week two: mingle

[cyclists]

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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[foodbin]

[She veers that way as he cries out, and when she sees the rapidly approaching figures... She plants her feet, raising the gun.]

I need another few seconds! I don’t want to risk it until he’s closer!

[leaberator]

Don't miss.

[ he decides to trust she can handle it, since honestly-- he's winding down a little over the constant fire usage. he does not have infinite MP, where's an ether when you need one. or like. a thirty second break, this maze is hell. he's still covering around both of them-- it's not like their pursuers ever stopped, and they need to be able to haul ass out of there afterwards, but he doesn't trust himself to hit the general on horseback without burning away the scroll entirely. ]

[foodbin]

I won’t!

[And, true to her word, she doesn’t miss when he comes close enough. The bullet hits his shoulder, and he nearly falls off - he has to hold on tightly to avoid it. He’s getting closer, but she doesn’t retreat. She knows he’ll fall if she shoots him again, and she’s confident she won’t miss from this range. She doesn’t hesitate before aiming the gun and pulling the trigger again, and—

Nothing happens.

It takes her a moment to realize what’s happened, eyes widening as she looks between the gun and the warrior on horseback in shock. Her reflexes are quick, and after that moment passes, she’s diving out of the way - but it isn’t quick enough to keep her out of the way of harm. The sword he wears slices through the air, and honestly, if Lea is looking, he might see what happens better than her. It isn’t until she hits the ground and tries to halt her impact with a hand that isn’t there any longer that she looks down and sees it.

For a moment, the sheer shock and adrenaline means she doesn’t feel the pain hit, that she sees what’s happened but doesn’t understand. This is probably not the best time to be distracted, though, since all the soldiers are still right there.]

[leaberator]

Emma!

[ He does see it, in fact.

For a second-- a terrifying, unending second-- he can't comprehend what he witnessed. What he's still seeing. There's the blood, and Emma on the ground, and her hand--

And the soldiers.

The fear and rage hit him both in equal parts like a train. He doesn't have time to think, so he doesn't; he aims the sword at the general and throws it in a wide arc, like he would his (stupid, useless, missing) Keyblade, the fire following the curve of the blade and aiding in chopping his head clean off. (Miraculously, it does not hit the scroll, which falls in convenient range of them, solely so Emma didn't lose a hand for nothing.) He's rushing to her even as he lets loose whatever energy he has left to try and melt a few soldiers-- aims for the eyes if he can, and absolutely does not think about that at all either.

He's half kneeling next to her on the maze floor at the end of it all, ready to pick her up and grab her, but--

it's a lot of blood. ]

You-- [ fuck, fuck ] H-hey, if you've got a trick up your sleeve so you don't bleed to death, I'm all ears.

[ how long can a human body go with that kind of blood loss? he doesn't know. ]

[foodbin]

[It's about the time that the sword hits the man on horseback above her that she realizes what's happened, and as her eyes widen in panic, the blinding pain kicks in as well, and... Well. There's really only one thing to say, here.]

Fuck! Goddamn - shit!

[She looks like she's going to cry, or like she's going to be sick. It hurts so badly that she feels her head swim and her vision blur, and she puts her other hand to her mouth to hold back what's either a gag, a sob, or both. His voice only barely reaches her, but as she glances up at him—

It probably looks strange. One second, she's sitting there before him, bloodied and pale, and the next - it seems like her entire form has been replaced by an exquisitely detailed ice sculpture. She doesn't move to stand yet, and she doesn't say anything. She just looks up at him, expression absolutely horrified.]

[leaberator]

[ alright. ]

Okay. Okay, that works.

[ he sees the scroll and picks it up like an afterthought, shoving it into a pocket hastily so i don't forget it later ]

Can you move like that? I'm gonna get you out of here, but you're gonna have to hold on.

[ with her. single hand and stump. wow! bad. ]

[foodbin]

[After a few seconds of trying to gather herself in vain, she grabs onto his arm for leverage to try and pull herself up to a standing position. It's at this point it becomes clear that she's going to try to walk out of here normally. He might want to stop her, but before that:]

Did you - get the scroll...?

