Day 6: "Monster Arrival"

Afternoon: 12:00noon - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: November 13th - ~~November 20th~~ December 4th, 2019 ]

Following the events of the morning, with the Wizard and Protector locked in a heated duel, Gyre has paved forward with his plan to gather all the heroes to show them something. Be proud of him, he texted EVERYONE!

The fight between the two powerful entities continues, they won’t be joining anyone just yet. Sxicq, meanwhile, is… somewhere. No one really kept tabs on them, even social media has lost sight of them.

Monster Arrival: Far Haven: No one! Six is preparing to “arrive” in the evening.

The Weather
Clear with a few clouds.
52°F / 11°C
Bring your heater, the chill continues!

Prompts:

12:30pm Mounain, General Post:

I.
Gyre arrives early to the main hiking trail at the base of the mountain. There’s a big sign advertising where it starts, and he sits against one of the legs of the sign. His legs are neatly folded, his arms crossed over his chest. As people begin to arrive, he greets each of them, standing after a second or third has arrived.

Once they’re all gathered, he raises a hand to get everyone’s attention. “Is this everyone?” he asks, clearly counting heads. A flicker of angst crosses his face as he realizes how much smaller they look without Rory and Web and Gail. As he counts, he realizes Zafika and Joanna are missing as well. He wasn’t able to talk to either of them, so he supposes he’s not surprised, but there is a little bubbling concern in his chest. He’ll have to address it later.

He waves at the lot of them once he’s done counting, gesturing for them to follow, “We’re going to the top. I’m going to move quickly so we can get back down before dark. If you need help, ask me. Rely on each other,” is all he says before he turns and heads up the trail.

The ground is worn enough to make the climb relatively easy, but it’s still climbing a mountain. How is everyone taking it? It’s a long trip. There’s time to catch up now that they’re all together again.

II.
This is the top of the mountain. When the heroes arrive, they’ll find Five and Ten seated at a small foldable table playing cards. Five is wearing jeans and a black hoodie with a computer error screen printed on it. She looks at the group of heroes arriving, giving a small wave once she’s seen some familiar faces-- but she immediately moves to hide behind Ten when she sees Luka.

Ten, meanwhile, is wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt-- you get the idea. How did he pull that off? The shirt is printed with a picture of him here, on the top of the mountain, outside this cliff door. Did he plan for this? He gives a wave at the group, greeting them with a Microsoft Sam voiced phone message:

“All around me are familiar faces. Ha ha, hello.”

Did he just reference a song? He definitely did. That was definitely “Mad World” by Jary Gules.

12:30pm Onward: Mountain, The Mountain Cave Entrance:

When the heroes decide to descend into the cavern, what they’ll find is a strangely winding corridor that’s barely lit at all. The ceiling is rarely higher than six feet, sometimes shrinking down to four feet and even three feet near the bottom, and most of its length is only wide enough for two people to fit through. The floor is slick with water, the slope of it acting as the perfect place for water to drain into from above. This means the descent is cramped, dark, and slightly slippery.

Good luck, heroes.

The corridor suddenly opens up at the bottom into a wide-open cavern, the walls spreading out too far in every direction and disappearing into the darkness of the cavern. The walkway into the space narrows as it crosses over a massive pit that surrounds a central circular platform. There aren’t any other walkways leading to the middle.

The circular platform in the center has twenty-seven metal rings that make up the floor, smaller ones in the middle surrounded by one massive ring around the outside. It'd take a lot of counting to see the 27 rings but, believe me, they're there. What the heroes will be able to spot, though, is that a few of the rings on the floor are rotating very, very slowly. It would be easy to miss, but once noticed it’s clear that there are exactly ten rings moving and seventeen that are not.

Surrounding the center platform are twenty-seven raised platforms in a big circle around the center. Floating above four in a row are bright yellow blobs with one, two, and three eyes respectively. The fourth and fifth have the slain bodies of Four and Five. Four is wearing the game show garb they’d worn on the day of their games. Five is wearing a set of heavy black robes, not the assassin garb she’d worn on her day. The other side has five occupied platforms each with knights floating in them. Web, with Aqrisqi floating above them. Rory, with Sefaq floating above her. Gail, with Giqra floating above him. Joanna, with Fius floating above her. Zafika, with Muraj floating above them.

