Pushing her thoughts aside for now, Sailor Ganymede nodded at Soul and stood up, stretching before they had to leave. It seemed like Pluto and Enyalius had worked out a plan, so they should be okay, right?

As the group left Crystal Tokyo and moved thorugh space, Ganymede was directed into position in the group, supporting Shadow (pretty much carrying him around until they reached Zenar) and flanking Enyalius on the right side. Soul and Achelois were situated behind her, and Sailor Moon was on her direct left. As the plan was further explained to them, Ganymede grew more confident about their mission. But whne they finally entered Zenar's atmosphere, she cringe at the sight. The planet was even worse now, everything ruined by the chaotic influence. And as they prepared to land under Leviathan's cloaking magic, a dragon came into view, sitting right on the castle. 

"Of course it's right there..." she mumbled. But what could they do? Should the group split up to distract the dragon while the rest continued with the plan?

Upon their flight to Zenar, Sailor Leviathan explained to Sailor Saturn that she had used her likeness in one of her illusions to try and scare an enemy. It worked, but it also caused the goblin citizens of the planet to start worshiping her as "Sailah Sahtan." She hoped the senshi wouldn't terribly mind the predicament. Leviathan hoped she would find it a compliment that she was the most powerful thing she could think of at the time.

It took a lot of concentration to make the entire group invisible. Fortunately, from the others' perspectives, they would still be able to see a faint outline of each other. Perhaps they were glimpsing what it was like to be Leviathan in one of her illusions.

Not knowing the chances of a "sonic boom," she prayed that her illusion would do its work and they could get in without any danger.

Saturn smiled at Moon. "I have no idea." She said."Pluto and Enyalius were talking to her, so I just left I guess she'll find me before we leave." She smiled and enjoyed the last moments of down time. At the call to ready and depart Saturn steeled herself, for what was to come. She knew this was not going to be an easy mission.

Saturn was still a little taken back by the actions of Leviathan on the last mission here but maybe with some luck the ruse might work in their favor later. Who knows the goblins might end up helping them. But there was part of the senshi that wasn't quite ready to believe that was going to happen.

She took her place beside Moon, and she wouldn't be leaving it. She would give her life before she let her princess get hurt. She squeezed Moon's hand when she reached for her childhood friend. If Moon was beside her, Saturn could do anything. She knew that to be true.

Her hands were numb from holding her glaive so tightly. She gasped in shock of how the planet looked. It reminded her of a rotting garden, there were little things here and there that could have once been beautiful, but not it was all gone or going to rot left under the influence of Chaos too long.

The sight of the dragon took her by surprise. She knew that the creatures could be a problem here but she never expected to encounter one so soon upon landing. Well they all had their parts to play in the show, they all know what they should do, and Saturn was going to do the best she could, and she would keep her friend safe.

Sailor Moon tensed when she saw the dragon in the distance. She knew that at this point they could not slow down in a way that would avoid the sudden announcement of their arrival. The pink-haired soldier glanced over at her friend, and then back at the dragon. Her mind tried to rapidly sort through her abilities. Pink Sugar Heart Attack? No, likely to just infuriate the creature, if it even noticed the plinking of bright heart-shaped outlines against its scaly hide. Everything else in her arsenal was for healing or destroying...

She sighed. She'd just have to go along with whatever their leaders decided. Sailor Moon hadn't managed to inherit any specific disabling abilities. Thanks a lot, fancy Silver Crystal.

DM announcement: I'm sick. Like wow knock out sick. I wont be on tonight, please pardon the delay.

As they prepared to leave, Shadow confided the remainder of his story to Sailor Andromeda.

In that era, he was manipulated by Queen Beryl to fight and conquer while under the pretense of protecting the Earth Kingdom's sovereignty. Jasper eventually realized the extent of her deception, but it it was too late to avert the attack on the Moon Kingdom.

On the day that Prince Endymion gave his life to protect Princess Serenity, Jasper held the dubious honor of being a captive audience. All the suffering and hardships he had experienced in his first life failed to measure up to the sorrow which overwhelmed Serenity in that moment. It was as though Jasper could feel her heart, and with it his own, being torn to shreds.

The knife that was lodged in his back was but a mere formality.

