nohalation (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nohalation) wrote2018-08-29 12:14 pm
nohalation) wrote2018-08-29 12:14 pm
Child of the Sun - Pt 2 - Bees
[In this memory, it's Dusk and her court vs Dawn, her twin bro, and Parsnip and Parsley.]
"Isn't that too bad?" Dusk shoots Parsley the same glare as she did Dawn like go on, try to knock over Domino, see what happens. "It's my kingdom now. And we're going to make it the most entertaining kingdom in the area. So you can leave."
Clima is thinking, "My baby Dusk is a kingdom snatcher??? I'm attracted."
Primrose is thinking, "Kingdom snatching is ILLEGAL!"
Dawn raises his eyebrows, otherwise remaining perfectly in control of the calm way he's presenting himself.
"Entertaining? You seem to have mistaken a civilization for a circus. Your Court represents that, too. What did you call them, Parsnip?"
Dawn turns to face Parsnip, who is sputtering. You can notice, right on Dawn's back where there would be small wings like Dusk, there are actually just stubs, as if the wings were snapped off.
"I called them a lot of things?" Parsnip offers weakly. Dawn turns to face you again.
"Hm. Yes, well, I do not have time for namecalling." He pauses, studying Dusk's face carefully. "Not in my kingdom."
"Oh..." Dusk. Smiles. "I don't recall giving it to you. And nothing was taken from me? So where did you find a new kingdom to rule, big brother~?"
Clima brain: And he's her BROTHER? Woooo. She looks cuter though.
A twisted smile, again clashing with the emotionlessness of his eyes, forms on Dawn's face. His voice remains perfectly level, perfectly calculated. "I must punish you." He turns to Parsley and Snip, who look, quite frankly, terrified. "Parsnip of the Future. Parsley of the Past. You will deal with them." Then, just as the twins are about to acknowledge his demand, Dawn turns to face you. "Kill them, but please kill them slowly. I want to take joy in the pained faces my sister and her friends make."
Parsley nods firmly, pulling out a spear, but Snip is sweating buckets again. Dusk turns to the two and also smile. "It's nice to see you guys again. My friends! Sorry about what happened."
Walnut, who was certainly present the entire time, naturally can't stand for - pretty much any of this. Enumerating the whole list would make light of the situation, so there's just the most glaring thing - someone she hasn't heard of in a while. Someone she was hoping she'd never hear about again? Either way. It doesn't really matter. She reaches out to force herself in front of Dusk, or to shove her behind her - to just get her out of the way.
Parsley smiles, bright and kind, as if he hadn't thrown a fit just moments prior.
"Yes, I do apologize, Dusk, but we have to do what the second in command wants us to do~!" He laughs, crinkling his eyes. "Isn't it funny how my brother and I are the faces of the cult, but we're actually just some underlings after all? It's important to keep appearances to prevent trouble for the higher ups, after all! Ha ha. Isn't that funny?"
Suddenly he thrusts his spear at Dusk—
Who is being blocked by Walnut.
Oops. Ah, right on the mark. The spear pierces Walnut in the shoulder, going clear through it. In fact, Dusk, you might just see the tip of the spear's point.
Parsley grins. He isn't rusty after all.
Walnut takes 3 damage.
While Parsley is there, though, Clima is going to take the chance and throw one of the knives at Parsley's chest, as soon as he strikes Walnut.Everyone's got a good shot today. The knife sticks right into his chest, drawing a scream from Parsley himself as he tries to clutch at it, stepping back while also trying to hold onto his spear. Parsley receives 4 damage, and now he has a knife sticking out of his chest. And, because I'm keeping their HP ~mysterious~, it's unclear how much further they have to go.
But what about Snip? Where is he to help his brother?
Oh.
Snip has slumped to the ground, grabbing at his hair.
"There's no point... there's no point, there's no point, every future sight branches into that one, there's no point...!"
Dusk's eyes widen when Walnut is stabbed, but she quickly grabs into her inventory and takes a candy and shoves it into Walnut's mouth.
Walnut crumples, shrieking out a curse; that was pretty much what she expected to happen, this is what she wanted to happen, b -
There's candy in her mouth now. Ok.
Dusk is looking for who is closest, who can she WHACK REALLY HARD WITH HER FLAG . "I don't care about predictions, I'll just do what I always do, and we'll move forward and that's fine enough!!"
