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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[ Fifteen year old doctor, fifteen year old agent slash engineer... ]

Not often used to having backup. We tended to work alone for the most part.

[ Because, well, reasons. The ropes and traps aren't the hardest things to avoid at current, when most of their attention can be spared to looking out for them- case in point, one tripwire he opts to dodge around rather than trigger, in case it'll be useful to them later.

He imagines it'd probably be less simple once they get into actual combat. ]

The style I favor is a consequence of that.

"We"? Where are you employed? Oh, perhaps you're a mercenary?

[what's with you guys]

Nothing so unorganized. Spirius is about the opposite of that despite its size.

[ I was this far from saying Clanspear Corp instead of Spirius, closes eyes. ]

It handled a variety of matters, and has just as many divisions- but the few Agents assigned to the DODA all tended to have a specific thing in common. With us being spread so thin, most of our department-related assignments were done alone or, rarely, in pairs at most.

[ .... is he going to explain the acronym? apparently not without being asked. man though, ludger in tox2 canon proper had it so lucky and he didn't even realize it. ]

Spirius. [don't like it.

she purses her lips at the acronym, running her sword through another set of traps.] Department of...?

[finish it so she doesn't have to guess.]

Dimensional Affairs.

[ it's clipped, but he answers honestly so make of it what you will, milla. but yeah, he doesn't sound as if he much actually likes spirius either! weird.

this is absolutely the right conversation to be having while they're hunting for an enemy general in a booby-trapped warehouse. he sidesteps another set of traps as she disarms hers, though he does take note of her approach somewhat appraisingly. ]

Do you have any particular plan of attack in mind when we find who it is we're looking for?

Hmm?

[She's still digesting "dimensional affairs", and everything about that.]

Plan of attack? I suppose that I'd planned to attack them outright once we'd identified the scroll, and bring them down. We could also use what elemental abilities we possess to assist us.

[I mean

it isn't NOT a plan?]

If you were hoping to link, I don't believe it's possible without the use of a Lilium Orb.

[ well,

lbr he can't talk, gestures at something something jdisk quest nonsense, but, ]

I was asking more as a courtesy so that I didn't end up accidentally impeding you in whatever it was you had planned, but I guess I shouldn't have worried about that.

[ you know what with the whole not being super used to working in a team situation thing. teamwork is important right. ]

So. Strike them hard and fast in attempt to get the scroll and get out?

Precisely. As I understand, taking the scroll will disable the enemy. If that is all we need to do, then we needn't waste our time beyond that.

[Easy! Julius is easy to talk to when he's not being a moody teenager, too!!]

I have to admit, I am keen to see you skills with those blades.

[ some people were raised in high society, and apparently not all of that just vanishes no matter how traumatized or moody... aka not everyone is little alfie svent, it turns out. ]

Any of us could have had a number of sparring sessions in a much more controlled setting before now. I'm not sure this is the stage I would have chosen for a demonstration, but it could always be worse.

[ the closed space more benefits him than the open battlefield would have, all things considered. ]

Fair enough, though. No need for a lengthy engagement if we can help it.

[ man they might as well just follow the doda agent playbook while they're at it! just pretend the general with the scroll is a divergence catalyst, even the weird spooky darkness thing carries over. ]

On the contrary. I would prefer practical application to sparring for a display of skill.

[Hmm! Bloodthirsty!]

Exactly that. In and out.

[She pauses, freezing her movement.]

There. Do you hear that?

[ he does the same, cloak fluttering to a stop as he goes very, very still. ]

... hooves, you mean? It must be close.

[ but he also thinks he counts several other enemies accompanying them; it's a little hard to tell. unless she was talking about something else entirely, but...

Yes. There.

[Definitely horse hooves. It's hard to tell what—or who—else, but also--]

...Why is there a horse here?

[There's a pause, as the two of them stop to consider this fact.

And by way of introduction, the wall to the side of them bursts into smithereens, kicked by the aforementioned horse. On its back is an armed rider bearing a scroll, sword already drawn.

Pros: the enemy came to them.

Cons: the enemy just koolaid man'd through a wall, and set off a ton of traps—for better or worse. Also, horse.]

[ at least it isn't an Abyss 'horse.'

on the other hand, why is there a horse, and how did anyone think this was a good idea because those sure were several traps activating, snares and cords going taut and catching tight onto whatever or whoever poor saps happened to be caught in them. thankfully Julius was already moving as soon as the wall came down, though in the commotion of the wood and building material crashing in on them he ends up separating from Milla.

pros: the enemy has engaged them in a terrain that doesn't necessarily favor them, considering how horses aren't exactly great in tight quarters.

cons: well, guess these sprung traps are useless for the rest of their time here, and now they're hazards to dodge. joy. then again, depending on how interconnected they are, he might have an idea for them, hm . . .

horse and rider though. the horse ends up anywhere between partially and very snared for the time being, though by sheer determination it seems to be valiantly working on freeing itself, and the rider...

--does not seem all that disoriented or fazed by their dramatic entrance, apparently, because his sword fairly easily manages to parry julius' first, glancing pass, more meant to test and assess than anything else, in case the darkness empowering all the samurai lends them any more strength than is deserved.

by the way, the verdict on that is a yes. yes, the evil, stupid, out of place looking scrolls are definitely some sort of darkness steroid. ]

[Milla is rolling as soon as the wall bulges—which is lucky, on account of the many bits and pieces of wall flying about. Traps and tripwires spring, lines taut and fire—and she hisses, as a dart buries itself directly into her leg. Nevermind that, for now.]

