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

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.

Garrot isn't going to climb a mountain and deal with Four and not try and figure out this door for a while. But that high-pitched noise? Bad news bugbears. So anyone within about twenty feet of Garrot is treated to daisy-chains of clones to body-block his allies from whatever happens.

Then it fucking explodes. The force behind the blast, the flying rocks impacting into the clones' bodies, and the inevitable disconnects between clones mean that when the dust and smoke begin to settle, the original Garrot is the only one still standing. He's staggered, and his body has a bit of a wobble to it. The Monkey Knight's never felt the consequences of losing a clone instead of dismissing it, so he's... not all there. In fact, he seems to have forgotten that he was protecting people with his clones, or that those people even exist! Even if they're in his field of vision. Yikes.

There's a moment of lackadaisical mawp-ing to deal with the ringing in his ears, and a shift into a fighting stance to instinctively deal with his shaky balance. But Garrot's brain doesn't stay on that train of thought for long, because as soon as his eyes pick up on a blue child he, uh, starts clumsily walking over to them. To provide medical treatment. Except he can't really walk in a straight line. Or very quickly. And he's ignoring literally everyone else.

Maybe someone should beat him there? Or beat some sense into him.

Someone does beat him there yeah. Gyre's been here all evening at this point. He wasn't going to miss this for anything, which is to say that when the high pitched noise happens, he pulls his own shield up preemptively and only catches one of Garrot's clones when it explodes in the corner of his eye. His attention is yanked towards that first before being yanked harder in the other direction. The blue catches his eye, then the fact the blue belongs to a child, and he runs to their side to begin checking them over without another thought for his monkey companion.

It's not until Garrot begins to trip over himself and nearly falls that Gyre looks at him again. He realizes something's wrong immediately, and jerks up onto his feet again, expression clearly torn between his fellow knight and the child. He stays near the kid for now, but he does flash one of his shimmering shields into place against Garrot's shoulder so he has something to lean against without falling the fuck over.

"Are you-- what's wrong?"

"Gotta- I gotta-"

He mumbles the words out, loosely registering that someone is addressing him. Conveniently, it's about his tunnel-vision towards this interesting blue child, making Gyre's voice closer to a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Because, see, he still isn't really aware that anyone else is there. The shield against Garrot's shoulder does little more than confuse and annoy him, and with a pearl-clutching, nerve-wracking grace akin to an actual drunken master, he pivots around the shield before stumbling and falling right onto his knees. He's still a good few feet from the child, but..

"Help th-the child." Is it an order? Or a declaration? Either way, Garrot's just taking a moment to staaaare at this child, wide-eyed.

He watches Garrot swirl uselessly around the help he's trying to offer him, and he just squints at the man. What was that? Now you're on your knees on the ground, you doof.

"I'm going to," he says immediately, watching Garrot watch this kid. He still doesn't really understand what happened, but he scoops the kid up and stands, going to Garrot's side.

"Do you need help too? You look... sick?"

"N-No." The word is sharp, forceful even. Garrot thinks he's fine, and it's stupid and reckless and insane to prioritize him over this actual child! Upside, he seems to have registered that Gyre is actually there in some capacity. So when his fellow Knight picks up the child, Garrot growls for a moment before stumbling to his feet. Is he still angry at Gyre's concern, or is he angry that part of him knows he's very much not okay?

"I..." The words leave him immediately, and he scowls. A moment later, his eyes glow green, and he's glaring daggers straight at this child. They caused the explosion, he wouldn't be dealing with whatever this is if- The scowl twists into a smile, and it's as if his emotions were even more hair-trigger than usual. The glow in his eyes subsides, and he clumsily pats the child on the head.

"Safe." And then he looks at Gyre, still smiling. The child is uninjured, but hell if Garrot can find an easy way to articulate that right now.