Snip is the nearest to Dusk. He's still going on about FUTURES and OH NO and OH SHIT and otherwise losing his cool completely.
Dusk goes over to Snip and SHAKES HIM, possibly slapping him a little (a lot). "Wake up, dummy! I already TOLD you, the future doesn't mean anything! Names doesn't have to mean anything! Reputation, heirs, none of that has to matter! Why are people so obsessed! With things! Being! The! Same!!"
And Dawn is watching from the back of the room with a cold expression. In his hand, by his side, is a trumpet.
Snip takes a couple points of damage from those slaps, wow! But he's sobbing now, his eyes and nose running. "I can't, there's no point, we're just going to die anyway...! I can't even read your future! All I can see... all I can see...!"
--
Man. Primrose notices Clima and Walnut seem to have defending Dusk's honour covered, so Primrose steps over to Slot and Crimson, keeping a close eye on Dawn and the situation in general. Plans, plans, plans. "This guy wants to be an official? Seriously?"
"Sounds like he does." Slot answers, keeping a wary eye on Dawn and the trumpet. "Even if he tried to kill us," and almost killed me, "what are your thoughts?"
"How lucky is he?"
Slot shrugs, "He almost got me during that ballroom blitz."
Primrose tuts, still watching the action intently. "He didn't, though! Dusk might get the final say on who works for her, but I'm the one in charge of the finances so I get to choose who we hire. And I don't hire anyone who isn't #blessed."
A time honoured tradition she just came up with, right now.
--
Clima stops, taking a moment or two to look over at Crimson. Deliberates, for a second or so. Well. It would be funny. There's an air of humor from him, but whatever is funny he won't say. Instead, he pulls out another knife to support Dusk, while watching Dawn.
Parsley studies you and hoists his Spear up, ready to defend as he continues trying to pull this damned knife out of his chest. Before Parsley can take the knife out, Clima is just chucking another one at his shoulder, meaning to seal his movements.
Parsley cries out, taking YET ANOTHER FUCKING KNIFE. What is he, a pincushion? This boy's got two knives sticking out of him. He slides to the ground, after taking 4 Damage, clutching his spear.
He wasn't made to fight like this. His charisma is where it's at, yet, his commander has put him in a position where he must put his life on the line. A punishment of his own. Parsley's eyes blearily search for Snip, who is now being shaken by Dusk. He's... the only one trying to fight?
--
The candy stopped Walnut from screaming about the spear in her arm for a second? It really does hurt, though; she's a little dazed with it out; if no one else is hurt there's not much she can do, but she keeps an eye on Dusk, an eye on Snip and Parsley, and Dawn especially -
"Why does Dawn want the position?" she calls out. Like. Why?
For what purpose.
Dawn continues standing coolly in the back, running a finger over the trumpet. This scene before him is kind of ridiculous and batshit, it's just a bunch of teenaged cultists sucking at fighting and a Court scrambling alongside them.
He smiles.
But his smile falls when Walnut speaks out. Excuse you?
Dusk pauses the shaking and turns her head to Walnut, recognizing her voice immediately. "Why?" Still holding onto Snippy though.
"What would you even do with power in a place like this?" A shithole like this, Walnut thinks but doesn't say. She believes in Dusk, and in her family, and that it can change, but, "'Governing things,' and -" she cuts her eyes at Dawn. "And 'ruling things'! You too! What do you want with this place? I never got that! I don't get it, she's your sister!"
Not that she's disinclined from looking the other way on this matter, but a lot about this seems suspect.
Dawn stares at you, Walnut... no, perhaps through you? His gaze is unfocused.
"I am merely doing what I was chosen to do, Walnut. This kingdom didn't see my potential, but They did. And They asked this of me, so I only return Their favor... it just so happens to align with my personal desire to see you all suffer. Perhaps, if I had the chance to align this Kingdom with the stars properly..."
It's not easy to hear Dawn's voice over all the commotion of someone bawling and some other people talking about playing russian roulette with their pet, and maybe some yelling and chatter elsewhere, but you manage.
"Properly." Walnut says.
You know what, that's enough. While Snip and Parsley are distracted, Walnut is going to walk up to Dawn, actually. And attempt to kick him right in the stomach. This is stupid. He doesn't get it at all, there are reasons things have shifted like this, fuck.