---

Throughout the speedy trip to Zenar, Shadow did his part to keep his attention focused on the landing scenario. He silently pushed aside the awareness that Ganymede, who identified outside of his senshi crystal as male, was taking over for Enyalius in ferrying him offworld. He.. or she, in this case, was approximately as well armored as the warrior maiden who led their charge. Ganymede's silver breastplate was thankfully inhibiting tactile sensations, all of which were unwanted in the context of their situation.

Their re-entry into the atmosphere only served to confirm some of the worst fears that Shadow held for the planet. Rather than wallow in the audacities that were suffocating this world, it was his intention to find the weed perpetuating this garden of misery and pull it up by the roots.

He cringed as they neared the castle. One of those accursed dragons had seen fit to recline upon the parapets! Their plan was to disable the aptly-named Dangerous Ones by striking their wings, but that was based on the assumption the creatures would attempt interdiction while airborne. Keeping to the ground eliminated that strategic advantage..  worse yet, the senshi were sure to draw its attention with their arrival.

We have to get inside, Shadow mused as he studied the keep walls - looking for any weakened section, any crumbling stones to exploit. Barring any sort of shapechanging sorcery, the dragons couldn't pursue them in such smaller spaces without causing significant damage to the castle.

We must find a door, or create one.

As they approached the planet, Soul could easily see that the planet had gotten worse in their absence. She tightened her mental shields anxiously. Even if they did save the Queen and Princess and defeated Chaos, she wasn't sure if the planet would be salvageable. The spirits here were corrupted so badly Soul had no idea even where the begin to fix them or if the Pink Crystal or Silver Crystal could even fix them at all.

As they descended closer to the castle, she could see the dragon was still there. That's just fantastic. I just hope that Leviathans illusion will hold and we can sneak past them. But how do we get into the castle?

Achelois though that she would have to act as a wall between Soul and Leviathan but luckily enough nothing dramatic happened on their way to Zenar.  Still, she kept an eye on the two next to her and the two in front of her.

Achelois felt a shiver run down her spine as they approached the planet; it was hard to even pick it out against the backdrop of space.  As they pushed through it's atmosphere she found that the smog had gotten worse.  Instead of flying it felt more like the group w's swimming towards the destination.  They broke through and leveled off towards the castle. 

As they came near Achelois was grateful for Leviathan's illusion when she spotted the dragon atop one of the castle's spires.  Even though they were currently invisible, they would not be able to hide the wave that will come after them or their landing in the courtyard.   She looked past moon and saw Enya's outline in front of the group.  She watched her tense up as she was, no doubt, going through every possibility in her mind to get them through without fighting the dragon.  Having to fight the dragon, though they could defeat it, would mean giving up their advantage for Enya to use Heavy Burden and getting everyone else through in the confusion.  She shuddered, she didn't like that move no matter how strong it was.  She didn't like what it meant and where it left Enya after using it.   She shook her head and turned her thoughts elsewhere.

An idea struck her and she laughed, though there was no sound.  Her vision focused on the castle then back to Enya; they would arrive soon.  A wide grin spread across her face and her eyes burned green as she gripped her staff.  No worries friend, I've got your back.  A bubbling energy grew inside her as she began to glow and focus all her attention on Enya.  She reached out to her metal clad friend and enveloped her with energy.  All of her concentration went to thoughts of strength, abounding energy and limitless potential.  She was glad that she was able to use her ability on Enya.  This way she could weave her calm energy into Enya as well when she used Heavy Burden. 

She felt her energy wrap around Enya and knew that her message had gotten across.  Even a dragon would be no match for their combined abilities.  She couldn't let anyone know what she was doing; hopefully they would continue with the plan.  She placed her full concentration on Enya as she continued to glow and pushed her energy to her.  We can do this!

OOC:

DM wrote:

I LIVE! Due to my absence, the game will be given an additional 2 days, if necessary, and any characters that had not checked in since my last in-character post will not be penalized for breaking the Activity Rule; the activity rule resets when this post is posted. 


Sailor Achelois used Best Ability for on Sailor Enyalius for 7 MP.

Sailor Enyalius's Heavy Burden attack (10MP) effect will be doubled!