Wait. When were Joanna and Zafika defeated? Both of them have a single red mark above where their hearts are like they’d each been stabbed with a blade.

Five and Ten have followed everyone down to this room, looks like they’ll be able to answer questions… maybe? But everyone knows that neither the Wizard nor the Protector will be here, they’re still fighting up on the island’s beach.

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.

Activity Check: November 2019

[ IRL Timeframe: November 1st - November 31st, 2019 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Luka's still clinging to the carrying Garrot's shoulders, his grip a little stronger than necessary despite his laughter.

"Try something else?" He asks, between residual laughing. "What else is there to try? Besides, I thought this was perfectly safe."

"You're not really grabbing me like someone who feels safe." There's a smug, playful satisfaction from Garrot as he starts walking again. His strides are short, and it's mostly to keep some semblance of progress while making Luka a little uncomfortable. "Even though you're, you know, completely safe..." He sounds confident in that statement, but he's absolutely teasing the poor Princess. It's all in good fun!

But then he gets a better idea.

"But if you wanted..." There's a gleeful mischief in Garrot's singsongy tone. He's gonna make this man so uncomfortable and they're both gonna laugh their asses off and Luka will feel okay again! It'll be great! "I could slide you down off my shoulders and onto my back. I'll do most of the work, and you just have to..." Here it is, the big Joke! "...wrap your arms around me real tight."

Hamhanded, playful flirting is totally a way to distract from a moment of panic, right?

His grip is unfaltering, even as Garrot readily reassures him just how safe his position is. It's not that he doesn't honestly believe he's in safe hands, but more that Luka just doesn't want to risk getting knocked around again after the previous day's events.

But then Garrot slips into playful flirtation and sly innuendo, and rather than uncomfortable, Luka feels very much in his element.

"Oh, Dr. Murtahkor," He lowers his voice, playing along. "How bold, instructing me on how you'd like to be grabbed? If I obliged everyone who wanted that I'd be a very busy man."

Honestly, the fact that Luka rose to the challenge is proof enough that he's not that rattled. They'll be fiiiiine. So he starts walking again, wholly undaunted by the situation.

"We both know I can keep you plenty busy, Princess." The way he says it, it's half derogatory, half honorific, but he's clearly not backing down from this. "Oblige me once, and by the time you catch your breath you'll be obliging me again. And again. And again." Is that a clone joke, or is Garrot just going whole hog on this bit? Does Garrot even know the answer to that? The way he laughs, cutting and dismissively confident, isn't helping.

"You let me grab you pretty much however I wanted..."

How quickly he had upped the ante takes Luka by surprise. He really should have known better than to expect someone like Garrot to be easily intimated or flustered, even by someone of his status. But Luka himself was not one to back down either, and he leans closer with an amused smile.

"I have no doubt in your ability. You've proven that you have the strength and stamina to satisfy even the pickiest and most insatiable." Luka continues, hardly missing a beat despite his surprise. "But don't forget putting your hands on the Princess is a privilege. A privilege not easily won, but easily revoked."

Yeah, okay, this is just what they're doing now, Luka is more than sufficiently distracted.

"Then you'll walk." Garrot is smug, blurring the literal with a metaphor. A hand gently removes itself from Luka's leg just long enough to pat it condescendingly. He even slows down, so the Princess is less likely to lose balance. "And don't forget I can revoke privileges in defense of your interests, Your Majesty." Of course Garrot wants maintain power over the nonliteral royalty. It makes the banter juicier.

"But if you're paying such close attention, you already knew that..."

"You wouldn't make me walk, now that's just cruel." As Garrot's hand removes itself, Luka's grip tightens again, just as he had allowed it to go slack. There's a quiet yelp as he momentarily loses balance and scrambles to regain security.

"We already decided it just didn't suit me." He continues, still trying to play it cool following Garrot's power move. "Explain to me how that would be beneficial to my interests, Monkey Knight."