--
Slot raises an eyebrow at that, "Can you say that all of us are hashtagged blessed?"
"I didn't hire any of you, but honestly we should've died like forever ago so yeah?" Primrose responds pretty easily.
"Ok, point taken."
"You know, my revolver's only got five rounds left. We could see how lucky he is. I'd say we have an 80% chance of dying horribly any time we do anything, right?"
"Are you suggesting we play a game with his life?"
"Life is a game! So we might as well play, right? I still have my crossbow, if Clima and Dusk somehow need help."
Slot tugs on Crimson's leash again, "What do you say? Live, and we'll set you free and give you a position"
Crimson... has no idea what is going on, until he hears WE'LL SET YOU FREE. That's his calling!
"You will? I'll do whatever it takes, just remove this leash!"
"You heard the man," Slot says with a grin at Primrose.
Plans, plans, plans, plans. She honestly just wants to shoot him and then beat the twins and throw them in jail and probably also throw Dawn in jail and fuck the Angels can go in jail too, but she has to keep a calm, level head here. Planning. Crimson could be useful, but he needs to be scared. He can't be trusted, so he needs to know what's at stake. So --
Grin grin. "Let's do it," she says, spinning the chamber.
Crimson watches her spin the gun. Shit. Are they serious?
...
Okay, whatever, he didn't want to live like this anyway, guess he's up for Russian roulette more than anything.
"Let's make it more exciting though, huh? Five out of six loaded is boring, it doesn't build tension at all."
"How could you build more tension than that?" Slot asks, genuinely curious
"One bullet, duh! Five means you can only pull the trigger twice. It's bor~ing."
"I like it."
--
Clima moves closer to Parsley, grabbing him by the head to, you know, just shove him down onto the ground if possible.
He sits on Parsley now, right on his chest. Just before the knife, too - he's not very heavy, but even so, with all the pain it's probably not a pleasant experience for Parsley.
Clima presses a hand down onto the knife in his shoulder, tilting his head.
"Oh," he says aloud, as if thinking, "What is your name again?"
Parsley whines and grimace. Ow, ow, ow! He tries to look you in the eyes, Clima, biting his lip to carry out the last thing he wants to do.
"That's right... Parsley of the Past. Would you like for me to read your past for you, Clima? Would you," he wheezes, trying to get some air, "would you like for me to tell the kingdom of the strifes you've endured in your little cloud kingdom?"
Clima tilts his head again. "Ah, right."
"You made friends with Dusk a while ago. I remember now."
The words are benign in and of themselves, but as he speaks, there's a glint in his eye. This doesn't seem to be threatening him.
"Here's another question. Why did you do this?" The question is accompanied with a twist of the knife in Parsley's shoulder. Painfully and deliberately slow, but sharp enough that it's more like drawing a small circle into his flesh.
Clima, you don't unnerve Parsley in the least... at least, not where it shows. His smile is still in place, in spite of the pain he's being put in.
"Ugh... haha, we, too were chosen. We're only doing what we're told. And before you say anything: we chose this path, too." His smile grows. "My brother and I didn't sacrifice our entire kingdom for nothing."
"Oh, which kingdom was that?"
"A small kingdom, once located at least a dozen labyrinths away from here. It was known as Ancient Back Alley. You might have heard of it~"
That's right. Perhaps you have, because it was once a small, if not still very prosperous, kingdom. Less than five years ago it was wiped from the map.
There was never really any explanation for how that came to be.
He leans against the knife a bit, like a tired little birb. Is he actually tired, who knows. "Huh. And the reason why you betrayed Dusk?"
---
All of a sudden, Dusk just kind of watches everyone, as if she was snapped out of something. She looks over at Snip and smoothes out his hair almost instinctively. "Oh, . . . your hair is nice."
Snip sniffs and looks at Dusk. What??? In the midst of his sobs, he musters a few sensible words.
"Lady, are you crazy?"
Dusk doesn't care about that weird kingdom. Instead, she just kind of gives Snip a friendly smile, perhaps a genuinely friendly smile. "Probably a little bit. After all, normal people wouldn't try to make a cursed kingdom an idol country. They probably would have destroyed it a long time ago. Mmm, but I like the people here, and I like the friends I've made. It's nice to see the sun reflect against the fallen snow here." She then ruffles Snip's hair (that she tried to make nice??) and then lets him go, moving straight towards Walnut and Dawn.
