[M]Angel in disguise

[IssyEspeon]

"I never said you cannot act. Simply that your most recent attempt was somewhat lacking in its ability to convince me." She said with a small smile. "As for your original purpose, I would like to hear more about it. You've been traveling around, no? If we have time, if like to hear of some of your adventures."

"Quite. I've been traveling for a good few years now, approaching a decade. I at first assisted trading groups with my medical skills, but lately, be been traveling alone." She said calmly. "And I realize horses are not cheap. I have been able to, purchase some before. Sometimes I use tactics somewhat underhanded, but, they work." She chuckled. "And if worse comes to worst, I can always sell my magic and skills in healing at the next town."

When he froze, she turned to him as she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong. Then there was a muffled squeak as he tightened his grip on her, and clamped a hand over her mouth. Her cheeks felt hot as he whispered into her ear, then she stared in alarm as several thugs merged from some bushes. Her eyes narrowed, and she pushed his hand away from her mouth. Calmly, she knelt, removing his arms from around her completely and setting him onto the ground. Then, she stood, and drew the sword at her side. She looked coldly at the men, who were laughing at the display before them.
They weren't laughing long. She had struck quickly and cleanly, killing one of the buffoons before the others even realized what was happening.

[Holeypaladin]

The homunculus was wondering how he'd fight off a bunch of bandits while protecting Angela at the same time. Were he in full health, he'd be able to do the former... but things were always more complicated when one had to worry about the safety of a helpless comrade. As the girl set him aside, he quickly learned that the girl wouldn't need much protection, as she displayed surprising sword skill for one as young as she was.

Still, she was outnumbered, and though she had caught the first bandit off guard, the rest wouldn't be taken so easily. However, in this situation... it was he that the bandits were ignoring, as a bandaged, wounded man who could barely stand was no threat in their eyes. They wouldn't be laughing for long, however.

He made a few quick calculations in his head. Due to his synthetic nature, doing so was far more simple than it would be for a human, so he was able to get an accurate reading right away. His strength, speed, and endurance were still far below normal levels. He had coordination, and though his magical energy reserves had a rather low cap, they were still close to fully filled.

Well, there was only one type of weapon he could use in this situation. Fighting the bandits face to face like Angela was doing would not be a sound plan, as he was weaker than they were. Bows required a lot of strength to draw, and as did crossbows when it came to reloading. The best option in this situation was a tech weapon... a double barreled pistol, to be precise.

Tapping into his foundry circuit, he summoned just such a weapon into his hand. As a bandit moved to attack the aasimar girl from the flank, the homunculus aimed the pistol and fired. A loud explosive sound and burst of smoke filled the air as the bandit quickly fell to the ground, dead. Another bandit turned to the source of the noise, and, figuring he had expended the single shot that most pistols held, charged him recklessly, only to fall to the ground again as he fired the second shot into the man's face.

Glancing into the direction of the aasimar, the homunculus gazed at her to see how she was faring.

[IssyEspeon]

She was doing well, blocking and darting out of the way before she could be hit. She was so focused that she didnt notice the bandit flanking her. Then there was a loud crack behind her, making her jump. She lost her focus, whirling to face the sound as it echoed again. Two bandits lay dead, and the boy she was protecting had a weapon in his hands she was certain he hadn't had before. It was small, metal, and, it seemed to be smoking.

Unfortunately, her distraction proved to be longer than most of the bandits. She cried out in pain as hardened steel bit into her upper arm, pulling away and turning in time to weakly block another strike. They were ganging up on her, and the injury to her arm was making it a bit hard to wield her weapon to her full ability. She struggled, switching to defense as she barely managed to block and keep up on a three on one battle. Gritting her teeth, she stabbed one in the side, ducked to avoid another hit, and pulled her sword free to slash at the knees of the closest. She was a few seconds too late to block, and a sharp edge kissed her calf, biting into it enough to draw blood, but not too seriously. Now at a serious disadvantage, she fell back, stubbornly continuing a losing battle

[Holeypaladin]

The homunculus certainly hadn't intended for the loud thundering sound of his pistol to be a distraction to Angela... and when she was wounded because she let her guard down momentarily, he felt a bit of remorse. Though it did betray her lack of experience... after all, she was young, and though her sword skills were indeed quite impressive, likely the result of some very intensive training... she seemed to lack the necessary experience to focus on fighting with loud distractions nearby.