As soon as Luka starts scrambling, Garrot's grip tightens and he begins gently shushing the poor, helpless man. He even goes a step further, one clawed finger from the once-removed hand running a gentle circle into Luka's pant leg. The Princess is so fun to mess with!

"Imagine someone finds us. Maybe one of the others comes to look for us." His tone is cool, casual. "They see me carrying you, which is pretty friendly. They jump to some conclusions and do something stupid." He shrugs, enjoying an opportunity to unsettle Luka more by causing chaos with such an effortless motion. "I know you can't stay away, but do you really want to bring attention to the fact that you're playing favorites?"

"Something stupid, hm?" He frowns. Garrot, unfortunately, makes a good point here. Sure, there were no paparazzi or zealous fans on the mountain to spread gossip or take things out of context, but there were the other Knights. And while Luka trusted their judgment generally, nothing was ironclad. People can easily hide their true selves for much longer than six days.

"Well, nothing wrong with being seen being friendly with me. I'm guaranteed good-sided, after all. I had the Protector literally in my head up until a few days ago, right? And... who says you're the only Knight that I'm giving special treatment to?"

He pauses, thinking of a way he could perhaps turn the tables.

"Are you sure you're not just getting too tired to carry me?" He teases. "You can be honest, you know, if you need a break."

"Puh-lease." The doctor's dismissal is immediate and firm. "You'd need a lot more cake to tire me out." The clone gives a gentle, playful pat to the small of Luka's back. No sliding back, friend! The carrying Garrot looses a wry little laugh. "I can bench three peak-performance teenage athletes. At once." He pulled it off once and they forgot to record it.

"If anything, I need the exercise after yesterday." If anything, he's exaggerating and would much rather spend a week in bed after face-tanking an explosion. But he's winning, so... he starts to gradually walk a little faster, so Luka can adjust easily.

"You said there's competition?" While the noise may mask their conversation, he's mostly flexing. Flexing and... wandering, particularly one hand to where a thigh meets its knee. It doesn't budge. "Who else is getting special treatment?"

He's excited and pushy and a little hurt, like a gossipy teenage girl. It's bad.

"Then I don't see any reason you should justifiably want to have me walk instead." Luka replies. He's feeling very sure of himself in the moment, despite Garrot's commenting on his relative lack of cake.

"Babe, I promise you're the only Knight I've offered the Protector's special power boost to." He says, his tone jokingly suggesting that of a sleazy, unfaithful lover. "But it's true some of the others have been very lucky in their own ways. I've never been one to kiss and tell, though, so to speak."

"You'll walk if I think we need to keep up appearances. Step." The hand near Luka's knee moves quickly and suddenly, reaching back and pressing Luka's waist into the back of his head. A moment later, Garrot is taking a rather large step up over a rock, the clone providing a hand to support both. Once they clear the rock, it's business as usual. But the hand doesn't move.

"What if I'm needy?" There's a coy little pleading in his voice, because this is mostly a game. "Give me more. Kiss me till your lips are numb..." Garrot trails off, definitely enjoying the weirdly layered conversation they were having. That said, his tone shifts away from sensual and provocative for one calm, confident moment.

"I probably know most of your partners better than you do, Princess."

"I'll walk if I think we need to keep up appearances." He echoes defiantly. "And I decided that we don't."

Luka's attempt at asserting his authority is undermined by the noise of surprise he makes as Garrot pushes against his back, with Luka's tightening grip on Garrot a further reminder of just how much he actually was at the man's mercy in the moment.

"Oh, you wouldn't be the first." He continues, playing along. "Needy isn't a good look, but I understand I'm particularly hard to get enough of." This wasn't true. Plenty of people had had enough of Luka after only a few minutes, but Luka would say those people just had bad taste.

He wasn't prepared for the sudden tone shift, and Garrot's statement leaves Luka feeling defensive.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asks, suspicious.

While Garrot was plenty tempted to disregard Luka's question and act like it never happened, that would be incredibly rude. So instead, his fingertips give a subtle stroke across Luka's back, if only to keep that from getting utterly buried.