Just as she was looking upward and around for any safe retreat point, Enyalius felt an overwhelming feeling of calm and power wash over her, enveloping her comfortingly, and the smile that broke her face could only be described as disbelieving. Achelois knew exactly what she needed. With her friend supporting her, backing Enyalius's power with her own, both the lesser creatures and the dragon could fall to Heavy Burden and could be kept down with just enough time for them to get inside and get those doors barred. Halfway wondering if the rest of the group thought her mental, she continued their path, slowing at just the right height not to flatten them. Courtyard in sight, she pointed Pluto and Ganymede towards the doors as she continued straight down, their invisibility cloaking them still even as the Sonic Boom washed through.

The noise rocked the keep, shaking stones, crumbling decrepit archways, sending up a massive amount of dust as it raised the alarm and intense confusion of the creatures, small and large, that crowded in the courtyard of the keep. The dragon above scrambled, bugled out a warning, and shot forward, having never been asleep, its green hide soon disappearing in the dust cloud. As the creatures coughed and hacked, Enyalius landed feet first, threw her right hand heavenward and cried, "Enyalius Crushing Burden!" 

As the power came to her, she clasped it in her hand and quickly took a knee, slamming the energy into the ground around her, concentrating on only enemies.

DM wrote:

Enyalius uses Enyalius Crushing Burden (10 MP)
Crushing Burden is enhanced by Best Ability! Crushing Burden will not fail!


The creatures in the courtyard and the Dragon scrambling to reach the keep are slammed to the ground and immobilized! 

They will be unable to move for five minutes.

Sailor Ganymede nodded at Enyalius' silent command, assuming that she and Achelois had come up with a solution to their dragon problem. As all the enemies in the courtyard were downed momentarily, Ganymede dropped in altitude and  flew lower over the courtyard towards the entrance to the fortress. 

"Last stop, everybody get off," she said with a grin, dropping Shadow about a foot off the ground before landing heavily herself. Like they had planned earlier, she folded her bronze wings and followed Pluto over to the heavy doors to try and open them.

Saturn hit the ground running and headed towards the keep with Moon by her side. She wasn't sure that her small frame would be helpful for trying to open the heavy doors, so she stood with her back to her friends and teammates at the ready in case for whatever reason Enyalius' attack didn't hold for long.

Part of her mind drifted, it felt good to be on the ground again, even if that ground reeked of rot and corruption. The stink of Chaos seemed to come from everywhere and Saturn wondered if she was the only one who noticed or if the others were better at ignoring it that she was. She looked behind her and prayed to her guardian planet that they would have those doors open soon, and that whatever Enyalius had done would hold till they were inside.

Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn kept perfect pace together as they approached the door. The two girls moved as though they had fought in many battles together--which, after all, they had. She remained right beside the dark-haired soldier as the group attempted to get inside, the time of the diversion provided by Enyalius' ticking away. Sailor Moon would be ready to assist Saturn in fending off attacks if that became necessary.

Pluto had flown with everyone and this time, it seemed as if the flight were easier. She and Enyalius had explained the plans to everyone, and discussed the possibility of Andromeda using her chains to barricade the door. Pluto felt a glow of pride and excitement to know that the plan was becoming more concrete. She turned her focus to the planet, and her eyes widened, turning sad as she saw how much worse the planet had gotten in a months time. They had to accomplish the mission this time.

She and the others had broken the atmosphere, and were getting closer to the surface all the time. She could see the castle quickly approaching, and she let out a small gasp as she saw the dragon sitting on the top of the castle. So much for being able to sneak in without dealing with the dragon...but it was still possible. She saw the dragon getting up, only to be slammed down, and knew Enyalius had done her part. She turned and angled herself, spreading her body slightly to slow her fall. She landed on the ground and ran, heading towards the doors of the castle. She didn't say anything, for fear of alerting something to their location, and trusting the others to keep in mind the plan.

Andromeda pondered everything Shadow had told her during the meal on the way to Zenar. His past had definitely been tragic and rife with conflict and regret, and she knew that most of the solar system senshi had also been direct reincarnations of their past selves during the age called Silver Millennium. She herself had no other memory beyond this one, though she’d begun to wonder if perhaps she had a past life herself, if not one she could easily recall because she’d been reincarnated the ‘normal’ way rather than with the famous Legendary Silver Crystal.

Upon entering Zenar, though, all errant thoughts disappeared from her head as she took a good look at the extent of the planet’s ruin. It was hard to even breathe or move, and she followed the group at the very back, maintaining her formation beside Leviathan. The planet seemed like a lost cause, and it made her confidence vanish. Was there anything left to save here?

