Day 5 Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: August 28th - September ~~11th~~ 25th, 2019 ]

The strangest part about the morning of the fifth day is the silence. There's no earthquake like day four started with, there are no horrible hero-kidnapping shenanigans, and there are no glowing cracks in the ground. The cracks from before are, unfortunately, still there. But there's no glow now, no sign that anything out of the ordinary was going on.

At least until after sunrise.

The morning is shaken up by three significant events of varying intensities: The Wizard, Four, and the unknown child that had appeared on the mountain. The heroes could've easily guessed that things wouldn't go smoothly for anyone. With impressive teamwork the previous evening, they'd brought that unknown child to Harsen Island's only actual hospital in Far Haven.

Unfortunately for everyone, the doctors really can't tell much of anything. None of their machines can get a reading of... anything. There doesn't seem to be a pulse, the child doesn't even appear to be breathing. The only thing that anyone's been able to comment for certain is that the child's eye glow matches the glow that everyone had seen coming out of the cracks in the ground. That's not a good sign at all!

Fifth Morning Event: Far Haven: The Hospital.

The Weather
Eerily still.
72°F / 22°C
A little hotter today.

Prompts:

06:00am Train Station, Craydon: Anyone going for a walk in the Craydon area is going to be in for a surprise: There's a new crater. Laying sprawled at the center of the crater is the Wizard, unmoving and unresponsive. Standing on the defensive is Ten, and he's already urged several locals away from the scene. Despite wearing a pair of shorts and an "I love the beach" T-Shirt, he's looking surprisingly intimidating with all of his fingers turned sharp as needles. Looks like he's not letting anyone close to the body of the Wizard! For anyone who gets a look, there's a very clear scorch mark like she'd been blasted by something... and whatever that something is, it isn't here anymore. By the time social media has started buzzing about it, the hashtags of #heroeswin and #goodprevails are almost instantly coined to celebrate. Better go make sure the Wizard is dead, heroes!

07:00am Train Station Video Stand, Bamborough: Apparently unfazed by the events transpiring in Crayon, Four has arrived at the train station in Bamborough to capitalize on sales in the tourist region of the island. Fortunately for everyone, they're offering the full 9-hero-set of videos for every one of the heroes that had participated in their game shows the day before. There's a special discount for participants: It's free! For tourists it still costs money, but no one's buying it. They'll be visibly losing their optimism about sales opportunities by 8am. And to think, they even put out a tablecloth and designed their own poster to go above them to advertise! Their handwriting isn't the worst!! (They think that, but they're wrong.)

08:00am Harsen Island Regional Hospital, Far Haven: When the child wakes up, it happens abruptly and without warning. They sit upright, eyes snapping open to look at the room they're in. Unfortunately for everyone inside, they turn to the window in their room and detonate it. For anyone watching, a visible blue glowing circle appears on the wall a second before it explodes outward. The child hops to the ground a moment later, their feet clacking like glass strikes stone, and they move to leave. If anyone's in the room, now's the opportunity to stop them. If no one moves to stop them, they'll be jumping out of the window.

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.

Important: 'Child' toplevels will unlock additional information as the story progresses. Send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding this thread.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The floor falls in, and Gyre shouts as he begins to plummet down. His first impulse is to throw his shield up around Zafika so they're safe. It's only a moment later that he realizes he probably ought to do the same for himself, and it's only a moment after that that a ceiling tile knocked loose by the destruction of the room smashes against his head.

His cheek is split open by the corner but, more importantly for him, it's also just enough force to pop the snap on his collar and send his whole ass head directly into the rubble below him. His vision goes black and he hits the ground hard enough to knock all the air out of his body.

He can hear the people in the lobby immediately begin to panic at the wreckage, and he can hear it get worse as they notice the headless body of a knight. The hole of his neck begins to pour an alarmingly green smoke that billows and rises towards the newly opened roof, and his body twitches. He's in pain, but he's not going to be able to help when he can't see and can barely hear.

