Day 4: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: August 14th - August 28th, 2019 ]

As the sun sets on Harsen Island and the curtains close on Four's games that abducted all the heroes up into hours of entertainment, things absolutely refuse to wind down.

When the knights return, they'll be placed right where they were when they were added into the game show. The Princess, unfortunately, is the one that doesn't wind up where he was taken from. For everyone else, whether they were climbing up the mountain or existing elsewhere, it looks like all they lost is time.

And maybe a bit of patience.

Every hero that participated in Four's game show reeived a personalized 'Thank you!' card at the end of it, apparently the monster was excited about everyone participating! (Disclaimer: One knight did not receive a thank you card because he refused to participate like a big ole' jerk).

The bright, glowing blue fissures are still open throughout the ground, they haven't gone anywhere while the game show happened. All the cracks originate from the mountain up the slope from Craydon! Social media has finally confirmed that all the cracks converge on one location up the mountain: At a big glowing stone door. It's absolutely not a manmade door and it's definitely magic in some way, but why is it there now?

The Weather
Insects chirping all over.
66°F / 19°C
A surprisingly cool sea breeze.

Prompts:

??:00pm Mountain Door, Craydon: Any heroes still climbing the mountain, or who choose to climb the mountain, can reach the glowing door. As they ascend, they'll have to endure unrelenting wind blowing right in their face the whole way. When they reach the top, send a ping saying "they've reached the door" to receive a description.

6:00pm Rock Sugar Tea Cafe, Bamborough: Not wanting to spend the entire evening in Craydon, the Protector has made his way via train out to Bamborough to find a cafe that serves tea. Three Princesses had come here during previous years and the experiences had been good enough that he sought to try it for himself. He'll be found sitting under an umbrella-covered table outside the cafe, sipping carefully at a nuclear-hot cup of spiced apple tea.

6:30pm Sushi, Far Haven: Of all the places for Ten to end up in all this, he's arrived at the conveyor belt sushi restaurant in Far Haven. Situated off to the side from the lobby of the Crossroads Hotel, the restaurant is simply named 'Sushi' and is filled with numerous tables wedged up against a slowly-progressing conveyor belt filled with plates of sushi. The entire path is in a refrigerated tube to keep the sushi safe to eat, and when a hero arrives they'll see Ten reaching in to obtain a new set of rolls. There are already ten empty plates in front of him: How many more will he eat? Social media is already taking bets on the final count!

7:00pm Door Crater, Craydon: It's the end. Any heroes still lingering at the door on the mountain will be treated to the biggest nightmare of all time: The door starts to emit a high-pitched tone moments before it explodes outwards. Pieces of solid stone go flying outward from the blast, and when the dust clears from the event there's still smoke billowing out from inside of the cave entrance and rising up off of the small crater that the explosion made.

Just inside of the cave entrance is the figure of a child, laying slumped facedown on the ground. They're wearing nothing but tatters over their translucent cyan skin. They look as if they're made of colored glass, their hair looking very much like solid, shiny obsidian but moving as if it wasn't stone at all. Their eyes are closed where they're laying, but there's an unmistakable glow even through their closed eyelids.

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Garrot smiles at the squeeze. Better than the compliment. Warmth and support, good. Makes him feel less useless. When Gyre starts to force them onward, the walking stick seems to greatly reduce Garrot's cognitive load, or at least just his hesitation. He's still focusing on large, smooth areas for his feet, but he's able to progress like his brain isn't eighty percent mush right now.

In fact, despite his issues with communicating, Garrot still has a bit of surgical precision with that walking stick. It thuds decisively into a stone with one step, then a bit of dirt for the next, and his grip looks like if it wasn't a Knight Weapon, he might've broken it by now. He's still in there somewhere, even if his focus is shot.

"Kid. Heavy?" Don't think part of him didn't notice you adjust that child, Gyre. Garrot leans a little less on the elf and more on his walking stick. The look on his face is a blend of anger and worry. "Impotent." That's the biggest word he's used since he took that explosion, and it's pretty obvious he's talking about himself.

Despite Garrot walking a little easier, Gyre is still clearly watching his every move, his attention shifting between him and the kid, again and again. If Garrot falls, he's going to help him regardless of how much he wants to be independent right now.

"Mmn, my child weighed more when she was this age," he says, looking up when the other decides to pull back from him. This man is a nightmare. He rolls his eyes a little, squeezing Garrot's arm.