"What, you think I've just been doing push-ups for six days?" Garrot's eyes roll so emphatically that the back of his head digs into the Princess's stomach for just a moment. "I get around, I'm usually pretty likable, and then people talk." Sure, sometimes he harasses them to talk, like with Gyre, but the point still stands. And his steps start to slow down until he's almost skulking around... with someone on his shoulders.

"If you're not sure about anyone, I probably know something." They can flirt until the sun sets, Garrot doesn't mind that at all. But if the Princess wants to trust him with power, wants to try and get his insights, he can at least offer to spill the beans from his almost relentless socializing.

“Actually,” He begins, a slight flush to his cheeks as he admits to his assumption. “I half expected you to tell me you knew more about them because you could see.”

It was embarrassing for him to admit he had gotten defensive over his own jump to conclusions, but he relaxes after the matter is settled.

“That’s a very interesting proposition.” He says, leaning forward slightly. Luka wastes no time cutting to the chase. “Anyone you suspect is Wizard sided?”

He of course knew by now that Gyre was one of the Wizard’s Knights. But he wanted to hear what information Garrot’s socializing had brought him regardless.

Garrot allows himself a sharp exhale, an almost-voiced oof, as his steps slow to a halt. They're not having this chat on the move. Not a bit of it.

"Luka, I..." He knows how privileged he is, deep down, and that's part of why he's so bombastic all the time. So it sucks to have to confront Luka's struggle like that. It tells him a lot about how he's been treated, fame be damned. "The only thing you're missing out on is what happens when I take my shirt off." One of his hands grabs Luka's and guides it gently across one of his pectorals. Maybe the flirting will keep him from feeling bummed? Either way, he doesn't stop to let Luka savor the moment.

"I'd bet that one of them might be dead already. Not sure who, but... it's possible." He gently sighs out of his nose. It didn't feel right to see death as a potentially good thing. "Seth and Gyre, the Rat and the Pig, can be... difficult. And Gyre broke your nose." There's a little chuckle at that one, because no shit.

"Haizea and Zafika, the Dragon and Snake, they just want to survive. Some of them, like Matilda and Terrence, the Dog and Rabbit, are excited to be heroes." He shrugs. "Their hearts seem like they're in the right place for now."

His eyes widen in surprise when Garrot brings his hand forward to feel his chest. Luka himself is pulled slightly forward and down, an awkward shift which has him momentarily worried he might topple forward off of Garrot's shoulders. The motion is so quick and brief that Luka has barely any time to let it sink in, and he barely stumbles over his next words as a result.

"I-Impressive. But I'm not really missing out." He says, mischievously. Luka's playing it cool, but his face is still flushed hot. "Because when you can't see, that's all the more reason you should get to touch instead. Any maybe I'm biased, but touch is so much better than sight."

But Garrot makes the jarring switch from talking pleasure to business again, and Luka follows suit accordingly.

"Gyre is... misguided, yeah." He's not sure how much he should lay out on the table just yet, so he plays it safe with a vague remark. "Zafika has never been interested in speaking much with me. That's kind of suspicious, I think."

Garrot does quite enjoy toying with Luka, and the Princess is very lucky they had business to discuss. Otherwise, he'd have to really take his time and get more aggressive with his teasing. But as there's more Knight Business bubbling up, Garrot sets all of his whimsy aside. For now.

"Zafika was locked up until now. They don't really want to talk to anyone." There's a hint of a scoff in his words as he rolls his eyes. "But they wanna do good. And if they're lying..." Garrot tilts his head one way, and then the other, prompting his neck to pop and crack. "I'll handle it." As much as he hopes he won't have to. But he doesn't let the remark linger in the air.

"Why do you seem equally suspicious of the prisoner and the guy who broke your nose?" Garrot sounds plenty suspicious at the observation. Maybe Zafika did something he didn't know about?

"Just a guess." Luka admits, shrugging. "If I were in prison I'd go stir crazy waiting to be normal again, not further isolate myself once I got my freedom back."

It's a presumptuous conclusion to come to, as Luka hasn't the faintest idea what being in prison is actually like.

He continues making his case. "And if I were a Wizard-allured knight, I'd probably avoid being friendly with the Princess, since they have the Protector in their head, right? No one else has been quite so resistant to my charms as Zafika."