Which is to say uh there's a smoking corpse beginning to slowly, achingly push itself up out of the rubble while that weird glass kid runs in the opposite direction.

Luka arrives at the scene in time to bear witness to the immediate aftermath. He'd heard about the child in the hospital, but this wasn't what he expected to find. The atmosphere is overwhelming -- smoke in the air, alarms, frantic crowds-- and it's hard to navigate the chaos.

He overhears mumbles among the dust-covered bystanders: weren't the Knights in there? and the idea sends him toward the rubble with barely a second thought.

"Hey!" he calls out. It's all he can think to say in the moment, but all he hopes to hear is some kind of response.

Fuck. He hears Luka's voice, or a voice he thinks is Luka's anyway, and he immediately dreads it. He's in the worst possible place to communicate with him right now. He actually thinks about ignoring him until he's recovered his head, but he can't just leave the Princess there, wondering what's happening.

And so he shifts himself down the pile, sliding down and getting his feet underneath him. The cement and metal rattles over itself as he moves, and he reaches out blindly. He's pretty sure Luka was... here? Or here...? Or--

His hand hits the other's shoulder all at once and he snags hold of him, quickly moving his hand down to Luka's wrist and turning his hand palm up. Assuming Luka doesn't try to yank free, he'll try to spell his name in his palm: G - Y - R - E.

"Gyre!" He responds, relieved. At the very least the Knights were resilient.

Luka is, of course, still unaware that Gyre happens to be not-so-casually headless at the moment. He doesn't question the unusual method of communication, but assumes there might be some sort of injury preventing Gyre from speaking. Technically, he's not wrong.

"Who else was with you?! Are you hurt?"

So it's one of these days huh? Zafika had realised immediately the glowing lights were a mistake, and then they were falling. Surprisingly enough, they're not hurt hurt, which probably is not thanks to them trying to shield their more vulnerable spots. They're going to be bruised though, and that building dust they're coughing out of their lungs isn't very pleasant.

They spend maybe a minute reorienting themselves with which way is up, and push some debris off of themselves, when they suddenly hear Luka's voice, and they actually look up. And see a headless Gyre standing in front of the Princess. What. The fuck. They knew he wasn't alive but why is he missing an entire head!?

"I'm here too. And fine, but the child ran away..." They stand up slightly unsteadily on all the rubble as they announce their presence, mildly distracted by that green smoke billowing out of Gyre's body. Okay, if his body is doing that, maybe his head is too? They start looking around a little, trying to see if there's more of that smoke coming from somewhere, for now hesitant to move since they don't want to step on Gyre's head.

Thank you for not stepping on his head Zafika. He'll appreciate it when he can actually tell the care they're taking here. For now, his body tenses up when they say the child has run, his grip on Luka's wrist tightening absentmindedly. He needs to follow that kid and make sure they're safe, but he can't even see. He's so overwhelmingly frustrated for a moment, taking a deep breath to steady himself. The air whistles strangely around his neck as he draws it in, the smoke pouring out of him guttering wildly.

He begins to draw in Luka's hand, trying to explain as quickly as he can one letter at a time and with his truly awful spelling:
H - E - D
B - U - R - Y - E - D
H - E - L - P

Hopefully one pair of eyes and six hands is good enough in this situation.

Luka isn't quite following Gyre's message, but word from Zafika provides further relief.

"Zafika. Gyre says someone's buried. Do you see anything? Was someone else with you in the room?"

Hm. Well. Zafika sure has an interesting situation going on. Namely, letting Luka in on the fact that Gyre is currently standing headless in front of him.

"Nnnnnooo... um. Hm. So there's no easy way to say this, but Gyre is currently headless. And his head is. Somewhere. In here. Buried in the rubble. Hence why he's not speaking currently. Which is something we need to fix so we need to find his head before too many civilians see him like this. Without trampling on his head too so, careful."

With that they actually start looking, very carefully crouching down on the rubble and, start digging around with their tail as extra assistance. Hopefully Gyre's head just isn't buried too deep in all of this.