As they approached the castle, cloaked with invisibility, once again she wondered why they hadn’t tried this to begin with. It seemed fate did not want to spare them another encounter with the dragons, however, seeing that one of them was sitting right on top of the castle. She looked around, wondering what the strategy was, and saw something happening with Achelois’ staff. In another second, a loud noise shook the entire area, basically alerting everyone and everything about their presence. Clearly though, this was part of the plan.

Andromeda landed somewhat roughly behind the others, watched as Enyalius did her thing with the creatures within the castle, and then Pluto led the rest toward the doors. Andromeda didn’t ask questions; she just followed, hoping the doors weren’t locked, and if they were, that they could get it open in time before the creatures regained their senses.

Achelois kept her focus on Enya as she slammed to the ground and summoned her Heavy Burden.  She watched as even the dragon was slammed to the ground and was unable to move.  Keeping her focus on Enya she flew towards the door with the others.  She remained hovering off the ground so that she wouldn't get distracted and lose her connection with Enya. 

As the others worked on getting the door opened her strong, calm energy continued to flow into Enya.  She hoped that mixing her calm energy in would ease the aftereffects of Heavy Burden.  She willed the others to get the door opened quickly so that everyone could get inside.  The attack wouldn't last long.

Acehlois and Enyalius had formed a potent team. Fifteen years of fighting together was more than enough time for them to know each other's fighting stytle - their strengths, their weaknesses, and how to leverage them accordingly. He couldn't help but to be impressed by the relative ease in which they had subdued the entire throng of Chaos-touched creatures.

When he hit the ground, Shadow responded to Ganymede's smirk with characteristic dry wit. "Thank you, drive thru..." Soon after, he was running to catch up to Pluto and secure his position at the front of the group.

Pluto pushed hard against the doors, half expecting it would take most of them to get the doors open. But they opened for her, and she was grateful. She quickly went inside and made motions silently to Shadow and Ganymede to take up their posts as lookouts. She moved quickly over to Andromeda and murmured to her. “Start with the top and work down. Let's try to provide space for Enyalius and Achelois to be able to get inside. Since your chains are unlimited, it cannot hurt to have a barrier on the outside of the door as well as in. Try to make sure they're as embedded as possible in the stone, if you can.”

Sailor Ganymede followed Pluto into the fortress, pulling the axe out from her belt in preparation. They were in the enemy's stronghold, so there was no telling what might happen now. She took a few steps farther into the hall and tried to see if anything was hiding in the dark as the other senshi worked on barring the door.

"Shadow, you're better at seeing without light than me, can you spot anything?" she asked. "I think there's a barricade ahead."

Sailor Moon saw that the doors opened, and she ducked inside, beckoning for Saturn to follow her. She didn't immediately turn to face the darkness inside; she kept her attention focused on the open door, watching as the sailor soldiers entered, hoping to make sure that no one was left behind or attacked.

It was so very dark in this stronghold! How were they going to see? And more importantly, Sailor Moon asked herself, how were they going to locate the fairies?

To her surprise, opening the doors wasn’t a difficult task. She rushed inside with the others, and nodded at Pluto’s instruction. Standing on the open doorway, she first shot out a length of chain to the stone wall outside and stretched it along to the wall on the other side of the doors. She’d never actually used her chains in this way—making them a separate part of herself. She’d only ever used them while still being attached to her bracelets. But she had tested it before she agreed to this plan and, it turned out, when she willed them to unattach, they would. She realized that all this time, all she needed to do was let it go. She had subconsciously kept binding herself to the chains, unknowingly limiting her own powers. Taking a deep breath now, Andromeda repeated what she had tried just a couple hours earlier and set the other end of the chain loose, watching it as it embedded itself in the stone.

You learn something new about yourself every day.

All she’d ever wanted was to weaponize the very thing that used to bind her, but she hadn’t truly done it until this moment. She moved quicker now and spread even more chains across the top of the doorway. She would do the inner barricade later, when the doors were closed and everyone was inside. As she quickly made several more lines of chains, there was now only the bottom part of the doorway still free of chains, and she called out to any remaining senshi still outside, “Hurry up and come in, I’m almost done blocking the way!”

Shadow drew his weapon and took up position near the darkness, interposing himself between the senshi and the umbral veil. His back was turned to the doors; if something dangerous was coming from that direction, the group as a whole would get plenty of warning before it arrived.