Garrot, though he doesn't often act the part, takes extreme umbrage at societal ills and abuses. Zafika's plight in particular stabs to his emotional core, and the way Luka just pushes forward like that despite the doctor's assurance, it makes him furious. So much so that Garrot doesn't even realize he'd started growling as his shoulders tense.

"The Snake Knight won't get their freedom back." The words are almost snarled out, a sobering acknowledgement of the assassin's chances, despite all his encouragement otherwise. But he doesn't stop there.

"Imagine you're chained up in a tiny little cell so your body can barely move. They give you just enough food and water to survive, and nothing healthy." His words are cold, forceful, and he pauses for a moment to let all that sink in. "No exercise, no sunlight, nobody to talk to. For years. Unless the guards decide to beat you." Garrot exhales, trying to keep his tone as even as possible. "Zafika thinks they don't deserve kindness. Our Snake Knight is scared they'll lash out and hurt someone else... like you."

And finally, he takes a few moments to take some deep, calming breaths. In and out, in and out. He's snapped at Luka twice now. That's no good.

"Maybe." Luka's response is emotionless, more of an automatic response than one that held any particular weight. He felt Garrot tense beneath him, heard his low growls, and wanted nothing more than to get back on his own feet in that moment.

He's quiet for awhile as he thinks over Garrot's words. Zafika was not just a criminal but explicitly a murderer, and Luka wonders if kindness is really something that someone who chooses to make a living by ending lives deserves. He, perhaps wisely, holds his tongue on the matter.

"You know a lot more about them than I do." Luka says, finally. "Not for lack of trying. I just wonder why they'd be so comparatively open with you, is all."

Garrot takes his time to compose himself after that outburst. He feels terrible, really, that he's treating the Princess like this while he's trapped on his shoulders. It's very awkward. Frankly, he's glad nobody's stumbled upon them like this, having an argument, stacked like idiots. He takes another deep breath in, and after hearing Luka's frustration, he just sighs.

"Of course they're open with me." Deep breath in, deep breath out. "I'm their doctor." He says it like it's nothing, because well, it isn't a big deal to him. He's doctored many people over the years. "I was just as worried as you were about the infamous assassin Knight." He breathes a short sigh, but then his tone gets ice-cold.

"So I didn't give them a choice in the matter." But he chuckles cynically at how sinister he must sound, doubting it'll do much to break the tension. Blackmail, bribes, Garrot will do whatever it takes to keep the world alive another year.

Initially, Luka thinks it’s an amazing coincidence that both a doctor and one of his patients would end up as knights together! But then Garrot continues and Luka realizes that wasn’t his implication.

“Can you... do that?” He asks with a curious tilt of his head. “I guess in a situation like ours, normal rules don’t apply though, hm.”

He laughs imagining the scene and wonders how Zafika ever agreed to such an arrangement.

“No one else is outwardly suspicious. I doubt Seth would have it in him to be a Wizard knight at least.”

Garrot's glad he got some kind of laugh out of Luka. Under normal circumstances no, he probably couldn't get away with that. But they're responsible for saving the world. All of them. But then Seth comes back up, and Garrot can't stop his groan.

"That kid's a moody little ball of neuroses with a victim complex." There's a venom in his voice- someone's actually not on his good side. "He doesn't know how to talk to people, he doesn't listen to reason, and he doesn't respect boundaries. I mean, have you read his online feeds? He-" But he sighs, trying to relieve his obvious tension.

"If the Wizard can get him alone, we might have an outcast who falls in with a bad crowd." Kind of like how he turned to a life of violence and drugs for a while... but worse.

"He is a strange one. So timid, you'd never expect he'd be capable of vindictiveness." Luka's amused as he says it, no longer harboring much of any resentment over Seth's actions on the first day. "I heard he was something of a thing online, but I haven't seen his stuff. Sounds funny. Sounds like someone the Wizard could sink her claws into, too."

Luka goes through the names of the remaining Knights in his head, thinking over who else might be suspicious, if not just interesting to gossip about.

"Terrence is intelligent. In a few different ways. He'd be dangerous in the wrong hands, too, but he's never indicated any particular loyalties from what I've heard."

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