Gyre tenses up during most of that. He doesn't understand what Garrot is thinking, and then the giant man is glaring at the two of them. He can't tell if he's looking at the middle of his chest, or at the kid, but the kid needs protection more then he does. He clutches the little body to his chest, beginning to bare his teeth to ward Garrot off--

And then he's fine. Safe? What was he talking about?

"The kid?" he asks hesitantly, glancing down at the child and nodding quickly. "I still want to get them to a doctor."

He moves towards Garrot, walking past him. And uh then retreating back. "Grab hold of me. We'll get down the mountain together."

Gyre's words and actions come quickly, at least by Garrot's addled standards. Doctor... doctor is a good idea. Machines and medicine and beds. The kid's safe with Gyre, but the elf is... telling him what to do? To... use him for support. But. If something went wrong, the kid. Could get hurt.

"N-no, I-" He stumbles over his words again, taking a deep breath as much from exertion as anything else. Garrot's the doctor. The one who helps everyone! Gyre can't carry the both of them. It's dangerous. Unfair!

"More." A hand becomes a fist. The arm trembles.. Nothing. "More!" Garrot commands himself. The other hand's fingers snap. Still nothing. No clone. "M-more...?" He's spent. Defenseless. Something is very wrong with him.

So he steps towards Gyre. Eyes wide. Breath shaky. A hand moves gently to the wild elf's shoulder. Is Garrot... scared?

He doesn't understand what's happening!! Or rather, he understands that there's something extremely wrong with Garrot, and not much else. Every time he calls for more, Gyre flinches a little, eyes darting around to understand what the other means. But nothing comes. There isn't any more, and Garrot seems to give up on whatever he was hoping for.

Better that then him screaming nonsense words into the clear mountain air, Gyre thinks. He lifts one shoulder very slightly to give the man something to grab onto, and when he sees the fear in his eyes, he sighs softly. Shifts the kid in his arms. The child is a little large to be carried on the hip, but he knows what he's doing well enough to manage it, propping the kid up into that perfectly balance spot that only parents know how to find.

With one hand free, he grabs Garrot's upper arm, rubbing reassuringly at it until he reaches his shoulder. He holds him there, providing a little extra support as he begins to pull him down the steep ground with him.

"Come on. I've got you. We'll do this together," he says, voice smooth and calm. Trying to be soothing while he takes care of them both.

"S-sorry." Garrot's off. Useless. He hates it. One step. Largest rock. Another. Flattest dirt. Nothing to chance. A foot slips a bit. Poor balance. Just a stumble. He gasps. Leans into Gyre to center himself.

"S-sorry!" The word is whined. Garrot hates this. Deep breath in. Hold. Deep breath out. Then he turns to Gyre. "Can't." He strains, like his brain doesn't want to cooperate. "Can't make more." Fingers snap again. He wants to support himself. Garrot pauses. Stares into the sky. Closes his eyes. Real hard.

Suddenly: staff in hand. Walking stick. Garrot feels useless. Old. But he's trying. Four is still alive. If they attack? They're all dead.

Gyre doesn't know what to do with all this apologizing. He just doesn't respond to the first one, keeping his eyes on the ground so he can take them through the easiest trails. The grass is parted and tamped down where prey herds go through here, and he follows them exactly. Large rocks. Flat dirt.

He grunts and stops when Garrot slips, his foot darting out to catch both their weights without falling. He's not going to drop them on the ground, and he hikes the kid up higher on his hip just to be sure. Again, the apology goes unanswered, though he tilts his head very slightly to listen to the rest of it. More of what? Can't what??

And then there's a walking stick. Gyre nods approvingly, squeezing Garrot's shoulder. "Good idea. Ready to go?" and as long as Garrot doesn't protest immediately, he's going to force them to move. He's not afraid of Four attacking, but he does worry about what'll happen to either of his charges if they don't see a doctor sooner rather then later.

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.

The Weather

Prompts:

Procedure:

7:00pm Door Crater, Craydon

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