PERFORMING FOR MY ONLY FAN [exiles discussion ; SV ONLY]

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    Hopefully this time would go over more smoothly than the last time she tried doing something like this.

    "Shadow Veil--" called the Shaderunner, perched atop some of the ruins in camp with her wings spread casually over the cobbled stones, "Gather over here for a discussion on how we're ought to handle the Exiles situation." Her tail flicked back and forth, occasionally tapping on the stones as she waited for her Clanmates to arrive. This was the one Clan where she had any real authority (for now), so she figured she should help where she was able instead of leaving everything on Mercy and Abbi just because of their ranks. Besides, she wasn't really good for much else than talking right now, was she? Her jaw was mostly healed thanks to Mercy's healing prowess, so she was able to talk normally for the first time since the torture. "And I don't want anyone going for anyone else's throats like last time, do you understand me? We have enough to worry about without infighting within our own Clan," annoyance tinged her voice, though she knew (or at least hoped) that everyone was better than that now. "It's pretty clear that ending the open season and taking a less violent route hasn't done much of anything to stop the Exiles' from pulling their shit with us, so I'd like to field some other ideas on how we might be able to handle this. I'm open to anything, as long as we can keep the debate calm."



    "speech"



    SO UNHOLY, SISTER OF GRACE —— information.

    The molly recalled Shadow Veil's last attempt at a discussion all too well; Jadeite had suddenly and inexplicably turned on her clanmates with tooth and claw, and the unexpected attack from within had left Mercy troubled and shaken for a while after. Fortunately, she didn't think anyone had heard from her since her disappearance following the treacherous act. Mercy sometimes found herself wondering what had become of her, but ultimately didn't dwell on it for very long; she had more important things to worry about than a coward like Jadeite, who was too afraid to even face Shadow Veil after what she'd done.


    She furrowed her brow at the memory as she approached, flashing Stratocumulus a grateful smile for starting up another discussion as she'd volunteered to do. Mercy had been giving the conflict with the Exiles quite a bit of thought, and she hoped this would be far more productive than last time; this was a serious issue that couldn't be left to fester.


    "I'm starting to wonder if more... extreme measures might be necessary," Mercy ventured, taking a seat and wrapping her plumy tail neatly around her paws. "Our open season went nowhere. That was becuase, as far as I can recall, not many raids or captures even took place." On one hand, she was glad that her clanmates weren't so inclined toward violence; the last thing she wanted was for Shadow Veil to return to its anti-clan roots. But on the other hand, Littlestar had proven to her that even pro-clans could still be especially forceful when it mattered most, and if that meant initiating bloodshed for the protection of the clan, then so be it. "I think we should be fighting fire with fire. We need to assert ourselves as a powerful enemy — we failed to do that before."


    i'm the shell of a girl that i used to know well —— tags.

    Since no one else seemed to be interested at present, despite Mercy's mention at the meeting of wanting to have a chat regarding the Exiles, Strat figured it might also be a good idea to have some one-on-one discussion with the Shadowkeeper herself. She returned the molly's smile and listened intently to her words, nodding along slowly to signify that she was paying attention. She was right-- open season did nothing because no one made any use of it. It might hav turned out differently if Veilers had actually fought with conviction more often than when it was just necessary (such as rescue raids and retaliation, which rarely happened). The girl made a hum of agreement once Mercy was finished.

    "I agree," she replied with another nod, "though I'm curious to know a little more about what these extreme measures might entail." Her ear flicked. "I'm not in any way opposed, I'd just like to get a better idea. For visualization purposes, is all." The most extreme measure anyone in the Veil had ever bothered to take was really just raids, but Strat was willing to take it up a notch. She looked unassuming enough, despite her imposing rank, and there were plenty of other Veilers who were the same. If the Clan needed her to, say, snatch up someone of importance, she was sure she could manage it somehow. "I think we also need to take some sabotage into consideration. Not just raids and tortures and stuff, but say, blowing something up in their territory, letting a rabid animal into their camp, poison their water supply... Things like that, you know?"



    "speech"



    SO UNHOLY, SISTER OF GRACE —— information.

    "Cuz you are a pirate"

    "Pirates Life Fo Meee" — Annalysia


    So, they wanted to take some extreme measures on exiles eh? This was quite....interesting and Annalysia wants in. "If they have a big body of water nerby mmm perhaps we could do a surprise ambush raid? I can teach ye how to use a ship" she pirate said appearing from where she had been relaxing. The stench of rum carried through her fur as she flashed a grin on her maw "perhaps capture a high power or two for ransom as well?" she asked them curiously-if they wanted to fight fire with fire its best to do what they have done to Shadow Veil aye? Who knows? Annalysia was normally a bystander but if the Exilers are such a big deal perhaps the residential pirate could do some sort of dirty work for them. "If ye like I can go undercover and try to find a weakspot in their defenses?" she offered to them with a curious look appearing in her storm grey eyes. Though...she did kinda like some of Strato's idea, but poisoning the water? Annalysia took great offense to that due to her having some sort of...attachment to water considering she grew up living on a boat as a pirate. So she had to kind of...disagree with harming the poor water--it never did anything to Shadow Veil. The water was innocent.