As she was wounded and on the defensive, she noted that the girl was fighting a three on one battle, and on the losing end of it. As she struck, she was also hit by a different opponent. Focusing on his foundry circuit, the Homunculus reloaded the pistol. Normally, pistols such as this one took a bit of time to reload... but the foundry circuit allowed him to reload the weapon much quicker, and at a fraction of the mana cost to summon a new pistol.

The bandits obviously didn't expect him to be able to reload so quickly. This would prove to be a fatal error, as he lowered the weapon again, firing off one thunderous blast, then another. Two of the bandits fell from close range shots, and the third was already wounded by Angela... more severely than she was. He was quite confident in her ability to finish off the final opponent, and began walking towards her, although slowly, as he hadn't much energy left to spare. Thankfully, they would be arriving at an inn, soon.

[IssyEspeon]

Angela grit her teeth, fighting stubbornly when another thunderous sound burst from her wounded patient. Another bandit fell, and the distraction provided by it quickly took down the next one. It was suddenly one on one, and she smiled grimly. The bandits eyes went wide as he realized it, but he had gotten distracted. Not repeating her previous mistake, she ignored the ringing in her ears, and slashed ard at first his sword arm, making him drop his weapon before she stabbed precisely between the ribs. He crumpled to the ground, dead as his companions.

Angela was breathing heavily, blood running down her leg and arm. Her white shirt was becoming stained red, but she ignored it other than placing a hand firmly on her arm. She looked over at the young man, frowning when she noted that his weapon was missing. "What was that?" She asked bluntly. "Your weapon? And you seem to be walking fine, despite looking tired." She said, limping slightly to his side before kneeling and grabbing her bag. She quickly grabbed bandages, and wrapped her leg to keep the bleeding from getting to bag. She stood, looking at him with a very wary gaze. "Mind explaining what just happened?"

[Holeypaladin]

Watching as the angel turned to face him, the homunculus felt his strength giving up from the exertion as he leaned against a nearby tree for support. "Adrenaline," he explained his burst of energy with the simple word, "And perhaps you're a better healer than you realize." That, and his body was much more sturdy than that of a human, built to endure heavy combat situations and survive.

She seemed confused by his weapon choice, however. "What," he said, "You've never seen a double-barelled flintlock pistol before? The Free Cities are going through a Renaissance of new technology and ideas, you know... including powder weapons such as the one I used." He paused, "Or were you instead referring to my Foundry circuit? It's not very effective, yet, but all of us have one. Well, the males, at least. It seems to be incompatible with female hormones."

"More importantly," he examined her wound, "You're hurt. We should get to that inn as quickly as possible... as neither of us are in any condition to travel, right now."

[IssyEspeon]

"I try to keep on top of the weapons trends. I need to understand how to heal injuries caused by the newest weapons. What I meant is where you got it from, and where it went." She didn't mention that she hadn't actually known what exactly he had been using. She looked at him, and indeed, the fight seemed to be catching up. Adrenaline of course, was able to do such things. She could feel the strain of the fight and her injuries increasing after all.

"I'll be fine. And I'll be checking up on your injuries when we get to where we are headed." She said firmly, though, she did pause to hurriedly wrap her injuries. She wasn't one to ignore her wounds. She efficiently bound her cuts, knowing they'd likely need a few stitches too. But that could wait. She stood again, and allowed him to put his weight on her. "As you said.... We should get going."

[Holeypaladin]

"I see," the homunculus said with a nod. "I used my Foundry circuit to summon that flintlock. Once I no longer needed it, I allowed it to return to the Foundry." He figured his explanation would simply raise more questions in the girl's head, but it was up to her if she wanted to continue asking them. He sat down for a bit to rest as he watched the girl tend to her own injuries.

"I guess you'll need to heal yourself, pretty soon," he said with a chuckle. She had already used up all of her mana in healing him, leaving none for herself but... some rest should help a bit with that. He was amused at how she still tried to support his weight even though she was also injuried, but simply held on to her, giving her a nod. "Let's move, then," he said.

Thankfully, it wasn't all that long until they reached an inn with a bathhouse. "We're both too wounded to camp out," he mentioned. "Let's stay here for the night. I'm sure it'll be easier to heal us once we're properly sanitized anyway, right?"