"Lean on me. You'll be more impotent if you fall. I can't lift you."

Deep down beneath the mind fog, Garrot knows that Gyre is right. And that pisses him off, because it means that he's wrong. Garrot hates being wrong. So when next the bugbear drives his walking stick into the ground, he shifts his weight back into Gyre. And all of a sudden he's... giggling?

"Hehehe... Weak." The one word is clear enough- he's joking about how you can't lift him, Gyre! Though honestly, if a little mischief is what it takes to keep getting Gyre to pinch and squeeze him, then consider it done. Not only is Garrot taking the gesture as a sign of compassion, but it also is keeping his mind focused on, uh, not falling down the entire mountain. And that's so important.

But then the faint reminders of a moment of the past pull at Garrot's brain, and after a moment the word "Age?" comes out of his mouth. Of course, he's not entirely sure he's asking about the child Gyre is carrying or the child Gyre carried many years ago.

Actually, both are good. He's not exactly coherent enough to guess this explosion-child's age, and some part of him wouldn't mind hearing about Gyre's family. Of course, realistically, Garrot won't remember much from this descent...

What a strange noise coming out of this giant dude. He glances up in surprise when he hears that giggling, and he can't help making a deeply amused noise of his own, snorting softly. He squeezes Garrot's shoulder again, and then a little lower down, giving his bicep a teasing pinch.

"That's what I've got you big, strong men for normally," he purrs, wondering how much of that is going to get through the other's brain fog. Even if he doesn't get it or doesn't remember it later, it's still fun for him. It keeps him focused, and he turns his attention back to the path, shifting the kid up on his hip again.

"Age?" he repeats back, not fully understanding the question. Whose age? His age? The kid's age? It doesn't even occur to him that Garrot might be asking about his own child honestly, but he answers all the same as he describes how old he thinks this kid is, "They look like they've seen a few springs. They're big. Maybe close to, uh..." he trails off, mumbling a couple words under his breath in wild elf language, before awkwardly offering in slightly stiff Amarosian, "《Almost pubescent? You know, too old to be a child, but not old enough to be a teenager?》 Uh, your little one is nearly that age, right?"

Garrot absolutely starts blushing at that little pinch and the suggestive little comment. He's not together enough to parse it beyond knowing it gives him a fuzzy feeling though, which... might be for the best. But the shift if the kid up Gyre's hip brings them back into Garrot's limited focus. Somewhere between child and teenager?

He nods! It makes sense; he does have a wonderful little child. But Garrot also doesn't consciously recognize the shift into Amarosian, just that they're not using the common tongue. Since he's loosely lucid at best, he'll communicate as best he can.

"《Cute kids.》" In his native Koskenkorvan, that is. If nothing else, he's smiling calmly, showing that the comparison between this child and his own has brought up some soothing memories. Downside, he hasn't registered he's using another language. "《Miss them.》"

At least he's upgraded to using two-word sentences?

Hey, any improvement is improvement. The switch to Koskenkorvan throws him off enough that he misses the first bit, trying to search that language up out of his brain. He's a little rusty. Rustier then he is with Common for sure. He hasn't had reason to use it for forty years, so don't mind him blowing the dust off this grammar for a bit.

"《You... see them soon. You will. You'll see them soon,》" he says, stumbling over himself and his terrible accent. "Watch your foot here," he adds in Common as they take a way bigger step down then usual. They've hit a rockier patch, but he's continuing on, still moving steadily. They're gonna get down this mountain god dammit.

Luckily for Gyre, Garrot's about twenty sheets to the wind so he doesn't notice the verbal stumbles or the miserable accent, just the friendly intent. And it makes him smile, distracting him just long enough that the bugbear is not watching his foot there.

Whoops!

So the Monkey Knight, the martial arts master, takes a tumble. His messed-up balance and shaky center of gravity means he falls away from Gyre, lands flat on his ass on a rock at an angle, and then slides down into a tiny, mostly level patch of dirt and smaller rocks. He didn't let go of that walking stick though, and now he's wedged the bottom firmly in some ground. Like five seconds too late.

"Fuck." He doesn't exactly seem hurt, just... inconvenienced and annoyed. Like when a drunk person loses their balance. At least he didn't hit his head!