    "Capt. Annalysia at your service matie"

    "Speak" "Thoughts"

    Sear had gathered at the call, interested for a moment in whatever Strat had to say. While he hadn't been present at the last discussion, he had heard of what had happened. It didn't concern him much that someone in their ranks had outright attacked someone. He supposed he wasn't the type to worry or feel anxiety, unless the situation called for it. Fear wasn't something he normally felt, and he intended to keep it that way. Sear chose to keep up walls, saving himself from the outside whilst locking himself in. Perhaps it wasn't the best approach to take, but it was better than letting everyone in. The creamy boy was quiet for a moment as he listened to the two discuss potential ideas for how to deal with the Exiles. His eyes almost lit up when Strat mentioned blowing something up in their territory. Now, he would take action. He bit his tongue, however, when Annalysia began speaking, offering her own solutions to the problems. Though she was trying, Sear had his own way of doing things.


    "If you're looking for something to be blown up, then.." His voice trailed off as he stood up, chin tilted up and narrowed gaze focused on and flickering between both Mercy and Strat. He wouldn't explicitly say he would help them, but it was obvious that he was offering himself up. Exploring the territory beyond the Veil's would also prove to be interesting. He had visited the Volcanic Isle, and that had given him his wings (essentially), but he wanted to know more about this land. With his wings tucked at his sides, he straightened his posture even further. "I could also lead a raid, one that focuses on destruction rather than fighting and capturing. Fuck up their territory, you know?" Sear suggested with a cock of his head, secretly hoping his offer would be enough for them to approve and allow him to go.

    What exactly did she mean by extreme measures? Mercy pondered this for a moment before elaborating. "We need to hit them where it hurts and start attacking before they provoke us. Capture important members — maybe for ransom, launch surprise attacks instead of just retaliation raids, you know. Maybe we need to fight dirty. I just think we need to be doing more than we are right now." She pricked her ears in curiosity as Strat offered her own input, going on to mention sabotage. The molly listened intently, looking thoroughly interested, but her expression twisted into one of worry as Strat brought up some... rather dark ideas. "I think sabotage could be very effective, but I don't want to do anything that'll inherently bring harm to children, like poisoning their water. That doesn't sit right with me," she said with a furrowed brow.


    Then she looked at Annalysia, looking thoughtful. "I don't think the Exiles' actual camp is close to the ocean, but their border is. Still... that might be more trouble than it's worth," she mused. "Spies might be beneficial, but I'm just... worried about what might happen if they get caught. We'd have to tread very carefully." The molly trailed off, only for Sear to fill the brief silence. She turned to listen as he offered his service. His power was notoriously destructive, and if he could get close enough to the camp or another important landmark... "I'd be alright with that," Mercy finally declared, looking to Strat to see what she thought.


    i'm the shell of a girl that i used to know well —— tags.

    Abbi approached later than he wished to, his light paws carrying him over after the discussion had started. He settled in besides his sister, as per usual, and did his best to catch up with the topic at hand. It was clear that aggressive pacifism wasn't going to hold up much longer, and while some of the suggestions were more on sabotage and trickery, he wasn't too sure on them, either. However, he was one against many, and so he figured their ideas would work best rather than have the lot of them turn on him.


    "I'd like to hold back on spies," he initially disagreed, "I know someone who got their behind handed to them after being caught. I don't want it to happen again," that someone was their very own Ver, though the young man wasn't too sure how out-there the knowledge was. If she approached with the intention to out herself and explain what she knew, then it would be her decision. Until then, he aimed to keep her anonymous, "But destruction of their sources - I think that may be our best bet, first line of offense should we decide to push further. Hopefully nothing big like a water source," someone in the Ruins didn't like that idea, if he could recall correctly. Water is shared among them all, and it would eventually get to them if they weren't careful, "But setting fire to their trees, maybe demolishing some of their land if we can. It's already been said, but we need to let them know that we'll no longer act as pushovers. We will fight tooth and nail and - and maybe a tad bit dirty to keep them away," he tagged onto the crew of war - hopefully not senseless, but rather necessary. Shadow Veil was a powerhouse in itself, however it seemed that their recent defensive stint didn't properly portray that, "I think we should still, however, keep traps out and about. I doubt they're above retaliation, after all," he added towards the end, lips pressed together.

    As more people gathered, Strat curled her tail over her paws and listened intently to everyone's ideas. She had to agree that an invasion by means of ship would probably be way too much work with not very much output, but other than that, she didn't see much of a problem with what the others raised. "I think holding some bigwigs for ransom could work quite nicely," she thought aloud, tilting her head to one side as she pondered the ideas presented. "And territory destruction is a move we haven't tried yet. But-- Mercy's right, maybe my water supply idea was a touch too far." She supposed that hurting kids who didn't really have any other choice but to live in the Exiles might be a push over the line, but it was Abbi's thought of the poisoned water coming back to bite them in the ass that crossed her mind as well, silently.

