subdivided | week two: mingle

week two: mingle

Week Two
26 in Competition

As the sun rises on Monday morning, all participants will find themselves awakening with a sense of purpose. Regardless of where they slept the night before, they’ll find themselves compelled to return to the main meeting hall first thing in the morning.

Approaching the hall, however, they will find a large, swirling mass grey in color looming near the sakura tree. This swirl cannot be approached just yet, but seems to be locked and waiting for something more.

As the last member of the village enters the hall, they will find Lune and Sol at the head of the room. Though they’re together, it’s Lune who speaks up first this time.

"Good morning, good morning. You've done well to purge the corruption in the previous gateway - allow us to assist with the finishing touches. For the time being, it would appear as though we've been able to locate another. The land might appear a bit familiar to some however... I only advise you watch your step."

When Lune finishes, Sol chimes in from their place at Lune's side.

"The corruption is still out there, and we're going to do all that we can to find a way to contain it. But until then... stick close to others this week. Do your best to protect yourselves and look after each other. Okay?"

The moment participants leave the hall, they will find that the gateway has changed from grey to white, the opening widening enough for multiple people to step through. The Signs will soon take their leave, and all will remain peaceful once more.

The only oddity is that throughout the week, in a noise that extends past the portal but seems to resound even through the village, there will be the occasional, resounding call of a war horn.

In addition, as the week goes on, partners will find ever-growing feelings of anxiety and nervousness dwelling within them the longer they are separated from one another. They will feel compelled to be very close to their partners at all times, and will be on edge if separated for more than an hour by the end of the week. Welcome to surprise codependence at its finest.

Welcome to your week two mingle! As a reminder, murder proposals are open. We will also be hosting a mini-event on Tuesday, so please be on the lookout for that.

In addition, ensure that all of your week one private conversations were reported on the page, and your week two private conversations are reported on that page. If you'll be taking anything from locations, please report that as well.

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"A single twig breaks, but a bundle of twigs is strong."

[ ... ]

It's from a storybook.

That's a metaphor. [ EVEN CINNABAR KNOWS THAT!! ] Besides, how stupid do you have to be to think that bundling a bunch of knives together would make them easier to stand on? Even if it did work, how would I get up the tree after the first step? I bet you didn't even think about that.

[ It would work.... maybe. Cinnabar doesn't even try. Minato looks up at the tree, trying to gauge how high his leg is stuck up there. ]

Hm... I'm out of knives, so that's why I was going to suggest throwing them. I have a nailbat that's been through a lot. Maybe that'll work?

[ It's like five feet long, so if anything, it could probably extend Cinnabar's reach quite a bit. ]

You'll break my leg with that thing. Then I'll have more pieces to glue back together.

[ a sigh. They cross their arms, resting their back against the trunk of the tree to balance. ]

Throw your knives. See what happens.

[ ...Minato turns his bag upside down and sticks it over his nailbat to turn it into a yarnbat. Not... quite as pokey, but still sort of pokey. The contents of his bag gets most of the nails. ]

Just in case you want to try.

[ He stands back and holds his six knives, staring up at the tree branches. He lets one go, whereupon it hits the branch just inches away from Cinnabar's leg and gets stuck there. Hm. Attempt number two... ]

[ this feels stupid, but whatever... maybe it will work. ]

It's not the nails that are the problem, [ they say dryly. Getting hit with a big stick of wood like that would definitely break them. The woes of being a low-hardness gem... ]

[ It is stupid, but bear with him. Minato throws the second knife, where it gets stuck in the branch just next to the first one. He picks up his third. ]

What's the problem? [ just casually holding a conversation in the middle of this, like he doesn't need to concentrate ]

[ it's easier than trying to climb a tree with one leg!! A tree that will probably break once they get onto the higher branches, anyway. ]

What do you mean, "what's the problem?" You'd be swinging a huge piece of lumber at my leg. If I did that to your leg, it would break, too.

[ Number three gets stuck in place right by the other two. ]

I'd poke at it, gently... I don't think my leg would break that easily, either. It's soft and fleshy. Natural cushioning.

Poking at it gently wouldn't get it down, you fool.

[ watching knife number three fail... hope is dwindling... ]

You're not very good at this.

[ If he could climb the tree and poke it gently, maybe it would work. But unfortunately, they're stuck with this method, Minato taking careful aim and throwing his last three knives, all of which get stuck in the exact same place and—-

there's a snapping sound, whereupon the entire branch snaps and falls, Minato stepping forward to catch Cinnabar's leg. Also the tree branch. And six knives. ]

[ as soon as they hear that snap, they immediately know what's happening. ]

-- Wait!! Get back!