--
Walnut, You go to kick Dawn, and he simply catches onto your foot, holding it in place. Kind of awkward. His face is still blank, as if he's still registering what's going on. But, given how quickly he reacted, he's fucking talented in combat to say the least.
"Were you trying to hurt me just then? A daring tactic, Walnut the 6th."
Then, he grabs your foot and twists it, and with that motion he tosses you to the ground like one would their least favorite doll.
-----
Primrose starts emptying the revolver aside from one bullet, visibly shaking while doing so. Focus on plans. Focus on plans. Focus. It's not that she's scared, and in fact her eyes are wide, intense. Plans.
"Do you want me to do it? He's my captive, after all."
"This is my interview! Don't you dare take this from me."
"Just offering~"
When she closes the chamber, before spinning it -- or rather while spinning it, she does some SICK REVOLVER TRICKS JUST LIKE IN HER FAVOURITE COWBOY MOVIES, and also activates grandma's brooch to unleash bees. For effect. You know. It looks cool. Nothing is cooler than a cat slowly losing her shit, surrounded by bees, as she prepares to maybe kill a dude.
When she's done, she holds the gun to her own head, looking positively fucking insane. "So the first rule of working for Dusk is -- strength! The ability to protect her. Then -- you need a thorough background check. And lastly: loyalty! If you want to be an official, you have to be willing to die for her!"
Dusk the Best12/17/2017
Also friendship.
:wink:
Climate Change12/17/2017
Isn't that what dying for her means.
Primrose the Blessed12/17/2017
Isn't that last one friendship?
SEE,
Walnut the 6th12/17/2017
The last one's friendship.
Dusk the Best12/17/2017
Oh, that's fair.
Primrose the Blessed12/17/2017
Primrose pulls the trigger. Click.
Click. Click. Click.
--
Parsley smiles~
"Who betrayed who? We originally had no interest in your kingdom. It wasn't until we crossed paths with a courier from Millienium Dynasty, that large kingdom far south. The Angelic Ones expressed intrerest in another kingdom... and it was easier to kill that guy and pretend we were with the Millenium Dynasty. And wouldn't luck have it, it turned out to the Dawn, the Child of the Sun's, old place.
"Dusk was just... playing piece, if that."
-----
Snip wipes at his face, his gross and snotty and teary face, and glares at you, Dusk.
"I don't regret this though. I'd do it again... My brother and I might lose the freedom we fought for, but I don't regret this, so don't try telling me how much you like your kingdom! It's just that there's no use trying! Everything points... to us losing!"
---
"Shut up -" is sort of snarled out, as she clutches her twisted ankle. This isn't exactly going well, but. Dusk is ok. She's got to think. It hurts, but she can put that past her for the time being - as she gets up again, gritting her teeth against the pain, and runs at Dawn a second time: not to attack, however it might look that way at first, but to grab hold of the trumpet and steal it.
Because she is a thief, apparently.
Dusk:
Apparently.
You grab the trumpet, Walnut, before Dawn can respond. And you can see it... a look of surprise on his face, that quckly contorts to rage.
"Walnut, you're one surprise after another. Give that back."
You know how inventories are kind of magical?
He pulls a giant battle axe nearly half his size out of hammerspace.
----
Crimson... is warming up to this place.
"You're all fucked up. I love it," he declares flatly with a flat tone and a flat face.
And then, bees.
A swarm of thousands of bees explode from the brooch, and without a clear target they go after,
All of you.
Each and every
one of you.
You can't hear anyone's screaming (particularly Snip's) over the buzzing, and you're getting stung repetively?
Better hope none of you are allergic.
Dusk doesn't even care about bees, she cares more about standing in front of Walnut to make sure she doesn't get chopped into half. "When you say They, do you mean the angels? Or is that someone else?"
Primrose LAUGHS AND LAUGHS AND LAUGHS AND oh my fucking God this was the worst plan actually
Dusk is lucky that Slot is distracted by the bees to not notice the mention of those who shall not be named.
Are you fucking kidding Walnut right now. Actually, you know what? This is good. Walnut never had any intention of giving it back to begin with, but with this change of events it's doubly time to make a break for it - she grabs hold of Dusk's hand and tries to run.
"Worry about that later!"
"?!" She's being yanked??? "Where are we going?! We can't just leave them there!"