He pauses a moment as Zafika starts explaining, listening to them and then squeezing Luka's wrist. Reassuringly? He's trying to be reassuring anyway, taking a step back and uh catching his heel against the rubble. He stumbles back, yanking Luka with him as he falls.

The wind gets knocked out of him for the second time, but he's rolling with it for now. There's too many other things to worry about, and he pulls the Princess a little closer, trying to bring his hand to the rubble so he has a place to start. It's the best he can do, and he lets go of Luka's wrist so he can begin digging as well.

Luka has hardly a moment to process Zafika's explanation before he's pulled down with Gyre. As he kneels by the rubble and tries to collect himself, his first instinct is to instead reach for Gyre rather than search the rubble for his head.

"Wait, headless? Literally?" His hands are reaching out in Gyre's direction, for his shoulders, searching for his neck. He had to confirm that what's he'd hearing is actually happening.

Zafika is mostly busy looking for Gyre's head, but they do glance up quickly as they notice Luka trying to reach for Gyre. Either he knows he's a gheist, or then this is going to be a rather unpleasant way to find out that Gyre is one. "Yep, literally. Nothing above his neck and shoulders. Well, for now at least. That'll be fixed once we figure out where the hell his head flew off to..."

Which seems to be easier said than done. There's rubble everywhere, as well as dust, and they're the only one with a working pair of eyes. So, to make their job easier at least, they create couple bigger balls of light, since the room's actual lights got destroyed when the roof broke. Hmm, hopefully there aren't any glass shards anywhere. At least they're in the hospital if there's a need for patching anyone up.

It's a good thing someone is getting something done because Gyre goes completely tense when he feels Luka touch his shoulder. His hand jerks up and snags the other's wrist, squeezing down tight on it in warning. If Luka doesn't back off after that, then he will peel him off and push his arm away. He does not want to be touched there, thank you.

Meanwhile, Gyre's head blinks in the pile as the light gets brighter through the rocks. And brighter still as Zafika removes a few bits from the top layer. He clicks his tongue a couple times, hoping the sound is loud enough to make it through what's left of the mess, and he stares upwards through his brow as hard as he can so he'll know the second he's uncovered.

If it helps, their instincts were... mostly right. His head is also smoking slightly. Not even close to the degree that his body is, but there are little green wisps creeping up into air now that he's been sitting for a bit. Good luck Zafika.

Luka gets the message. Non-visual communication was something he was familiar with, and the intention in Gyre's action was blatant.

"Well, how are you all so calm about.... that? Is this Wizard magic? Is there blood?" Luka, still trying to clarify what exactly is going on, hits the two with a barrage of questions that Gyre's in no position to answer in the moment, and Zafika's probably too preoccupied for. "If his head is here somewhere I doubt I can find it unless it starts screaming bloody murder, maybe."

This is not useful!! If he could sigh in frustration he would. He definitely rolls his eyes beneath the rubble, and his body turns, reaching out to find Luka again. He grabs his shoulder, runs his hand down his arm and takes up writing in his palm again:
B-E-N L-I-K-E T-H-I-S
H-E-L-P

He pauses there for a second, mind spinning about how to emphasize that last bit. He just needs some help, even if all Luka can do is move a couple rocks down off the pile. Anything is going to help at this point, and he resumes clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, hoping it's a strange enough noise that one of the two of them will pick it up soon.

Luka wordlessly crouches down and starts feeling around the rubble in an effort to help. His arms frantically move over the piles of indeterminate debris around them, though nothing is feeling quite like what he's looking for. All cement, dust, fiberglass -- until he picks up on the faint clicking noises that he recognizes as vocal.

"Is that you?" He asks, not really expecting any sort of answer. Luka hones in on the sound and starts searching in its direction. Luckily for them both, Luka's hearing is keen -- he finds where Gyre's head has ended up and begins moving the rubble around it.