[ but it's too late. For one thing, their lunge forward to grab him doesn't work because they have one leg - they just fall forward with a yelp and thankfully don't break anything else. The other thing is that Cinnabar's leg probably weighs around 100 pounds if Minato's lucky. Don't break a finger trying to catch it... ]

[ Minato does not break a finger. He manages to catch the chunk of rock, but, because I am a terrible human being and it's a Monday, he hears a second snap and the strength in his arm fails, arm breaking and Cinnabar's leg... also breaking... when it hits the ground. Sorry.

Small mercies is that the knives just drop harmlessly to the ground. ]

[ well at least nobody got stabbed!! That's the only good thing about this disaster!! They know the sound of their leg cracking as soon as they hear it, and they groan -- not even knowing that their helpful human also broke. ]

It broke, didn't it? I knew you'd make it worse...

[ crawling over on hands and... knee... towards Minato. Time for a damage report. ]

[ Yeah, bleeding would be bad because Minato wouldn't know how to get the blood back inside himself, but at least the bone is all there? Just a little splintered.

Minato doesn't answer right away, waiting for the wave of nausea to subside and the endorphins to kick in before he attempts to speak through gritted teeth. ]

Yeah, it broke. I'm sorry. I really thought I could save your leg and keep it intact.

[ they make it over to him soon enough - and pick up quickly that something is wrong just based on how he sounds. ]

-- What's the matter?

[ did the poison come back?! They don't really know how to look for injuries in a human... ]

[ Minato swallows own the pain, taking a few deep breaths before lifting his chin to look over at Cinnabar. ]

I broke my promise... [ also his arm, but he doesn't think that needs saying. ]

Sorry to ask more of you, but... can you reach that tree branch? I think... I can use it as a splint.

[ it does need saying, because Cinnabar doesn't know what's wrong - or what a splint is. At least the branch is easy to reach now that the whole limb is on the ground (no pun intended) - they nod once, crawling over and snapping it off with ease. ]

Here. [ they hold it out to him, still not sure what he needs it for. ] What happened? Did you break somewhere?

Yeah, my arm.

[ He carefully shrugs off his jacket, moving as slow as he can so he doesn't jostle anything but that's too slow and he decides to just yank his arm out of the sleeve in one swift motion and close his eyes at the wave of pain until it goes away.

The bruising is all along the length of his right arm, though he can't tell whether that was because of a break or because Cinnabar's leg had slammed into it from 20 feet in the air. But it's definitely broken, as Minato points at the part of his forearm that juts out underneath the skin instead of being straight like it's supposed to. ]

Yikes... Right here.

[ "Yikes" is really all he has to say about that as he tries to push the bone back in place with his hand. It's not working very well. ]

Inside...?

[ well. they don't know how to fix that at all!! But it sounds bad. They know animals can't just be glued back to normal like gems can. They've seen some animals regrow limbs, but that was only when they'd been lost. Will this even heal itself?

It doesn't seem like a fatal wound, at least. Cinnabar's demeanor calms down as they realize he's not dying - then, predictably, shifts into angry. Again. ]

You really are an idiot... This is why I told you to go away. All you did was break things even further.

[ Clearly, the solution is to rib Minato's arm off so it can regrow.

At the anger, Minato can only smile, awkward and sympathetic. ]

Yeah... [ stares at the sky ] If Akane asks, this was entirely my fault, okay?

[ Like he doesn't need to tell Cinnabar this, but he's going to anyways. ]

What does she have to do with any of this? Like I care... I don't want to talk to her, anyway.

[ they growl in annoyance, then shuffle over to start gathering up the pieces of their leg. Hopefully, there aren't any small shards that will be hard to find... ]

Why don't you want to talk to her? I like Akane.

[ As if that matters. Minato slowly rises to his feet and collects his knives. Hopefully he doesn't step on any shards and crush them into powder. ]

[ they WILL kill you minato.

Cinnabar, unfortunately, doesn't really understand pain or the nature of Minato's injury. If he's moving, they guess it's not that bad. Now they're more worried about figuring out how to get home like this. It's going to be impossible to carry all these crystal pieces and balance on one leg to make it home.

They could ask for help... but they're Cinnabar. ]

She's annoying, stubborn, and self-centered. She doesn't understand the suffering of other creatures... Or the meaning of the word "no." I'm not surprised someone like you likes her.

'cause I'm also annoying, stubborn, and self-centered, huh?

[ Yeah... yeah he is. His greatest flaw is his inability to accept "no" for an answer, especially from somebody who obviously doesn't like him. With his knives safely packed away and his arm feeling like it's on fire, Minato wanders over to their side and holds his bag out. ]

You can drop them in here, and I can carry them. Anyways, sometimes suffering is hard to tell when people keep it inside. If you're suffering, I'd like to hear.

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