of blood around them grew darker by the moment.

With quick movements, they managed to take down Kay's attacker, earning a half-hearted smile from the dying Mer. "You idiot, what are you doing here?" Ripley asked Kay as they deftly lifted up the gray Mer, and with little help from them, took them to the sea floor. "My mentor said that within the year I'd be able to fight, and-and I wanted to help, they are so close Ripley. I'm scared, my fin is torn, they cut it." Kay's eyes teared up with blood as they began to cry, and Ripley felt for them. They were too young to be here, that was for certain, any apprentice that was ready for the war, would know better than to cry on the battlefield itself, they would be yelled at later by their mentor.

"Hey, it's okay, your fin will recover perfectly fine, don't worry about it. I'm more worried about this cut." Ripley pointed out the huge gash in Kay's fin, and the little Mer just cried more. They released a heavy sigh, they weren't good with the whole emotion thing, as most apprentices were. Ripley began to wrap it up for Kay, ignoring the sounds of battle from above them, just when they were about to finish, Kay shouted, "Ripley! Behind you!" Ripley spun around, and felt the dagger slice their cheek open with a strangled cry, muffled by the water.

Their battle instincts took over immediately as they whipped around and faced the attacker with quick eyes. It was the same Mer from earlier, the huge Mer, who they'd thought was dead. Unfortunately, they weren't, and they still towered over Ripley with a viscous sneer. They'd broken off from the rest of the army, probably under orders to take out any of the injured Mer, and it was working.

Ripley ignored the red blood clouding around their face and removed a sharp dagger from it's sheath on their back. Within a flash, the octopus Mer and Ripley were in a deadly fight, each one wanting to kill the other in order to survive. Kay cried from their spot on the ground, their tail was too heavy for them to move now, and the damaged fin would make their movements too slow, they couldn't help even though they wanted to.

Not that Ripley really needed it, they seemed to be doing just fine by themself. Kay watched as they darted around, using their small size to sweep around the huge Mer, annoying them with small cuts on their long tentacles that tried to wrap around Ripley with an intense power. It was going great, with Ripley being relatively unharmed other than the badly bleeding cut on their cheek and a few minor cuts. That was until the huge Mer in front of them managed to grab them. Ripley released a scream as they wrapped Ripley up in their tentacles, then threw them with extreme force into a large rock, the bottom of a large underwater cliff. Ripley hit the wall with a dull thud and cried out at the impact, blood turning the water around them a bright red.

Ripley didn't know what else to do, as the other Mer approached to finish them off, Kay screaming in the background as a loud ringing buzzed in their head. The next move they made was practically unconcious, and they mentally apologized to their mentor for doing what they were about to do. Reaching out their hand, the blood turned from a cloud into thin ropes, and after a moment's hestiation, they sent the ropes at the opposing Mer, who's eyes widened with fear as the ropes wrapped around him and dragged him away, Ripley didn't have it in them to kill the Mer, already their power was draining. After staring blankly at Kay for a while, they closed their eyes and passed out, the other Mer screaming loudly, as they believed Ripley to be dead.