Through the blur of a thousand bees, Dusk, you can see Dawn smiling bittersweetly as you're yanked away.
"Isn't that too bad?" Dusk shoots Parsley the same glare as she did Dawn like go on, try to knock over Domino, see what happens. "It's my kingdom now. And we're going to make it the most entertaining kingdom in the area. So you can leave."
Clima is thinking, "My baby Dusk is a kingdom snatcher??? I'm attracted."
Primrose is thinking, "Kingdom snatching is ILLEGAL!"
Dawn raises his eyebrows, otherwise remaining perfectly in control of the calm way he's presenting himself.
"Entertaining? You seem to have mistaken a civilization for a circus. Your Court represents that, too. What did you call them, Parsnip?"
Dawn turns to face Parsnip, who is sputtering. You can notice, right on Dawn's back where there would be small wings like Dusk, there are actually just stubs, as if the wings were snapped off.
"I called them a lot of things?" Parsnip offers weakly. Dawn turns to face you again.
"Hm. Yes, well, I do not have time for namecalling." He pauses, studying Dusk's face carefully. "Not in my kingdom."
"Oh..." Dusk. Smiles. "I don't recall giving it to you. And nothing was taken from me? So where did you find a new kingdom to rule, big brother~?"
Clima brain: And he's her BROTHER? Woooo. She looks cuter though.
A twisted smile, again clashing with the emotionlessness of his eyes, forms on Dawn's face. His voice remains perfectly level, perfectly calculated. "I must punish you." He turns to Parsley and Snip, who look, quite frankly, terrified. "Parsnip of the Future. Parsley of the Past. You will deal with them." Then, just as the twins are about to acknowledge his demand, Dawn turns to face you. "Kill them, but please kill them slowly. I want to take joy in the pained faces my sister and her friends make."
Parsley nods firmly, pulling out a spear, but Snip is sweating buckets again. Dusk turns to the two and also smile. "It's nice to see you guys again. My friends! Sorry about what happened."
Walnut, who was certainly present the entire time, naturally can't stand for - pretty much any of this. Enumerating the whole list would make light of the situation, so there's just the most glaring thing - someone she hasn't heard of in a while. Someone she was hoping she'd never hear about again? Either way. It doesn't really matter. She reaches out to force herself in front of Dusk, or to shove her behind her - to just get her out of the way.
Parsley smiles, bright and kind, as if he hadn't thrown a fit just moments prior.
"Yes, I do apologize, Dusk, but we have to do what the second in command wants us to do~!" He laughs, crinkling his eyes. "Isn't it funny how my brother and I are the faces of the cult, but we're actually just some underlings after all? It's important to keep appearances to prevent trouble for the higher ups, after all! Ha ha. Isn't that funny?"
Suddenly he thrusts his spear at Dusk—
Who is being blocked by Walnut.
Oops. Ah, right on the mark. The spear pierces Walnut in the shoulder, going clear through it. In fact, Dusk, you might just see the tip of the spear's point.
Parsley grins. He isn't rusty after all.
Walnut takes 3 damage.
While Parsley is there, though, Clima is going to take the chance and throw one of the knives at Parsley's chest, as soon as he strikes Walnut.Everyone's got a good shot today. The knife sticks right into his chest, drawing a scream from Parsley himself as he tries to clutch at it, stepping back while also trying to hold onto his spear. Parsley receives 4 damage, and now he has a knife sticking out of his chest. And, because I'm keeping their HP ~mysterious~, it's unclear how much further they have to go.
But what about Snip? Where is he to help his brother?
Oh.
Snip has slumped to the ground, grabbing at his hair.
"There's no point... there's no point, there's no point, every future sight branches into that one, there's no point...!"
Dusk's eyes widen when Walnut is stabbed, but she quickly grabs into her inventory and takes a candy and shoves it into Walnut's mouth.
Walnut crumples, shrieking out a curse; that was pretty much what she expected to happen, this is what she wanted to happen, b -
There's candy in her mouth now. Ok.
Dusk is looking for who is closest, who can she WHACK REALLY HARD WITH HER FLAG . "I don't care about predictions, I'll just do what I always do, and we'll move forward and that's fine enough!!"
Snip is the nearest to Dusk. He's still going on about FUTURES and OH NO and OH SHIT and otherwise losing his cool completely.
