Briar had been stepping out of his comfort zone, so to speak -- it was a surprisingly quick process considering his lack of experience and the general nervousness of which he approached new tasks on his own. This was, likely, due to the fact that he didn't view himself as alone; not explicitly. Maybe he didn't know his guild members very well yet - maybe he didn't have a real role in the guild and no one had asked much of him - but he was in a mage guild, all the same. The image of the Blue Pegasus was sterling upon his chest and he could feel his little shoulders flex with pride at every thought of it.

This was why he had taken his first steps on his own from the central area of Hargeon he had always called home. He hadn't before found himself in the outskirts of the port city, especially not for any type of wandering or - dare he say - trouble-seeking, but he had heard a fair number of tales of the pirate band that had been causing trouble even this close to his jurisdiction. Jurisdiction? Did that sound official enough? He huffed a happy little sound through his nose, pumping his fists at his sides and causing the simulant gems that dangled from every limb to jostle. He caught the light like this. A boy with stars in his eyes sparkling almost as bright.

It was not all that bombastic. Truth be told, he milled about the nearby land for a number of hours, building a camarederie with the workers after explaining his intent here - that is to say, to help with anything they needed, and this led him off track the assignment. He quickly fell into a routine of using his meager physical skills and light magical work to help with off-loading, on-loading and even the laundry of the local sailor maidens. He hadn't forgotten his responsibility to these people: and this is why he did all he was asked and volunteered for more. If there were to be no pirates, at least he could --

You never chirp so early.

The setting of the sun was met with a cry in the distance, and the sudden shift in tone and unsettlement that rippled through this little community pulled Briar out of his natural ways. Rather, even -- he found himself in a brand new situation and adapted to it with percision. He was not the only fighter among the dock workers and handymen, but he was the only mage. He had an even greater duty to fulfill. He was, at this moment, officially representing Blue Pegasus, & in his first real conflict!

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The pirates land at this side-port with treasure and dark glee in tow. They were quick to bandy to raid again, hauling anchor and boarding the land as if this settlement was yet another plunder to take advantage. They hadn't expected the resistance - nor the company - but they brandished swords and gold-laced teeth regardless. If Briar had known any better he could have easily writ them off as 'mook-types; with his lacking worldview and the naivety he was allowed instead he swallowed down the panic in his chest - the idea that anyone here would get hurt, or worse that he would fail them and cause greater damage - and hopped into action at his proper place behind the front-line fighters. He knew his capabilities, slight & growing or otherwise, and he wasn't going to be the cause of further confusion by charging in stick swinging.

He held up his gnarled wooden staff and breathed to slow his heart, waving it with every call of his magic. "I grant you the name of Rose." He spoke solemn, gracing the largest of the workers with the ring of a magic seal and the bloom of a rose at his lapel. It shimmered in the light, dying an under-tint of green beneath its deep red on every turn of the sun, and pulsed with the eager bellow of the man it appended. Another inhalation and steady breath out to straighten his arms around his staff, characteristic trembles being met with the resolve of Briar's passion.

Another yell and his eyes flicker open and over from his last spell as a man wrestles one of the ne'er-do-wells off two young women near a building. He races over without a thought, surprisingly speedy on those slight legs, and skates in behind the fellow he had just bonded camaraderie with these previous hours. His hand presses into his back, met with a hum. "Your name is Sunflower." He murmured in a song, the subsequent shimmer coating the man until the new, ethereal bloom at his chest gave him the resistance he needed to fend off the other. For good measure, anyways, Briar whacked the pirate on the noggin' with his staff and flinched back upon impact. "U-uhm. Welp!"

What else did you offer to such scoundrels? Er, well, still - sorry! He could feel the slight burn in his limbs from both the exertion and mana spent - but the adrenaline thus far served to fuel him only further. He was looking to be proactive and his gaze landed on the ship they came in on and the figures still on-board, who, forgive him for judging on a cover, looked decidedly un-pirately.

This and the the few brave men who attempted to approach through the small throng of criminals gave him his opportunity to swing his staff, kicking his heel and calling for a poppy. He was bounced off the tip of a blossom that melted into dew while he sailed, skirting back on his heels on touching the ground with a comical wave of his arm and a sheepish, sweaty gaze up at the pirates he had all but intruded upon.

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He held his staff firmer in the face of this, darting his eyes between each party - his, the vagabonds, the hostages. Taking note, steeling his hands and feet. He could do this. He shifted his head back to reveal the twin of the rose he had left on his previous partner, a smaller bud in his hair which ripples on every movement. His magic was not just good for his friends -- he was stronger for his love for others, after all. Mum always said so.

He ends the spell of Sunflower after confirming the safety of the other group, recasting it on himself and glowing effervescent with both flowers in adornment. He was dazzling in the setting sun. A boy is a garden. His heart is its warmth. His breath is its nourishment. These? W-well, they're pests, of course. Sorry! Uhm! But not that much!!

He would fend off a blade with his staff, fighting as well the fear he felt, and make his way behind the group while the bulk of his friendly forces kept them busy at the front. This allowed him his chance to slip deeper, every pirate in effort to stop him met with a startle from the men that fought for their home alongside him. Each time a raider rejoiced at landing a blow meant to decommission one of the workers Briar would wave his staff again, the glisten of dewdrops raining from friendly flowers to rejuvenate them like the grace of the morning sun for the flora that came before them. "I name us the Lily of the Valley." He sang, taking his steps back with faith to his protectors and those he was meaning to protect. A blade glanced off his defensive spell, dulling its glow but not the one left in his eyes.

His staff would serve enough to nudge the man back, space made for a lunge to the ship and a comrade to intervene. It felt nerve-wracking. Exhilarating. Amazing. A difference he could make, and the subsequent validation of those actions -- the lack of life lost. He scampered up the ship's docking and helped the hostages to ferry out while the group took the tide against the bandits, shifting Rose between fighting parties as necessary. His little heart pitter-pattered intensely: but he stayed, with a smile back at the detainees he took under his charge. They wouldn't worry if he didn't. Sunlight must reach every corner in a field.

It wasn't much longer when officials arrived to help clean up, and Briar took no small pride in his efforts to secure the settlement and save the people that had already all but lost their hope. He took even greater pride in the brave men and women who had fought at his side today, renewed in his already burning desire to serve his role as protector and - u-uhm - real mage! for his home and the people that needed it. This was the heart of his motivation for joining Blue Pegasus and the challenges and training that came with it. This. Them. The heart of it all.

The heart in its all.

... That said, he was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, and wouldn't intend to make a habit of such ... exciting missions. ... And, still, looked forward to the next time he'd help any number of people like this again. Every step mattered. Every smile counted.

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