Gyre doesn't know he didn't hit his head! All he sees is his very sick looking, possibly concussed ally take a sudden dive. He grabs the back of Garrot's shirt, but isn't able to stop his fall and keep his own balance. It doesn't do them any good at all if Garrot gets hurt from falling and then so does the kid, so he stabilizes himself first.

Adrenalin jumps up into his throat, and he nearly jumps down the hill, sliding into place beside Garrot. He crouches and carefully settles the kid off to the side, guiding their head down so they're... well, mostly comfortable anyway. They're still laying on rocks, but they're not hurt.

Then he grabs Garrot's shoulder, squeezing it. "Are you okay?" he asks sharply, bending close to grab Garrot's face and look into each of his eyes in turn.

While Garrot's mostly just a little grumpy, Gyre's decision to put the child down and get all worried is honestly just a lot for him to deal with. He already hates that he's some kind of off and that he can't just carry Gyre and the child both down the mountain, whether using a clone or not. But having someone worry about him like that is a pitchfork right into his pride. So he just grunts, offering a slight nod at the question.

But then he leans back, more than willing to pull Gyre's hands with him, before one of Garrot's own goes into one of his pockets. Getting something out of a pants pocket while sitting upright is, like, impossible. A moment of aggressive fumbling in that pocket later, and he's produced his phone! And now he's just staring at it.

"Call... help??" Just saying those words makes Garrot go red in the face. Poor guy sure is looking mighty sheepish. Unfortunately, he's doesn't seem to remember how to turn on and unlock his phone.

He lets go when Garrot starts moving backwards, his eyes attentive and bright. He doesn't know what the other is doing for a long time, squinting down at his pocket and then up to his face again, repeating it over and over until suddenly there's a phone!

He uh stares at the phone in confusion as well, blinking at Garrot. Does he want to call his family? Help?? What does help me??

"Call what...?" he asks in pure confusion, reaching forward to take the phone from him. Is that what he wants? "How?"

If Garrot were fully lucid, he'd probably start laughing, but alas, it never occurred to woozy Garrot that Gyre wouldn't know how to operate a gosh darn phone. The near-reflexive nature of unlocking one's phone is lost on the Monkey Knight, so he doesn't really object if his phone is taken for now.

"Call medics." There's a beat, a flash of inspired awareness because this is something he's worked with for years. These words are doable! "Ambulance." And as if to emphasize, he gestures towards the phone, utterly unaware that Gyre might not know how do that.

"I--" he starts, getting entirely flustered at the way Garrot is talking to him. Like this is information he should just know. He can at least get further then Garrot at this point, unlocking the phone and staring at the screen.

He makes it as far as recognizing the symbol for the handset and opening the phone app before he's lost again. He taps uselessly around the screen until he finds himself in the contacts list, trying to remember the tutorial Olivia gave him the other night.

"Wh-what? How!" he says, louder, as if that will solve the problem. He doesn't know enough to know that the information he's missing is the emergency number, and he scrolls through Garrot's contacts looking for a Medics or an Ambulance. He gets to the bottom of the list before he finds either, of course, and in pure, overwhelmed desire to help, he finds Miri's name again and hits it.

"I'm calling your daughter," he says quickly, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Fuck...!" The word comes out with a loud, deflating whine like he's become some sort of admonished child. He even sort of flops backwards, his back flat(ish) against the ground as Garrot, no matter how lucid or incoherent or intoxicated he may be, has been conditioned to feel bone-chilling fear whenever his daughter Miri comes into play. It means he has fucked up as a person, but in this... this state he's in, he can only go so far as knowing that he is in trouble.

"Dad, you're 90 minutes ahead of check-in." Miri's voice is sweet like honey but with an edge that betrays a lack of patience. In the background echoes the steady thud of a knife chopping through something. Garrot, meanwhile, picks up on the voice and just crosses his arms, pouting like a child. "If you're calling just to say you miss us again, I will pay someone to do something to your house out there." Garrot gasps audibly, but since he's not actually at the phone... There's a beat of pause.

"Dad?" Is he just doing weird clone prank calls again? He definitely has better ways to spend his time...

Gyre jumps when Garrot swears like that, utterly confused and utterly flustered. Is he doing something wrong, or--

Oh, she picked up fast and just started, huh? He expected some kind of greeting first. That's how phones are supposed to work, right? He can't help glancing briefly at Garrot there on the ground, understanding immediately where she gets that from.

