Catching Breath in Stale Air

[Aura]

"Yeah, I've fought a few people  Practically all I was known for back home.  Never happened on campus, though.  Guess I'm just lucky like that."  She continued to hold her cheek as she spoke, slightly affecting her voice.  "I was more surprised to see you jump in straight after the guy.  I didn't know you were a scrapper."

She hissed as another wave of pain moved through her jaw, but suppressed it to the best of her ability.  "I'm glad you're all right, though."

[Katie]

"I've been in a few fights myself, including on campus," Marion remarked. She couldn't help but notice the odd way Kassandra was acting though. "Are you sure you're all right? You haven't let go of your cheek."

[Aura]

Kassandra shook her head, trying to dissuade Marion's concerns. "I'm sure I'm all right. Fucker just got me right in the mouth. I'm sure it'll heal up in about a day or two."

[Katie]

"Okay, fair enough," Marion conceded. She then looked over to the unconscious Stan. "We should probably get out of here before this lughead wakes up though."

[Aura]

Kassandra took a look at the unconscious jackass before them. There was a bit of blood on his forehead where she had his him, and he was still out like a light. She could see his body subtly moving up and down as he breathed, so he was definitely still alive. She was silently relieved by that. Yeah, he was an asshole, but she wasn't ready for the emotional burden of killing someone. She still remembered how Marion was when she founder her after having taken out that jerk at the gazebo.

"Yeah, I definitely wanna bounce before this guy gets his bearings back. Any plans?"

[Katie]

"Maybe we could bounce back to the poor district and check on Mina?" Marion suggested. "It might be too dangerous though I dunno..."

[Aura]

It was definitely an idea to head back to the alleyways to see if Mina was all right. Probably not the best plan, though. There was still the unknown quantity of their attacker, as well as the fact that they still didn't know what became of the shooter that had menaced them right before they ran into Mina.

"I'm not too sure about that." Kass frowned, not too optimistic on the subject. "We don't even know if the situation there's all clear yet, and we're in worse shape now than we were the first time we went through."

[Katie]

"True," Marion admitted. "We do need to clear out of here fast though. Perhaps we should just go off in a random direction and see where it takes us? We don't really have time to carefully consider our options."

[Aura]

Kassandra gave another look to the slumbering oaf. "Yeah, let's get out of here. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky." She grabbed her pipe off the ground and put her other arm around Marion, giving her a closed-lips smile since she wasn't sure if her teeth still looked as good as they had before she got punched.

"Ready to get going?"

[Katie]

"Yep," Marion said. She then gave a cheeky smile. "Lead the way, boss."

[Aura]

With Marion in tow, Kassandra walked down the main path of the markets until the fishy smell of the abandoned stalls no longer bothered her.

(Kassandra Vaitaki continued elsewhere...)

[Katie]

Marion followed Kassandra out of the area.

(Marion Williams continued in Twisted Steel in a Twisted World)

[Sh4dE]

As Stan woke up hours later, his head hurt. He could feel the blood that had become solid on his head.

Grabbing the glasses lying next to him he left.

((Stan Astley continued in One Man Army))