Julius!

[She looks around, sword drawn and sweeping, looking for the the teen.

In the meantime, at least, there's a horse. A wholeass horse, right here, getting strung up on ropes and shit—and there's the rider, on the other side, investing his attention wholly in her younger partner. For the moment, at least, he seems to have things under control.

Milla has zero sympathy for this horse. This whole is getting its whole ass handed to it, because Milla is just slaughtering this horse.

Horse blood is just everywhere.]

I'm fine--! Check for other enemies first, there's no way this wouldn't have caught their attention!

[ he calls, even as he's forced back a little in blade lock before diverting much of the force bearing down on him to the side and spinning away with a bit more urgency in his pace. boy, aren't we missing the existence of lilium orbs right now. the samurai has darkness steroids and who knows how many friends, and they're--

well, it could be worse, but also, this julius happens to be a 15yo who doesn't exactly have all the bulk and strength of his older counterpart yet. on the contrary; it seems he's more heavily favoring a leading, evasive style as the engagement wears on and it becomes more apparent that despite the blows he's landing, the darkness fueled commander is shrugging a majority of them off with an ease that. well. probably should be slightly concerning, really.

but these two are jrpg characters, so they'll probably adjust. ]

[If there's any more enemies, they are, at least, not coming immediately. And on the increasingly "pro" side of the situation, the horse is definitely super dead! Great. That gives her more time to focus on the guy who was riding it, currently backing her partner away.

And so, here comes horseblood-covered Milla, bounding out of the darkness, to straigtup wail on this samurai from behind. Who needs links when you can just pincer the old fashioned way?]

[ that's a lot of blood, why are horses like this. milla, that's gross.

but it isn't as if julius really cares, because all he acknowledges is that his temporary partner in this matter is approaching from behind the samurai, that he shouldn't give away her approach, and that he should probably disguise his repositioning himself into a better spot to aid in her assault as another simple dodge, before crashing his swords back down onto the samurai's to temporarily keep him in place.

and of course, he'll relent and back off as soon as she's within striking distance. go, milla go. ]

[The wailing doth commence.

Despite the lack of an arte to assist, she manages to execute a perfect spin attack, nearly lifting the samurai himself off his feet—and leave a large enough follow-through opening for Milla to turn her blade inward, rending a clean slice down the length of the assailant's body.

When the enemy reacts, turning, sword already swinging, Milla's is down, blocking with a natural, practiced reply. Twisting the blade, she locks their hilts together, nearly smiling.]

Your turn!

You're enjoying this far too much.

[ he nearly scoffs this out, flippantly-- and that's a rope trap, good grief-- but there's the faintest trace of an overly sharp, faintly amused expression on his face if someone looks, so does he really have any room to talk.

so sue him if it's satisfying finally having at least something clear that they can throw themselves at- which he does quite literally from above, making quite the passable imitation of falling thunder onto the preoccupied samurai despite the lack of arte. the sheer kinetic force of it is meant to stun, and it's with this in mind that: ]

The scroll, remember— are you capable of retrieving it?

Leave that to me!

[The move to stun works well enough—it is more than enough for Milla to maneuver her blade—and run the ghoul through, ripping the scroll free as she moves past, flicking the gore off her blade as she drags it free of the rapidly-dissolving corpse.

She nods to Julius, encouraging and clearly pleased.]

There. That wasn't so bad, was it?

... It could have been worse.

[ he says, picking himself up off of the ground. well, guess we're back to running cold again.

though. maybe the horseman didn't have backup earlier, but by now there's, hm, shouting, from the direction of the collapsed wall. julius' glance over in that direction has the appropriate amount of alarm and urgency involved and no more. ]

Come on. We should get moving before anything else has a chance to happen--

[ like them getting fired at blindly and just barely being missed due to sheer luck?

so yeah! the getting going thing! better do that! ]

[Hm!

Wordlessly, Milla runs directly in the direction the volley came from.]

[ wait what why are you running at the gunfire you crazy spirit

after a moment of hesitation that barely lasts a split second, he's following her to what, try to make sure she's covered? that she doesn't get herself killed? hope this doesn't end poorly? ]

[Another volley whistles by, but Milla seems to be either extremely lucky, or... extremely good at dodging gun projectiles. It doesn't bear thinking about, because a moment later, she's full-on throwing herself on to the besieging gunners.

Incredibly, this is a tactic that seems to be working in her favor—at close range, the guns are largely ineffective, and they seem to be having a lot of trouble beating Milla to death with them while she's juggling them with repeated slashes and stabs.]

[ of all the ridiculous, reckless, and unfortunately and admittedly somewhat impressive things to do,

julius sweeps through and incapacitates a few gunners who'd looked to be attempting to flank them before: ]

Weren't you the one who said we should make this quick? We have the scroll already, there's nothing left here for us!

week two: mingle

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NIJI AND MAUYN WRITE SHORTER TAGS CHALLENGE

ARE WE WINNING THE CHALLENGE???

NO

GODDAMMIT

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