"No, I... hi?" he starts haltingly, not sure whether he should introduce himself or something first. Does she know who he is? Garrot said she wanted to talk to him, right? He sighs roughly, reaching over to Garrot's pouting face and checking his temperature like he's got a cold instead of a potentially traumatic brain injury.

"Uh, your father is a little dazed right now. He gave me his phone, and asked me to call for help. And you're his family so, uh, I thought you might know what he wanted...?" This is the least sure he has ever sounded about anything in front of Garrot. He has never been more out of his element then right this exact second.

"...oh." With that one word, the edge is gone, and the knife loudly clatters to the cutting board. See, she just assumed Garrot was being clingy, and then when she'd ask how he was doing he'd be dodgy or talk about weird magic stuff that apparently only made sense if she was there. He might've mentioned the past once? But this time...

"You said he's dazed." Her tone is level and just a little cold, like one wrong word would have her holding a knife to his throat. She can't react and make her little sibs worry, so she'll get every detail she can. "Where are you, and what happened? He... Dad's never been the sort to ask for help, so he must really trust y-"

She stops, mid-syllable. Garrot, content to lay on the ground, loudly slurs out an "Ah luv yewww.... sorr-eeeeee..." towards the phone before absentmindedly kicking his feet a little. At least he's accepted his fate and has begun trying to placate his daughter. She does not hear his words, thankfully.

"I- I'm so sorry!" She forces out a little chuckle before sighing and becoming much brighter, as if she didn't just ask for an update on her father a moment sooner. "I was expecting you to be him, and-" She sighs again, trying to balance the tension coming from worrying about her disaster father. "I'm Miri, his oldest. And you are?"

She always wanted Garrot to help her get an interview with a Knight, so here's hoping this isn't just a friendly pedestrian...

Gyre glances down at Garrot when he starts speaking, nodding very slightly. He's not sure if she got the message, but it definitely doesn't sound like she did when she just keeps trying to correct herself and get back on track. Thank god it wasn't just him missing a social cue. She sounds just as awkward as he feels.

"Gyre. Is fine. He told me about you. He says, uh, he loves you. And sorry?" he adds that last bit, trying to give her as many details as he can. He's just desperately hoping she can help despite being across the ocean.

"We're about halfway down the mountain. There was an explosion, and he tried to protect everyone. With his magic? The clones?" he begins, not sure how much Garrot has said about his abilities. Probably a lot, right? The dude never stops talking, and seems to enjoy messing with the clones, after all. "His body isn't hurt, but he's having trouble speaking and he's unsteady on his feet. I'm trying to get him to a doctor."

Fuck Miri's entire life? The word explosion forces a sharp inhale from the woman. Her dearest, dipshit dad is hurt and he loves her and he's sorry and Gyre is just so calm about it and under any other circumstances she'd love to be talking to the wild elf, but now?

"Give me just a moment to grab my headset, Gyre. Don't hang up." Her words are sickly sweet, like someone forcing a customer service voice after someone spits in their face. A few moments later, there's a light clattering sound and suddenly her voice is far clearer. But she doesn't sound like she's talking to him!

"There was an explosion and we need to lay some groundwork." Like her father, she slips into cold, authoritative tone with zero difficulty. Garrot, almost as if he's picking up on this, awkwardly rolls over and leans towards the phone. "Leon, call Sly and get him to mobilize head of neuro at Far Haven General for some magic triage. Wolfie, get first responders on the scene at the base of the hiking trail at the mountain near Craydon." She's clearly been doing her homework, but then her attention shifts back to Gyre, her tone piercing.

"How many were wounded, Gyre? Did he protect everyone?" She doesn't seem to be expecting an affirmative. Garrot, regaining a sense of composure after listening to his daughter, starts nodding at Gyre and giving an absurdly emphatic thumbs-up! Why it's nearly a punch in the face it's so excited! Yep, he totally protected everyone, he's so great, such an awesome Knight!

This is a lot happening in his ears! He waits when she tells him too, but when she starts saying other names, he expects other voices to start chiming in. Is she in a room with a bunch of them? Leon is another one of Garrot's kids, right? And Sly, his husband? Did he call at the exact perfect time for them all to be in a room with her? That seems impossible.

And then she's addressing him again, and he snaps back up, his eyes jerking away from Garrot flopping around below him. "He did. No one was hurt. Er," he pauses, glancing over to the fainted blue child on the other side of him.

"There's a child. They're passed out, but alive. I don't know if they're hurt, but I want a doctor to see them."

