Crusade

[Shay Cormac]

The suggestion to break up into groups was an interesting one to the Templar, and he could see some merit to it. In reality, Shay Cormac hadn't the slightest clue how the city itself looked from the inside ever since he had last left. The passage of time might have not had such an affect on Nippur as he originally anticipated. On the flipside of that equation, Shay couldn't shake the feeling it might have been worse on the simple basis of how the city itself looked from the outside. 

Either way, now would be the time to find out, and the man found it somewhat fitting that he was conveniently split up by the hulking man in gilded armor to pair with the priest who had offered him a ride in the first place. In hindsight, it was rather... strange how quickly Shay found himself with people to fight by his side once again. Unfortunately for the privateer now coated in steel, this wasn't the time to ponder as to why. 

Looking over, Shay watched as dust fell in the dim lights of the room the Primes found themselves in, barely any space left to spare for anybody present. The tranquility and silence of the moment, paying no mind to the Emperor's gilded plates clashing against one another, had forced Shay to lose himself in the moment. If he could have referenced what he was thinking a mere moment ago when he mentally noted to not take any time to himself to think, he would have. Instead, the Templar felt a knot building up in his stomach as he mentally prepared for the battles soon to come. 

What happened? The man pondered, seeming to visibly mouth the words that he heard in his head, repeating themselves over and over. 

Another moment passed, Shay himself completely disregarding everything in front him, mouth agape as if he were mesmerized by something. It was at that point he felt a man's gloved hand touch upon his shoulder. Looking over to him, Shay was pulled back into reality upon his vision being graced with the sight of his new partner, Alexander Anderson. As much as the privateer wanted to go over what 'new'  implied in his head, he went back to his original plan; keep professional. 

Shivering slightly, the Templar watched as the priest moved his lips out of it's usual creaking smile to speak.

"Ya gonna be alright there, lad?"

Even with the ever-present slightly creepy smile still plastered on the man's face, Shay nodded hesitantly, seemingly genuinely. At least, as genuine as he could be at the moment. 

"Of course," he almost instinctively replied. Another short pause, Shay turning to leave quickly thereafter. Almost as if Anderson thought the exact same thing he did, the priest followed knowing the two had one end goal in mind; to end this.

One way or another, anyways. 

Not looking back, Shay instead turned to his shoulder to find the man of God by his side. The Templar still found himself at front, quickly navigating himself out of the hall the Primes had resided in, almost as if he memorized it's layout by heart. Alexander seemed to note this with his very perceptional attention span, but he could admit it was sort of obvious seeing how hasty the Templar was in his footsteps. In that case, the priest inquired about what was to happen with the duo.

"Might I ask, mister Cormac, since ye know this place inside and out, what'll be your approach to this quest we've gladly partaken in?" 

'Gladly'  was an interesting word to use, but Shay tilted his head to think about it. Perhaps he was a bit relieved to finally find himself getting this over with. Starting anew. Shaking his armored head afterwards, the privateer replied. 

"These buildings are some of the easiest things you'd find yourself climbing. We take the high ground, weed out our targets, then..."

"Aye," Anderson finished, a widening grin on his cheeks, "we reign the will of God himself! I haven't found myself in the midst of a stealth scenario in a long while."  

Shortly after the two men finished their planning, the Primes found themselves outside in the searing heat once again. As they walked out, feeling more grains of sand sink into their boots, Shay blocked his eyes at the blinding sun in front of him seeming to set itself upon the horizon, falling over the edge of the world in about an hour or so.

The Templar stopped in his tracks, hearing the wind breeze through his helmet and past his ears. 

Looming over the scene, the aforementioned buildings were almost in arm's reach at this point. Slowly, the two men shared a glance and a nod at one another, beginning a determined jogging pace towards the outskirts of the city. Both of the warriors were certain they'd get through this reaping pile of old ruins before dayfall.