Dusk goes over to Snip and SHAKES HIM, possibly slapping him a little (a lot). "Wake up, dummy! I already TOLD you, the future doesn't mean anything! Names doesn't have to mean anything! Reputation, heirs, none of that has to matter! Why are people so obsessed! With things! Being! The! Same!!"
And Dawn is watching from the back of the room with a cold expression. In his hand, by his side, is a trumpet.
Snip takes a couple points of damage from those slaps, wow! But he's sobbing now, his eyes and nose running. "I can't, there's no point, we're just going to die anyway...! I can't even read your future! All I can see... all I can see...!"
--
Man. Primrose notices Clima and Walnut seem to have defending Dusk's honour covered, so Primrose steps over to Slot and Crimson, keeping a close eye on Dawn and the situation in general. Plans, plans, plans. "This guy wants to be an official? Seriously?"
"Sounds like he does." Slot answers, keeping a wary eye on Dawn and the trumpet. "Even if he tried to kill us," and almost killed me, "what are your thoughts?"
"How lucky is he?"
Slot shrugs, "He almost got me during that ballroom blitz."
Primrose tuts, still watching the action intently. "He didn't, though! Dusk might get the final say on who works for her, but I'm the one in charge of the finances so I get to choose who we hire. And I don't hire anyone who isn't #blessed."
A time honoured tradition she just came up with, right now.
--
Clima stops, taking a moment or two to look over at Crimson. Deliberates, for a second or so. Well. It would be funny. There's an air of humor from him, but whatever is funny he won't say. Instead, he pulls out another knife to support Dusk, while watching Dawn.
Parsley studies you and hoists his Spear up, ready to defend as he continues trying to pull this damned knife out of his chest. Before Parsley can take the knife out, Clima is just chucking another one at his shoulder, meaning to seal his movements.
Parsley cries out, taking YET ANOTHER FUCKING KNIFE. What is he, a pincushion? This boy's got two knives sticking out of him. He slides to the ground, after taking 4 Damage, clutching his spear.
He wasn't made to fight like this. His charisma is where it's at, yet, his commander has put him in a position where he must put his life on the line. A punishment of his own. Parsley's eyes blearily search for Snip, who is now being shaken by Dusk. He's... the only one trying to fight?
--
The candy stopped Walnut from screaming about the spear in her arm for a second? It really does hurt, though; she's a little dazed with it out; if no one else is hurt there's not much she can do, but she keeps an eye on Dusk, an eye on Snip and Parsley, and Dawn especially -
"Why does Dawn want the position?" she calls out. Like. Why?
For what purpose.
Dawn continues standing coolly in the back, running a finger over the trumpet. This scene before him is kind of ridiculous and batshit, it's just a bunch of teenaged cultists sucking at fighting and a Court scrambling alongside them.
He smiles.
But his smile falls when Walnut speaks out. Excuse you?
Dusk pauses the shaking and turns her head to Walnut, recognizing her voice immediately. "Why?" Still holding onto Snippy though.
"What would you even do with power in a place like this?" A shithole like this, Walnut thinks but doesn't say. She believes in Dusk, and in her family, and that it can change, but, "'Governing things,' and -" she cuts her eyes at Dawn. "And 'ruling things'! You too! What do you want with this place? I never got that! I don't get it, she's your sister!"
Not that she's disinclined from looking the other way on this matter, but a lot about this seems suspect.
Dawn stares at you, Walnut... no, perhaps through you? His gaze is unfocused.
"I am merely doing what I was chosen to do, Walnut. This kingdom didn't see my potential, but They did. And They asked this of me, so I only return Their favor... it just so happens to align with my personal desire to see you all suffer. Perhaps, if I had the chance to align this Kingdom with the stars properly..."
It's not easy to hear Dawn's voice over all the commotion of someone bawling and some other people talking about playing russian roulette with their pet, and maybe some yelling and chatter elsewhere, but you manage.
"Properly." Walnut says.
You know what, that's enough. While Snip and Parsley are distracted, Walnut is going to walk up to Dawn, actually. And attempt to kick him right in the stomach. This is stupid. He doesn't get it at all, there are reasons things have shifted like this, fuck.
--
Slot raises an eyebrow at that, "Can you say that all of us are hashtagged blessed?"