She sighs at the news that nobody else was hurt, that he actually managed to protect all the others from some kind of explosion. It's just like him, but as long as he's okay... Then her train of thought stops as he drops that utterly ridiculous bombshell.

"A child?!" Miri is incredulous, baffled, and still undaunted. "Make that two ambulances, they found a kid!" There's a quiver in her voice and a moment's worth of ragged breath, but then she composes herself. Mission control has to keep their head on straight. Garrot, meanwhile, picks up on her negativity as his eyes go wide and his ears comically droop. Don't be sad, Miri! Sad is not good! So he just starts... leaning in closer, almost obnoxiously so, to hear his daughter's voice.

"You could have Dad see if she's broken?" Garrot's eyes go wider at being referenced, because yes, he is Dad. Being included is good! "Unless you'd rather take a breather and talk until the paramedics get there." He's juggling an unconscious child and a less-coherent Garrot, so he probably deserves a long break. "They can probably get up the mountain to you."

He looks down the mountain, pursing his lips in thought as he listens to her. An ambulance coming up this mountain? It seems... unlikely. "I will," he begins softly before becoming incredibly aware of how close Garrot suddenly is to him. He twitches away, his attention snapping down to the other.

"What are you--" he says quickly, putting a hand in Garrot's face and pushing him back. "Get off-- I'm going to keep moving. I don't think any car is getting up here." He shifts to stand, offering a hand down to Garrot to help him back up.

"Thank you for the help."

"Yeah, no problem, just... keep me posted, okay?"

Garrot just whines like a needy puppy once Gyre pushes him away! Let him be included in the phone conversation, friend! But as the elf stands and offers a hand, Garrot's mind pieces together what's going on. One hand makes use of the walking stick, while the other makes use of Gyre's arm, and suddenly he's back on his feet. And that free hand keeps going, past Gyre's hand and-

"Gimme!" He's reaching for his phone! But he's got the grace and control of a wrecking ball so he's just going to try and grab Gyre's hand and the phone. Whoops.

"Okay, I'll let you know once we're at the ambulance," he says, pulling Garrot up when he feels his weight. Most of his attention is on uh turning the phone off though, closing the call out. This is to say, he is completely unprepared for Garrot making a diving leap at the phone.

He stumbles back several steps, yelling furiously as Garrot starts pulling on his hand. He tries to jerk his fingers open so he can drop the phone into the other's palm, but Garrot's hand is just so much bigger then his. He ends up just struggling, tugging on his arm. Free him!

"Stop! You're going to knock us over again!"

Garrot really fucking wants his phone back, to say something to his daughter who he knows is on the other end. He misses his family, and some part of him knows that something is very wrong, so it's not until Gyre's shouting at him that he realizes that he's not exactly helping.

"Bad-!" And Garrot just stops, his legs squaring away into a deep stance, the arm with the cane resting somewhat behind Gyre's waist. Is he... trying to keep Gyre from falling? The hand reaching for his phone relents, and it's even giving Gyre some space! If he's willing to look at Garrot's head at all, the elf will see that he's looking straight down towards the ground.

"Sorry." And then? There's a little sniffle from the big guy.

He does look down at Garrot's head, yes. He's trying to figure out what the man is doing, especially when he realizes he's trying to keep him up instead of the other way around. What a baffling man!

The moment Garrot's hand loosens around his enough that he can wiggle out of his grip, he shoves the phone into his hand and pulls back from him. He won't let him fall on the ground, continuing to support him, but he also tenses right the hell up when he hears that sniffle. What the heck, dude.

"It's... We need to keep moving. You'll feel better once you can rest," he says, reaching down to cup Garrot's chin and pull his face up. Look at him, you doofus, he needs you to keep it together for a little longer.

There's another sniffle as Gyre's words smack into him. They do need to keep moving. They're on a mountain, which is not a place he seems to enjoy walking on! He even has a cane and it's not helping! As Gyre's hands cup his chin, the affectionate human contact almost makes him want to cry because he feels so useless and he's causing problems, but... even in this state of mind he knows the little guy is right.

"Sorry..." It's the only word he says before he slides his phone into one of his pockets and starts the process of disentangling himself from the situation. It takes a few moments and it's a little awkward because his balance is a bit off, but despite a stumble he does manage to balance himself on his cane. Alone. But he's gritting his teeth a bit while staring at the child.

Your turn, Gyre.

Day 4: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

The Weather

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