He had to wonder if the inhabitants of this dark fortress used any form of lighting. Hit-and-run attacks were a very real and dangerous possibility, especially if this agent of Chaos possessed any servants like Shadow himself.

"Ganymede, I'll let you know if I see anything moving towards us. We'll solve the problem of light once we're inside and the door is secured."

Crushing Burden.

Enyalius struggled to stand, her stubborn mind pressing her forward. They had to reach the keep - but without the rush of battle pumping adrenaline through her veins, she faltered. Her knee fell back to the dirt and scrub grass, now both hands on the crumbling rock to either side of her; there was no immediate threat to combat - the attack had been preemptive, and while it had worked, the side-effects were much greater without the chemicals of battle to counteract them.

She had abandoned them all. She put her right hand on her kneeling knee and pushed hard, determined to stand and keep moving despite the familiar faces parading across her mind's eye, their smiling faces interspersed with the stark reality of warfare. She saw the stone and mortar, the stains of blood coloring walls and floors, making weapons slick. She heard the cries of battle and the crying of the noncombatants whose lives were in the balance. Her mind shifting cruelly, she saw her father smiling after their first victory - was he even alive now, or had her cowardice doomed him? She heard the rain and the mourning cries, the gruff voices barking orders; she saw the flickering light of funeral pyres, thick smoke hanging in the air as the rain fell. How many good people had died?


Failure weighed heavily on her; failure and guilt, distaste and disgust at what she had done and how she had left... but the feeling was not unbearable. Enyalius made it to her feet, staggering only slightly; this feeling was manageable. With a puzzle to work through, the images faded further, her old friends disappearing from her mind's eye, and the corresponding pyres falling to the background. Was Enyalius finally forgiving her weakness? 

Her eyes refocused on the Zenarian landscape surrounding her, finding easily the creatures pressed to the ground in discomfort, and traveled to find the doorway and the hasty work being done there. She pressed forward towards them, and as her eyes focused on Achelois's glowing green, she had her answer. Her heart fell a bit at the realization that her planet had yet to forgive, if it ever would, but her spirits bolstered back with the awareness that even if she were never forgiven, Achelois, who knew everything, continued to support her.

She jogged the remaining steps and slid feet-first easily under the chained barricade and into the darkness beyond, just as a ground-shuddering roar answered the last bugling call of the green dragon. 

DM wrote:

A second dragon rushes towards the Keep, having been warned of danger before the Green Dragon fell to Enyalius's Crushing Burden attack!

She rolled over onto her stomach, pressing the toes of her shoes into the stone floor beneath, and prepared to dart back out to defend should the dragon appear before the others were inside. Her eyes scanned what little she could see of the courtyard, and silently urged Achelois and Andromeda forward.

Achelois kept her back to the group at the door and her eyes on Enya.  It had opened easily enough and Andromeda was busy creating a blockade with her chains.  Her focus remained on Enya, her brows knit together as she pushed more calm energy to her; she had hesitated to get up.  You can do it!  She sighed with relief as Enya stood up and began running towards them. 

Her attention was drawn to the sky by a ground-shaking roar; another dragon was upon them.  Achelois released her ability and flew in through the open hole in the barricade to the other side.   Now they just needed Andromeda to come in and barricade this side as well.  Hopefully that would be enough to stop a dragon.

Pluto watched relieved as Enyalius and Achelois made it inside safely. And she heard the 2nd dragons calls. Her eyes widened and she waited long enough for Andromeda to cover the hole in the first layer of chains before she rushed forward, slamming the doors closed and cried out. “Everyone, come keep the door closed! Andromeda, get that second barrier of chains started, and make it thicker than the outside! Do it in layers if you have to!” She turned, placing her back firmly against the wood of the door and pushed all her weight against it. She was sure the dragon was going to try breaking in, and she wanted to be sure there was no possible way for it to.

Andromeda was working as fast as she could, and when both Enyalius and Achelois made it inside, she heard the roar of another dragon, coming straight toward them. Realizing she didn’t have much time, she did the best she could to cover the remaining hole before the doors were slammed closed. She was already working on the inside barrier before anyone could tell her to. The panic was making her a bit frantic, so she forced herself to take a deep breath and keep her control, lest her chains would simply fall off. Thinking only on her task at hand and nothing about the dragon outside, she shot out chains in record time all across the inside of the doors, embedding their ends within the stone walls, creating as many layers as she could as fast as possible. She had to work around the others who were keeping the doors closed, but she made sure she didn't accidentally chain anyone to the door. That would not be good.