"I didn't hire any of you, but honestly we should've died like forever ago so yeah?" Primrose responds pretty easily.
"Ok, point taken."
"You know, my revolver's only got five rounds left. We could see how lucky he is. I'd say we have an 80% chance of dying horribly any time we do anything, right?"
"Are you suggesting we play a game with his life?"
"Life is a game! So we might as well play, right? I still have my crossbow, if Clima and Dusk somehow need help."
Slot tugs on Crimson's leash again, "What do you say? Live, and we'll set you free and give you a position"
Crimson... has no idea what is going on, until he hears WE'LL SET YOU FREE. That's his calling!
"You will? I'll do whatever it takes, just remove this leash!"
"You heard the man," Slot says with a grin at Primrose.
Plans, plans, plans, plans. She honestly just wants to shoot him and then beat the twins and throw them in jail and probably also throw Dawn in jail and fuck the Angels can go in jail too, but she has to keep a calm, level head here. Planning. Crimson could be useful, but he needs to be scared. He can't be trusted, so he needs to know what's at stake. So --
Grin grin. "Let's do it," she says, spinning the chamber.
Crimson watches her spin the gun. Shit. Are they serious?
...
Okay, whatever, he didn't want to live like this anyway, guess he's up for Russian roulette more than anything.
"Let's make it more exciting though, huh? Five out of six loaded is boring, it doesn't build tension at all."
"How could you build more tension than that?" Slot asks, genuinely curious
"One bullet, duh! Five means you can only pull the trigger twice. It's bor~ing."
"I like it."
--
Clima moves closer to Parsley, grabbing him by the head to, you know, just shove him down onto the ground if possible.
He sits on Parsley now, right on his chest. Just before the knife, too - he's not very heavy, but even so, with all the pain it's probably not a pleasant experience for Parsley.
Clima presses a hand down onto the knife in his shoulder, tilting his head.
"Oh," he says aloud, as if thinking, "What is your name again?"
Parsley whines and grimace. Ow, ow, ow! He tries to look you in the eyes, Clima, biting his lip to carry out the last thing he wants to do.
"That's right... Parsley of the Past. Would you like for me to read your past for you, Clima? Would you," he wheezes, trying to get some air, "would you like for me to tell the kingdom of the strifes you've endured in your little cloud kingdom?"
Clima tilts his head again. "Ah, right."
"You made friends with Dusk a while ago. I remember now."
The words are benign in and of themselves, but as he speaks, there's a glint in his eye. This doesn't seem to be threatening him.
"Here's another question. Why did you do this?" The question is accompanied with a twist of the knife in Parsley's shoulder. Painfully and deliberately slow, but sharp enough that it's more like drawing a small circle into his flesh.
Clima, you don't unnerve Parsley in the least... at least, not where it shows. His smile is still in place, in spite of the pain he's being put in.
"Ugh... haha, we, too were chosen. We're only doing what we're told. And before you say anything: we chose this path, too." His smile grows. "My brother and I didn't sacrifice our entire kingdom for nothing."
"Oh, which kingdom was that?"
"A small kingdom, once located at least a dozen labyrinths away from here. It was known as Ancient Back Alley. You might have heard of it~"
That's right. Perhaps you have, because it was once a small, if not still very prosperous, kingdom. Less than five years ago it was wiped from the map.
There was never really any explanation for how that came to be.
He leans against the knife a bit, like a tired little birb. Is he actually tired, who knows. "Huh. And the reason why you betrayed Dusk?"
---
All of a sudden, Dusk just kind of watches everyone, as if she was snapped out of something. She looks over at Snip and smoothes out his hair almost instinctively. "Oh, . . . your hair is nice."
Snip sniffs and looks at Dusk. What??? In the midst of his sobs, he musters a few sensible words.
"Lady, are you crazy?"
Dusk doesn't care about that weird kingdom. Instead, she just kind of gives Snip a friendly smile, perhaps a genuinely friendly smile. "Probably a little bit. After all, normal people wouldn't try to make a cursed kingdom an idol country. They probably would have destroyed it a long time ago. Mmm, but I like the people here, and I like the friends I've made. It's nice to see the sun reflect against the fallen snow here." She then ruffles Snip's hair (that she tried to make nice??) and then lets him go, moving straight towards Walnut and Dawn.