When he finds it, he unceremoniously grips Gyre's head by the hair and yoinks it straight up.

"Gods, I hope this is the right one."

He hopes this is the right one? Does Luka expect there to be more then one head in this rubble? His thoughts scatter at that idea, and he doesn't realize what the Princess could possibly be talking about until his hair is being yanked??

It's not the nicest feeling in the world, and neither is the bit of concrete that catches on the ridge of his eyebrow and tears it open, but being able to see and hear again makes it worth it. His eyes roll around, figuring out where he is before he lands on his body.

Navigating said body while he's over here is uh always hard, and not something he'll ever get used to, so Luka will get to hear these several minutes while he struggles awkwardly across the rubble, going left when he means right, grabbing with the wrong hand, bracing his boot on unstable ground. He gets there eventually though, holding his own cheeks as he plucks himself out of Luka's grip.

It's easier from here, where he can hold his head more or less where it would normally go as he moves across the room, ransacking a nurse's station for some gauze and wrapping his head back into place. Finally. There is the rattling noise of him drawing breath again, and he coughs roughly.

"Nope, no," he mumbles to himself, his voice spare and nearly silent, like he's got laryngitis. He coughs again, and while whatever audience they've gathered at this point gets to see him loosen the gauze up and shift his head around again, trying to find the perfect position to settle into, Luka will be left in silence for awhile. Give him a second to adjust himself. He'll be will you soon.

Luka remains where he was kneeling in the rubble while Gyre acclimates to being whole again. He still isn't sure what to make of this whole situation, so a moment to reflect on just what the fuck was happening works out for him too.

"Gyre?" He asks as he rises to his feet, taking a few cautious steps in the direction he last heard commotion coming from. "Are you.... uh, okay now?"

He lets out another low cough, clears his throat, and uh nods. And when this gets him no response, he looks over and remembers who he's talking to. Right. Speaking.

"Yeah, hm--" he says, his voice immediately catching on something nasty. He clears his throat a third time, and while he still doesn't sound great, there is more of his old rasp as he speaks again, "Thank you for the help. You've got uh, good ears."

"Almost as good as my voice." Luka smiles. "Now, what the hell exactly happened here?"

"The child. Th... there was a child, and we brought them here. I stayed the night with them, but when they woke up they..." he rambles, trailing off as he remembers what had set the poor kid off. He shakes his head very slightly, letting out a heavy sigh.

"They were so scared. They destroyed the floor to escape," he continues, and as he describes it, he realizes he shouldn't just be standing around. He gives his clothes one last straighten, and moves past Luka, very much intending to get the heck out of here.

"I need to find them before they get hurt." If Luka was trying to find out about his head, Gyre seems to have completely missed that! Whoops!

"A child?" Luka repeats back, turning to follow the direction of Gyre's now moving voice. He recalls the voice of the child he heard on day three, assuming they must be one in the same. "I met one too, when we went back forty years ago."

Luka begins following after Gyre, a few paces behind.

"I'd wager that kid is stronger than us. I probably couldn't do that to a floor."

"Kids shouldn't have to defend themselves, even if they are stronger," he says automatically. He's pretty sure that child could burn the world down, but he'd prefer if they were never pushed that far.

That said, he slows a little so Luka can walk next to him, watching him curiously for a few beats. "I met one as well. This is a different child. They've been... I think they've been trapped for a long time."

"There's more than one kid caught up in this?" Luka hadn't considered that, but he'd also never been face to face with the child in question.

"Did they uh, take your head off like that too?"

"Yes, there's... several," he starts, trailing off immediately when Luka just goes ahead and asks him that second bit. He thought he was going to get away with pretending all that never happened, gods dammit.

"Ah, no. I've been like this for awhile. A piece of the floor hit me, and uh, knocked my head loose."

"Headless?" Of course Luka wasn't about to let that whole chestnut slide, unfortunately for Gyre. "How exactly are you walking around technically headless. Are you cursed?"

The Weather

Prompts:

Procedure:

After hospital collapse

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