    "I think I have to agree with Abbi on the spy situation," she added with a nod to her brother, green eyes settling on him for a moment. "It's too risky, and the chance of actual reward is pretty slim. I'm sure they've dealt with plenty of spies in the past; we don't want them seeing straight through someone's act and putting them through hell for it." She wanted to avoid as much trauma on her Clanmates' part as possible.



    "speech"



    SO UNHOLY, SISTER OF GRACE —— information.

    "Cuz you are a pirate"

    "Pirates Life Fo Meee" — Annalysia


    She frowned destroying homes wasnt something she herself enjoyed and she shook her head "This is the exiles we be speakin' about, besides if ye send in someone who can cover their traces well then we should be fine. Besides if we destroy some of their home wouldn't ye think they come back and do more harm to us? Perhaps we should start with something a little settle? Lay traps in their homes? If they have herbs growing near where they be livin' wouldn't it be best if we....destroy them?" sure she was against destorying homes but something as cutting off their herb resources and making it difficult to heal could rule in their favor. That is...if they don't figure out who be doing such things to their precious little plants. She was a pirate and not a strategist though so she rather go in full force instead of thinking it before hand....it wasn't her style.


    "Capt. Annalysia at your service matie"

    "Speak" "Thoughts"

    Abbi wasn't too sure if he would be capable of capturing one of the 'bigwigs.' Hell, he had tried to capture a simple dog not too long ago and ended up leaving her in the territory out of pity. She wasn't weak or anything, but it just felt dirty to even attempt such actions, especially when it hurt so many of them. The boy nodded slowly as Stratocumulus spoke, agreeing with some and adding ideas. Eventually Annalysia spoke, doing much of the same. It was a discussion, after all.


    "The last creature sent in didn't have such a great time, Captain. They took all the precautions and were hurt. I'm refusing to risk it," Strat had already agreed with him, and he hoped Mercy would as well, and Ver since she was the one that was hurt, "Any raid or destruction we conduct will be a call for retaliation on their end. I understand that we may want to limit how far we go, though. They might be an 'eye for an eye' type," he paused for a moment, "Destroying some of their herb patches may be a nice touch, as long as its nothing that would leak into the water. Maybe just dumping paint on everything," he shrugged his shoulders, as always trying to find a happy medium. It was likely he would never do so, especially with warring opinions, but he wished to try.

    He has joined near the beginning but hadn’t spoken as he didn’t have any input. Evan couldn’t capture — or rather hadn’t — and he didn’t really want to hurt anybody. “We could manipulate the scent for anything we do if we’re afraid of retaliation,” he suggested. “Though that kind of defeats the purpose of showing them not to mess with us.”



    A terse breath escaped the feline as the spying discourse continued, and she was reminded not-so-fondly of the stories she had heard of the last spy's travels. "Abbi's right-- all necessary precautions were taken, including the masking of their scent. And they still got caught and very likely traumatized for their actions. We're not putting someone through that on their own," she said sternly, her gaze moving from Annalysia to Evan. "We already know that anything we do will just put the Veil higher on their shit list, but we've been there before and we've lived through it." She snorted to herself. "I would say that they don't have the guts or the brains to match our every move, but they've got pretty awful impulse control, it seems."

    The girl heaved herself to her paws and hopped down from her perch on the stone so that she was on the same level as the rest of her Clanmates. "But whatever we do, we need to do it soon. Look at all the people they've taken, beaten, tortured. They show no signs of stopping, and hell, they'll probably keep getting worse if they know they're gonna get away with it," she said. "We don't need to all be on the exact same page-- we just need some ground rules and then we need to go." Her voice was becoming strained. She took a moment to compose herself. She wasn't even capable of fighting in her state. Not that it would stop her. "So let's focus on the ground rules. So far we've got three: no hurting kids, no doing anything that would indirectly hurt kids, and no spying. Anything else we need to cover?"



    "speech"



    SO UNHOLY, SISTER OF GRACE —— information.

    Mercy listened quietly to the conversation for a bit, looking to be deep in thought. "No spies," she eventually agreed. Admittedly, she didn't know who it was that had been sent, but she wasn't going to ask right now; it didn't seem at all appropriate. "And Strat's right; we can't let fear of retaliation stop us from attacking with everything we've got. That's what gives them power over us. If we don't fight fire with fire," she said again, "we won't get anywhere and, like Strat said, they'll just keep testing the limits and things will get worse and worse for us." Mercy fell silent as the Shaderunner listed off some ground rules, and when asked for more she pondered for a moment before shaking her head. "I can't think of anything else."


    i'm the shell of a girl that i used to know well —— tags.