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Belle nods her head back at the two men, "Hello, call me Belle." Blue grey eyes lock eyes for just a moment to show her as being strong as a steel bar. She will hold out her hand and if they take it, she will gently but firmly shake their hands, taking measure of them.

John reciprocates the hand shake with one of his own. His old cloak, actually more of a long coat now that she's closer, shows signs of wear and is singed on one sleeve. Harvey shakes her had as well with a polite "Good to meet you."

After waiting a few moments, the blond haired Apok speaks up again. "My friend Jonesy and his family were attacked by goblins just a few hours from here. I would like to scout out if there is anything surviving from their gear and see if anything might be saved. I was hoping that I might be able to ask for your assistance."

"I am not without my own fighting skills and would be willing to accompany you further on your travels," she states. There is a teasing tone when she suggest that she is ' not without fighting skills.' "From the way that Dan spoke and part of what was not said, you could use more assistance. I have nowhere else to be."

John frowns and looks at Jonesy, noticing the rifle slung over his shoulder. {OOC: I'm assuming that Belle's weapons are under her cloak for the moment. The dice say that John didn't notice them if that's the case. Let me know where they are typically carried, please.}

After careful thought for a few moments John decides to let them join him. "You can come with us as far as you would like, but we're in a hurry and won't be stopping to help look for somebody's undergarments."

This is not the image she wants to portray. She puts on her mask and suddenly her presence gets much harder.
From her back, her bastard sword comes out but not pointed at any of them. She handles it one handed like most have trouble doing two handed.
Spinning the blade in her hand, she pushes it straight down into the ground, kind of a reverse sword into the stone. (ooc: Enchanted and since it is not being attacked, should not take any damage)
"Do you think any of you can pull it back out," even her voice sounding different. Smoothly, she pulls it back out once again and waits for them to speak (or run like hell.)

John's face pales instantly at the site of the Apok mask as he recognizes what Belle is. Taking a couple of involuntary steps backward he brings his staff up in a defensive position. Surprisingly, Dan seems taken aback as well...although that could just be the lighting since facial expressions don't really translate through the armor on his face. Even though he'd met her previously, he wasn't prepared for the frightening visage of a full fledged Apok. Harvey takes it all in stride as though nothing could surprise him today.

From her back, Belle's bastard sword comes out, but not pointed at any of them. She handles it one handed like most have trouble doing two handed.
Spinning the blade in her hand, she pushes it straight down into the ground, kind of a reverse sword into the stone. The sword penetrates about six inches {OOC: Wormwood ground is actually MD, so that limits the depth; however, to natives of Wormwood it may still have your desired response since most humans couldn't penetrate the ground at all.}

"Do you think any of you can pull it back out," even her voice sounding different. Smoothly, she pulls it back out once again and waits for them to speak (or run like hell.)

Dan speaks up immediately "Impressive, for a human, if that's what you are. I would suggest you put the sword away before any of the guard patrols see you, though." The tone of his voice is strained, giving credence to the earlier impression that she's making him nervous.

"Dan, come. We're leaving...now." John seems to have recovered some of his composure. "I'm not travelling with an Apok." His voice is on the verge of hysterical now.

Jonesy looks on in silent surprise at the sudden turn of events.

{OOC: By the way, did I mention that one of my house rules is for critical failures? }

Belle silently sheaths her bastard sword. "Thank you, Dan." She feels she does owe him a thanks for at least considering it.
The others, if they don't want to help, there is nothing she can do.

Turning towards Jonesy, Belle tells him apologetically, "I am sorry. It looked like they did not want to take me seriously and needed them to. In a previous life they might have even been right."

Taking a deep breath, the masked woman tells him, "These items are your life so I do consider them important. I plan to go an check and see if we can save anything."

Unless there is further comments, she turns on her heels and heads towards where Jonesy said his family was ambushed, taking care to keep her pace slow enough for Jonesy to keep up.

ooc: Err?

"Thank you Belle. Your help means a lot to me." Jonesy responds. His disappointment in what happened is obvious, but Belle can't tell if the disappointment is in her or in John...or maybe a little bit of both. Belle gets the feeling that it's probably the latter.

Jonesy turns with Belle and they begin walking towards the edge of town and the Sunrise gate. It quickly becomes apparent that even though they are not travelling together, Dan and his party are, for now at least, travelling the same direction that they are, but one block over. Their paths will soon merge, however, since there is only one gate and one road leading out of town in this direction.

Belle is used to disappointment. She is still disappointed in herself for a great many things. At least one advantage of the mask is that you can brood without anybody noting.

"Looks like they will not be rid of us that easily," Belle states with a dry humor in her voice. Her eyes flit to the side where the others are traveling. "While it might be easy enough to lose them, the walking behemoth is less easy to lose."

She continues to walk what is probably a relatively slow pace for herself.

After a time, and having lost track of the other group, Belle and Jonesy come to the expected joining of their road and Dan, John and Harvey's. "Looks like they decided to hurry it up a bit." Jonesy says. Belle can see the other group about a 100 yards ahead of them as well. They disappear through the Sunrise gates just as the gates are being opened for the day.

There are a number of other people entering and exiting through the gates at the same time. Most are on foot, but ATV's, horses and other modes of transportation dot the crowd. The first person that sees Belle and Jonesy almost trips and falls in his haste to get out of their way. At the unusual behavior Jonesy looks at Belle and sees that she's still wearing her Apok mask. "You might want to take that thing off before we get to the gates." he advises while making a slight gesture towards Belle's face. "As you know, the church doesn't care much for Apok's and the guards might make it difficult on us if you try to go through looking like that."

"True, true," Belle responds, remembering how she might have felt around Apok when she was a priestess. "After all, there have been some cases where others have decided to retire priests." There is a dark tone in the last part.

With her on her way out, one would think that they would be glad to see her gone. Still, there is little need for a confrontation with little gain. After taking off her mask, Belle asks Jonesy in a conversational tone, "Curious, what do you think your village's father and brother would react to an Apok?"

Otherwise, she will continue a steady pace towards the gate. "Let me know if I am going to fast or need a break," Belle adds with an element of concern.

After taking off her mask, Belle asks Jonesy in a conversational tone, "Curious, what do you think your village's father and brother would react to an Apok?"

"Father Malaki is very tolerant of all classes of people, from the low to high." Jonesy quickly affirms. "Brother Tobius, on the other hand...not so much."

Otherwise, she will continue a steady pace towards the gate. "Let me know if I am going to fast or need a break," Belle adds with an element of concern.

"I'm okay." He responds happily. She can tell if she starts going too fast when Jonesy starts lagging a half step behind her.

With a teasing smile, one can tell how she used to melt one's hearts in a previous life, she responds, "I pretty much could have guessed."

After a few moments of walking, she adds, "Again, I think I would like to meet Father Malaki. People like him give me hopes for the church in the future. Sometimes I get depressed with what I see and hear." She reflects for a moment on the fact that she was part of the problem and possibly Brother Tobius at least may have integrity.