“I don’t suppose there are any furniture just lying around in this darkness?” she quipped, wondering if the chains would hold. She hadn’t once looked into the darkness that awaited them since she got inside, and wasn’t going to start to now; her imagination would just be worse than what was actually there. She shot the last length of chain to cover the hinges of the door—its most vulnerable spot—and stepped back to admire her work.

Saturn rushed inside after Moon keeping close to her friend. She waited as her eyes adjusted poorly to the darkness inside the keep. This wasn't normal darkness, this was the total darkness of dispare and hate, something that she hadn't seen or felt in a very long time. She didn't like this at all. Who knew what waiting for them in that darkness.

Upon hearing the roar of a second dragon, Saturn decided whatever was in the keep was better than what was outside. At Andromeda's mention of furniture, Saturn stated forward slowly her glaive in front of her like a guiding poll in the dark. She moved along the wall, but she didn't find anything that was helpful to blocking the door.

She kept moving in hopes of finding something that might be helpful.

As the doors slammed shut behind them and the senshi spread out, either acting as guards or searchers for objects to bar the incredible doors, the three fairies gathered together near Pluto, keeping out of the way. Their wings glowed very softly, just enough to illuminate their faces; from a distance one might be able to make out the muted colors of golden brown, pink, and green, but the light was not strong enough to reveal much of anything else around them.

"Queen Mana?" Lillyena called softly, her voice barely carrying to the walls of the room, "Flora?" 

"Careful," Leafe warned gently, "We don't know what could be waiting in the dark."

Lillyena's lips pouted with worry and discomfort, her eyes searching the darkness. "Which way, Mossen?"

"What?!" Mossen returned quickly, his hands on his hips as he whirled around to face her, "Me?" he lowered his voice upon receiving a stern look from Leafe, "How should I know where to go?"

"You're the direction person!" Lillyena returned his accusatory glare, putting her own hands on her hips as her frustrated whisper sliced through the air further than her original calls, "So which way do we go?"


"You know full well it doesn't work like that!" Mossen's brows furrowed together

"So you're saying you're useless?"

Mossen growled, fuming, "We're facing north, we're in a room made of stone - that's all I've got!"

"Calm down!" Leafe directed, using his hand to break their mutual gaze. "No one could expect you to know the layout of this dwelling, Mossen; don't let Lillyena get to you," he shot her a reproachful gaze, "she's stressed and not handling herself well." He paused, looking down one wall, "I think I heard something. We should see if we can be of any help. Lillyena?" he pointed in the direction Saturn and Sailor Moon had taken, and, looking chagrined, she followed his direction. Once she had left, he motioned for Mossen to accompany him and flew up and down the line of Andromeda's chains, checking their anchorage. 

DM wrote:

When the fairies get close to an object - be it the wall or some sort of furniture piece - they can illuminate about a 5 inch radius about themselves rather well, allowing for quick identification of the object. Their light will help people with good night vision, like Shadow, see around the room, but otherwise they are not bright enough to use as a true light source. 

XD Think of them as spherical party glow-sticks at about half-life. 


Also! For this RP, I'll be introducing a new positioning matrix. ^^ It won't be hard to use. I'll introduce a map once we've figured out a way to reveal the room IC, and then we'll mark our movements throughout the map using a grid-like placement method. Think battleship. XD 


Ex:) Blahblahblah, post post, Enyalius moved forward to inspect the tapestry.

Movement wrote:

Enyalius moves to square D4

Why? ...there may or may not be booby traps.    And this would solve any positioning errors during battles. I'll update the map as often as possible (and, of course, you guys can keep track of the map, too, using paint on your computer).

Now that the doors had been closed, and hopefully sealed successfully, Pluto leaned away from the doors and moved forward a few steps. She reached into her dimensional pocket, pulling out sticks, the rolls of cotton fabric and kerosene, and her fire starters. She quickly wound a few layers of the thick cotton strips around the end of the sticks, poured the kerosene into the cotton, and struck the fire starters to light the newly made torches. Once they had been lit one by one, she began handing them out to the folks near by. “Here. Let's at least be able to see what's going on.”