--
Walnut, You go to kick Dawn, and he simply catches onto your foot, holding it in place. Kind of awkward. His face is still blank, as if he's still registering what's going on. But, given how quickly he reacted, he's fucking talented in combat to say the least.
"Were you trying to hurt me just then? A daring tactic, Walnut the 6th."
Then, he grabs your foot and twists it, and with that motion he tosses you to the ground like one would their least favorite doll.
-----
Primrose starts emptying the revolver aside from one bullet, visibly shaking while doing so. Focus on plans. Focus on plans. Focus. It's not that she's scared, and in fact her eyes are wide, intense. Plans.
"Do you want me to do it? He's my captive, after all."
"This is my interview! Don't you dare take this from me."
"Just offering~"
When she closes the chamber, before spinning it -- or rather while spinning it, she does some SICK REVOLVER TRICKS JUST LIKE IN HER FAVOURITE COWBOY MOVIES, and also activates grandma's brooch to unleash bees. For effect. You know. It looks cool. Nothing is cooler than a cat slowly losing her shit, surrounded by bees, as she prepares to maybe kill a dude.
When she's done, she holds the gun to her own head, looking positively fucking insane. "So the first rule of working for Dusk is -- strength! The ability to protect her. Then -- you need a thorough background check. And lastly: loyalty! If you want to be an official, you have to be willing to die for her!"
Dusk the Best12/17/2017
Also friendship.
:wink:
Climate Change12/17/2017
Isn't that what dying for her means.
Primrose the Blessed12/17/2017
Isn't that last one friendship?
SEE,
Walnut the 6th12/17/2017
The last one's friendship.
Dusk the Best12/17/2017
Oh, that's fair.
Primrose the Blessed12/17/2017
Primrose pulls the trigger. Click.
Click. Click. Click.
--
Parsley smiles~
"Who betrayed who? We originally had no interest in your kingdom. It wasn't until we crossed paths with a courier from Millienium Dynasty, that large kingdom far south. The Angelic Ones expressed intrerest in another kingdom... and it was easier to kill that guy and pretend we were with the Millenium Dynasty. And wouldn't luck have it, it turned out to the Dawn, the Child of the Sun's, old place.
"Dusk was just... playing piece, if that."
-----
Snip wipes at his face, his gross and snotty and teary face, and glares at you, Dusk.
"I don't regret this though. I'd do it again... My brother and I might lose the freedom we fought for, but I don't regret this, so don't try telling me how much you like your kingdom! It's just that there's no use trying! Everything points... to us losing!"
---
"Shut up -" is sort of snarled out, as she clutches her twisted ankle. This isn't exactly going well, but. Dusk is ok. She's got to think. It hurts, but she can put that past her for the time being - as she gets up again, gritting her teeth against the pain, and runs at Dawn a second time: not to attack, however it might look that way at first, but to grab hold of the trumpet and steal it.
Because she is a thief, apparently.
Dusk:
Apparently.
You grab the trumpet, Walnut, before Dawn can respond. And you can see it... a look of surprise on his face, that quckly contorts to rage.
"Walnut, you're one surprise after another. Give that back."
You know how inventories are kind of magical?
He pulls a giant battle axe nearly half his size out of hammerspace.
----
Crimson... is warming up to this place.
"You're all fucked up. I love it," he declares flatly with a flat tone and a flat face.
And then, bees.
A swarm of thousands of bees explode from the brooch, and without a clear target they go after,
All of you.
Each and every
one of you.
You can't hear anyone's screaming (particularly Snip's) over the buzzing, and you're getting stung repetively?
Better hope none of you are allergic.
Dusk doesn't even care about bees, she cares more about standing in front of Walnut to make sure she doesn't get chopped into half. "When you say They, do you mean the angels? Or is that someone else?"
Primrose LAUGHS AND LAUGHS AND LAUGHS AND oh my fucking God this was the worst plan actually
Dusk is lucky that Slot is distracted by the bees to not notice the mention of those who shall not be named.
Are you fucking kidding Walnut right now. Actually, you know what? This is good. Walnut never had any intention of giving it back to begin with, but with this change of events it's doubly time to make a break for it - she grabs hold of Dusk's hand and tries to run.
"Worry about that later!"
"?!" She's being yanked??? "Where are we going?! We can't just leave them there!"
Through the blur of a thousand bees, Dusk, you can see Dawn smiling bittersweetly as you're yanked away.