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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It could be. Not like catching a cold, but something that specifically messes with the body like this.

[ look, she can keep running for a While. and really, the further they are the better. she takes them down another smaller side road, before pausing to look out onto the open -- and oddly empty -- bigger area it opens onto. ]

I think we're good here.

[ but rather than run out, she steps out to the side and tucks herself against the wall. ]

[lili will follow after - because she supposes that this is another one of miki's plans. she settles against her, looking out as she watches the creatures lumber after them, frowning]

What are you planning?

They're slow... I should be able to defeat one, if you can manage to distract the other.

If they're chasing us, they'll usually just keep running forwards. Because that's what they'll assume. And at the very least, they'll have to turn themselves around or round the corner.

[ they'll have a moment of extra surprise time. ]

I can do that. Just be careful -- don't let them corner or bite you, just in case.

I won't - just keep your distance. I can make small chunks of ice once they're closer for you to throw - but obviously they're not last very long.

[since you know. ice. but at least it'll be something for miki to be able to use at a distance. lili will breathe in as she can hear their pursuers coming closer and closer, tucking herself against the wall by miki even as her hands tighten around the sword. right, she just has to focus.

she can do this - she's been practicing with far more capable opponents, after all]

I told you, I'll be fine. But thank you - if you make them a little sharp I might be able to slow them down even more.

[ miki tucks herself into the wall as well, and then crouches herself down. whichever one lili goes for, she's got a plan for the other one. ]

[there is a pause and at the very least, there's a moment that allows them to be quiet. she'll take that second to focus, concentrating the moisture in the air into a crystallized, cold form. small tear-dropped shaped pieces of ice form in lili's hands, the only shape that she can think of that would allow miki to hold onto them but one end is sharper than the other.

so she'll offer those out to her, even though they're obviously quite cold, and then focus as the creatures lumber on by - right past them, actually, like miki suggested - and then lili moves. she steps out and slashes at the one with the dagger, steel cutting through its arm

though it's not the arm holding a dagger and she has to move as it suddenly swings the knife in her direction]

[ miki takes one, and keeps one in her hand despite the cold, with the other on the ground next to her.

it's only when lili's target lashes out with its knife that she does throw it, aiming for the creature's shoulder with the sharper pointed end. she doesn't have time to see where it lands fully before she has to turn her attention to the second creature, swinging her pitchfork at the creature's legs with the direct aim of knocking it flat. ]

[battle girls are fine.

miki's successful as the creature gets knocked right off their feet, collapsing on the ground. with a confused groan. even so, it doesn't stop it from turning toward her, reaching a hand out as if to grab onto the pitchfork and steal it away from her. its strength even now is absurd, and it wears the scroll on its neck even still.

lili, meanwhile, is able to duck away from the knife being arched in her direction, scowling as it seems like the creature isn't even fazed from losing its arm.

of course as she take a step back, that's when she manages to set off a trap as a spike suddenly extends from the wall, darting out immediately and she has to duck if she wants to avoid being skewered]

[ miki's focus ends up being on trying to keep the pitchfork out of the creature's hands - her left hand scrabbles along the ground, grabbing hold of the ice spike lili had left with her, and stabbing it into the creature's arm.

she's able to fling herself, and the pitchfork, back when it flinches away, rolling a little across the ground -- and finding herself face to face with a wall of spikes when they all extend out of the wall as lili activates the trap. she's just out of range of it, by some miracle. ]

There are traps here too?!

[ she pushes herself upright, back on her feet and finds her balance again before the creature she was struggling against pulls itself upright. ]

[lili wants to say "apparently" - she really does.

but it's a little hard when has to dodge both a spike that darts out to nearly impale her - but it manages to catch the creature that she's fighting against instead. it forces the monster to stay in one spot, which would normally kill a man but.

but here we are, and it happens in a second, the way that lili is still raising to her feet to try to slash at the beads that are holding the scroll against the creature's body, and the wild swing of a knife that cuts across her face, like a jagged break across porcelain.

she screams in the second later - but the scroll falls.]

--LILI!!!

[ By this point, screams flag up real fear in general with Miki, so it draws her attention almost immediately. Which is all well at good, but it lets the creature in front of her get a grasp on her pitchfork. ]

Ah--[ She keeps her grip on it, for better or for worse. Probably worse, as it lets the creature with all its strength use it to send her flying to the ground. As soon as she hits it, she tries to roll herself away, but it's not fast enough. Fast enough to avoid the swing of the knife that follows hitting somewhere more fatal, but there's still a moment of blinding pain in her left hand that almost blacks her out for a moment that draws a kind of muted but real noise of pain from her mouth - only quieter because her teeth are clenched so tightly her jaw aches.

