⇨ INTERLUDE: A Continuation

[ringleaders]

Who: The Ringmaster, all Supervisors, and any rule-breaker onlookers.
When: Twilight on D40
Where: The woods surrounding the grounds.
What: The Ringmaster found something threatening and has decided to share it with her supervisors.
Warnings: Wannabe satanism.

CATCH A FALLING STAR↴ The Ringmaster waits for all of the Supervisors to arrive before continuing onward. She doesn't say much about what they are doing as they wait for everyone to arrive, simply explaining that she has found something concerning that she needs to show them. Once everyone is together, she will lead the pack into the woods - with or without any snoops who may be trying to follow after, against her wishes. The forest is far more accommodating to her than it is to anyone else who tries to navigate it. Instead of getting wound in circles by its path, and running into dead ends, it's as if the trees have moved themselves to intentionally create an easy path for her to follow. It's stretching into the twilight hours as they travel, and various phosphorescent flowers and pods have begun glowing among the leaves with the shift to night, faintly illuminating the way. The sun is low in the sky when they arrive at the spot, still present but swiftly fading as its light cuts through the trees in beams. They reach an area that is not so much a clearing as it is a small space, tucked away between trunks and branches. In the center of that space lies a large, black mark, cut into the earth like a ritual sigil. The dirt and rock is blackened along its lines, and all plant-life within a few feet of its presence has died out completely. As the dark approaches, the black of the lines will seem to paradoxically glow, as if the void within it somehow creates a light of its own. The Ringmaster kicks a few last leaves off of the mark - it seems that she's been clearing away mess from this spot already today, and indicates the digit with a snarl of disgust. "I told you I was cursed!" she insists, putting her hands on her hips.

Comments

[atouts]

"You think I'm attacking you over it? You wanted to know what I would have had you do instead and I've told you. You don't have to like it."

Nor does he seem to care if other people might have been shot in his stead. In all honesty, he does care, he cares about that a lot, but those others still aren't worth as much as one of England's two magicians. And since he's close enough to get that claw pointed right up into his face, he's going to reach up to make a grab at Strange's wrist, to redirect that pointing elsewhere in the medical tent, just in case.

"But you're right. You are a Nightrunner. I suppose that means I should let you get back to your spying, now shouldn't I?"

[kingsroads]

He doesn't like it. And Strange still doesn't grasp why Childermass seems to care about it so much. He could have stopped him! He almost stopped him in the first place, and yet that's somehow a bad thing?

Pity there's not that much self-awareness in all that arrogance. Strange lets Childermass grab his wrist and move it elsewhere, still glowering at the other man all the while.

"I don't think I need to remind you that you came over here and looked at my spying of your own free will." Yes, Strange was totally spying. But Childermass had the option of not looking and he didn't take it.

[atouts]

Almost doesn't cut it in this case, unfortunately.

"You're right, I did," Childermass will admit that, yeah, but he can also decide to stop spying and carry on, which is exactly what he's going to do. Pointing claw redirected, he lets go of Strange's wrist. "And I'll be sure to ask Joker how it all ended the next time I see him."

Meaning it's time to go. It's for the best, if they're going to fall to bickering like this. If he's fine to spy and argue, then he's fine to make it back to his trailer and rest there instead, and so he'll be turning to go. Have fun with your really silent basin of water there, Strange.

[kingsroads]

Strange just silently fumes, glaring at Childermass's general direction. Recovering plus the fight plus Strange's ever growing annoyance that Childermass won't tell him what happened have wound him all up into a ball of nerves. Fuming still, he heads back towards the basin, sitting back down in front of it.

"For your sake, I hope he's generous enough to tell you." It's said like Strange wouldn't tell Childermass himself but he knows that if something interesting happens, of course he's going to tell Childermass. He's missed that feeling of working things out with another magician.