[It's tense and pained, almost hissed out, and it probably sounds pretty strange given her current state. Either way, priorities.]

[leaberator]

Yeah, I got the scroll, but you an' I are having a real talk about priorities once this is over. Also, pretty sure I said you were gonna need to hold on.

[ she's shorter than him by a lot, and sliced arm or not, it doesn't take a lot of effort for him to put one under her (frozen, which is really the worst part of this) knees, the other around her shoulders in a very classic princess carry without any other preamble ]

[foodbin]

[As he picks her up, it almost seems like she's going to protest for a moment, but... After she hesitates, she's moving to take hold of him instead (as well as she can right now, at least). He can probably tell that she's shaking as he does, but it's hard to know whether that's because of the cold or because of what happened just moments ago.

Either way:]

What happened to the... five foot rule...?

[emma stop]

[leaberator]

[ girl you cannot expect him to remember all the stupid shit he has said in this situation as he rushes out of the maze, holding onto her tight regardless of how freezing her current ice body is. He huffs, a bit, taking a sharp left at a crossroad when it turns out there might be some people hanging out on the right. He is going to kick down a log and break this maze open at this rate.

But he's keeping track, and he's got a general idea where the exit is. ]

I never did get that restraining order, so I guess we're good for now. But you owe me, missy.

[ he does not sound even remotely like he means it ]

[foodbin]

[She notices the figures he runs past, and her fingers tighten a little bit around his clothing. Maybe that's why, when her voice comes out again, it sounds tighter, fear creeping into the edges along with pained tone.]

Yeah, I do. [...] Are we almost there?

[leaberator]

[ he doesn't want to say no-- doesn't want to feed the fear he can hear in her voice-- but it turns out he won't have to, because the general's horse apparently ran all the way here. he pauses as he considers the fact that he's never ridden a horse before, but desperate times. he grins down at her ]

You know what? Now we are.

[ it's a good thing this is fiction so he can simply boost emma up on the horse without freaking it the fuck out about the block of ice climbing onto its back. hands free, leaves emma on the horse for a second, only long enough to go near a wall-- and set a few logs and the rope holding them on fire. HOPEFULLY THIS WALL LEADS OUTSIDE HA HA ]

[foodbin]

[She instinctively tries to put both hands down to steady herself, and it almost unbalances her more, but her fingers dig into the saddle hard enough to keep her firmly sitting there. She watches him as he goes for a moment before looking in the other direction, anxiousness almost palpable. It's almost like she's expecting another group of soldiers to turn the corner and find them there like this.

The fire surprises her, but after a few seconds, she can guess what he's trying to accomplish.]

[leaberator]

[ once the fire has caught on enough, he kicks the wall a few times-- extremely glad to be wearing boots, still-- and jumps back, out of the way of its collapse when it gives.

hopefully the horse likes jumping mild fire pits, because he hadn't quite considered the mess. he has no time to question anything, though, since there's the distinct sound of footprints in the distance-- he hauls himself on the horse in the kind of smooth jump only asshole tall people can do with horses, grabbing for the reins by reaching around Emma and holding her flush to him all at once.

he does not want to find out if she'd break if she fell off like this. ]

I think this is the part where I admit I have no idea how horses work? So if we crash-- blame Swift Wind!

[ this is an incredibly reassuring thing to say before he gets the horse to fuck off ]

[foodbin]

Reassuring.

[That's all she really manages as she hears him. She hears the noises coming towards them, too, and she grabs onto the arm that's keeping her in place.]

Go.

[leaberator]

[ yeah, ok, she's got a point. he sends the horse off with a kick because that is how? they do it in movies?

how do they not die. INSTEAD THE HORSE MAJESTICALLY RUSHES THROUGH THE OPENING AND THROUGH THE BATTLEFIELD and if emma wasn't literally handless there would be a lot more horrified noises from axel who is just now learning horseback riding is horrible. they escape,

leaving emma's hand somewhere behind in that maze rip ]