Her response is entirely reactionary, twisting herself around and pulling at the blade in her hand before she can really think about the fact that it had gone through far enough to require pulling from the ground, and, holding her injured hand close to her chest, she swings out blindly with the knife now in her hand. There's the sound of something cracking and pattering to the ground, but Miki's too busy dragging herself up to her feet to try and get away from her attacker and over to Lili. ]

[it's so painful she can hardly breathe - but there is a lingering certainty and awareness that she's not done yet. the creature in front her has stopped moving, impaled by a spike and without the scroll. she's dizzy and uneven but she tries to kick the scroll away so at the very least it has no chance of reuniting with her opponent even accidentally.

tsurumaru had told her that he felt more comfortable with a blade in his hand - and now as lili uses the sword to pull herself up from where she'd collapsed, heaving herself onto her feet, she wonders if this is what he meant.

she's bleeding profusely but she can't stop, because there's one more of these things, and miki is in danger. she finds her footing, her footing, which was her weak point before but now she knows that she has to keep steady if she has any hope of being able to accomplish this much]

..... one more.

[that's all she has to do - one more breathe, one more step, one more opponent, one more]

[ It's difficult to do, keeping herself focused, while she's trying to straighten up and get over to Lili before the other girl collapses. She's never seen an eye injury before, but she knows that blood loss isn't good and--

For a moment she just feels overwhelmed. She's not a doctor, and no amount of reading in a book can tell her how to fix this. She needs supplies, lots of them, bandage, gauze, things that they have but not near enough. Her t-shirt might work-- temporarily? It's under her sweater so it should be clean enough to put over a wound, just to keep the blood under control, right?

There's a shuffling sound behind her, and for a brief moment Miki just feels overwhelmed. And then angry. She spins around, grabbing the fallen pitchfork off the ground, and takes a couple of determined steps towards the creature in front of her. It hurts like hell, holding it in both hands like this, but when she swings it this time -- she swings it right at the creature's head with a sickening crack. ]

Leave us alone!

[ And then she darts forwards and before it can struggle to its feet, brings the fork down. ]

Edited 2019-06-20 19:09 (UTC)

[there's a disruptive gurgle at that, a gross sound that comes with the creature's head being smashed in by miki's weapon. lili steels herself with the sound and she watches the creature fall to the ground with the impact, immobile for a few moments - and then she'll move forward to slice through the beads around the creature's neck to sever it from the scroll before it's able to move forward any more

there's a breath out because at the very least - it's over for now. there aren't any more creatures ambling toward them and the speaks have stopped in their movement.

lili impales the harsh edge of her sword into the ground again to try to use it for balance as she breathes out, breath labored and pained as she tries to focus]

.... the scrolls, Miki.

[they have to possess some kind of answer]

[ catching her breath, and letting the adrenaline ebb out of her body, bit by bit. when lili speaks up, she snaps back to attention glancing up and around, before spotting one of the scrolls on the ground.

darting forwards, she grabs one from the ground before turning on her heel and dashing back over to lili. ]

We need to... we need to do something with this first, the scrolls can wait. Here--

[ She reaches her hands out slowly, trying to push lili's hair out of the way of her injured eye. ]

We need to double back, or check the houses around here there must be a kit or something nearby we can use.

[well.

lili's a mess and will allow miki to do that - pained, but also too dizzy to really stop it from happening. the cut drags down the right side of her face and her eye is shut from the pain and all the blood. there's a frown on lili's face as she frowns]

Pressure - cloth... Ah, here.

[she'll start to tear the collar off of what she's wearing, hands shaky from the blood loss but nonetheless trying to help so she's not useless. not again.]

Okay, hold on--

[ There's a pause, and then Miki grabs hold of the seam of her sweater and digs her fingers between the stitches and material. It takes a more effort than she thought, but with some straining she tears them loose and just

rips off the sleeve of her sweater it's fine. ]

This'll probably be more absorbent, here-- [ She folds it a couple of times, trying to keep the cleaner side upright, and holds it up carefully to Lili's wounded eye. ] Press it down, you'll have more of an idea of what's too much pressure than I do. If we can stem the blood...

[it's funny - how lili has never had to suffer injuries like this before. she moves to sheathe her sword first so that it doesn't get in the way, and then she'll take the offered sleeve and move to press it against her face, hissing in pain. at the very least, she knows that she has to move forward]

I'll -

Back where everyone else is... I can get it cleaned.

[it's so hard to get the words out, and she glances with her good eye over to miki's hand, frowning.]

... can you carry the scrolls? I can - take one.

[she'll push herself just a little bit more, it's fine]

Right. We need to hurry, before it gets infected--

[ miki glances around, before darting around to grab the other scroll, tucking it under her arm. and then she looks back at lili -- if there are any other of those creatures around, it'll be down to her. lili's too injured, and has loss of sight as well. ]

... Okay. One each?

[ One each. And then she can have one hand semi-free in order to take a jab at anything else that might come at them. ] But make sure you can keep pressure on your eye.

I know.

[she knows that, and she'll just focus on her breathing to make sure that she doesn't pass out - miki is too small, and she won't leave her behind even if it's probably for the better. the people strong enough who would be able to carry lili are probably already off to the frontlines...

so she has no choice but to stay awake in order to stay alive, and not put miki in more danger. so she starts back the way that they came as she tucks the scroll under one arm]

Be alert - if there's more of those monsters, run and get help.

[don't wait for her]

Don't worry, we can avoid them if we have to.

[ She walks a little faster and, switching the arm that her scroll is tucked under her left side, grabs hold of Lili's free wrist. ]

C'mon. The quicker we go, the better. [ And she squeezes her wrist. Hopefully the pressure will help keep Lili awake. ]

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