⇨ THE HUNT

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 173, the Afternoon
Where: Heartstone Manor Courtyard
What: Everyone goes into the forest with arrows, swords, and horses and is told to hunt and the kill the biggest beast they can find. Best kills win a prize! Or, if you'd rather not, you can wander around the forest and pretend to hunt instead.
Warnings: Violence and ethical quandaries.

BEASTS OF BURDEN↴ Come the day of the Hunt, everyone will be brought to the courtyard forest and provided with arrows, bows, and blades as requested. Magic and other weaponry can be used to hunt, but it is suggested by the Prince that the best kill is the one done in a gentlemanly manner, which probably means he will be most impressed by those using the tools provided. The "Best Kill" will be determined from a mixture or whatever beast the Prince decides is best, and the method in which it was killed. The less damage done to the body the better - tearing the body apart will receive poor grades. The corpses are not yours to eat or keep, and all must be returned to the Prince at the end of the day for judgment. The servants are especially nervous, tense, and solemn today, and unless they have no choice, most of them will be trying to give the courtyard a wide berth. Those that have to serve will have stony expressions, or at best will be trying to put on a cheerful face. If casually asked why they are upset, most of them will say something vague about the Hunt making them nervous, and how dangerous it is to participate. OOC: Those who make top levels will have a chance to be randomly selected for a couple particular plot events, so be prepared for that.

Comments

[betheman]

"Auuh," Gongenzaka confirms, nodding as the walk. "For now at least, we are, and should be, quite distant-"

....Except he stops, cutting himself short with a frown. Marishi as well pauses in her walk, bringing the convoy to a halt as the frown, focus, and-

"...Noboru-!" Marishi shouts, and in turn, with panic, Gongenzaka bolts ahead.

"Stay with them," he first orders, and then with a shout back-"And you!! RUN!! ZANGETSU IS APPROACHING-!"

It's a vague message, and certainly not one that makes much sense, but Marishi is quick to cover what she can. "Our trailer partner-he'll be hunting, he's used to humans as it is, we won't be able to exp-" Marishi is cut off, as the cheetah reduces to dust without warning, gold flecks fading away. Ahead, it would appear Gongenzaka has lost focus...

And the reason why will make itself very clear.

[moonfang]

Damn him. Damn that spoilsport Gongenzaka! The moment that Gon cries out, Zangetsu drops all pretense of being sneaky, of quietly moving through the brush. He just can't hide the nuclear core of energy inside him, and that crazy guy could pick up on it like a beacon in darkness. He'd been tracking the hoofprints and scent of the peryton for some time, but now it was surrounded by its own little entourage!

Well, in his current state of mind, Zangetsu doesn't care if he eats a peryton or a human -- he's hungry, he's stimulated, and he's going to feed.

A white blur leaps from the brush to the left and crashes directly into Gongenzaka with enough force to knock him off all four feet, dispelling the Daemon who stayed behind. A beast has latched on to Gon, one that might look comical with its rabbit ears were it not for the razor sharp claws and pointed teeth on an obsidian-colored mask. Zangetsu tears into Gon, sinking his teeth into the bicep of his left arm.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya would be too if he and a bunch of his friends were turned into animals and set to be hunted while vulnerable... yeah, anxious is about right.

He doesn't have Gongenzaka's senses, neither his physical nor spiritual, and so his sudden shouting to run shocks Yuya, and it triggers an immediate rush through him as his mind remembers every other time he's heard that urgent, harried word these past months. In the carnival. In Fusion. In Synchro.

He moves to push the Peryton on, but his attention never actually leaves Gongenzaka. He's waiting, either for Gongenzaka to run with them or get a glimpse of--wait, Zangetsu?

If that's what he calls the creature that jumps out suddenly and knocks Gongenzaka down in one motion. Like he's paper.

"Gongenzaka!"

[starseedling]

Steven's attention does leave, if only for a moment. He's worked as a team often enough that he knows sometimes you've just gotta do what they say, even before you fully process what's going on, which means that he's bringing up as big of a bubble he can manage as soon as Gongenzaka shouts, managing to catch the Peryton and Yuya within its protection.

It's only them that he really sees what's happening, and ends up throwing himself against the wall of his own bubble in dismay.

"NO! STOP IT!" he yells, the fear of what he's experience cutting through him so badly that, were his bubble less reflexive, he's sure he would lose control of it. He can feel Zangetsu's hunting bloodlust, and he can feel Gongenzaka's pain. For all he expected he'd have to protect the Peryton, he wasn't expecting this.

Suddenly Lion leaps into the fray, having avoided the bubble as well. He responds to Zangestu's animal ferocity with his own ferocity in turn, leaping onto the beast's back and locking his jaw around his shoulder, if he can manage.

[betheman]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGGGHH-!" The cry that breaks from the man as he's bowled over-teeth tearing into his shoulder and upper arm until it feels like fire, the injured arm unable to do much of anything as he's plowed to his side. Lion is attacking Zangetsu, Yuuya is yelling, Steven is screaming-there's a lot of pain, but somehow even that clouds for something else.

Something that sounds more like a roar. Loud, deep, and far more animalistic than one would think of him despite all appearances, and a part of him that's still thinking has to wonder if maybe this was what happened, when the vampires first attacked the carnival, but the rest is only focused on one thing.

The thing (That's Zangetsu-) attacking him (he'd run into it hadn't he, he'd run-) will attack the others.

He doesn't shout, but he roars, twisting and straining not only to get his right arm's claws against the other's face but to angle his very head and teeth-he has that much doesn't he?

WELL HE'S ATTACKING WITH THEM.

[moonfang]

Vampires? Who cares about vampires? There's nothing here except Zangetsu and his quarry. And if they were going to protect the damnable stag, then goddammit, anything else will have to do.

There's a sharp pain and a heavy weight on his shoulder, below the large spines sticking out there. The feeling of long, sharp teeth in his flesh. Sticky black-blue blood leaks from the wound and has a foul, coppery-inky taste. For now, the pink lion was a bigger threat than Gon, despite the other trying to force his face away from the arm.

But he's not abandoning his prey empty-handed.

With a sharp jerk, Zangetsu rips the arm from its socket and abandons that attack. With Lion still attacking him, he lets out a roar, somewhere between an eerie howl and an inhuman scream, that shakes the surrounding trees and unleashes a burst of black and red energy from his body to try and knock the cat off.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya collides face first into the bubble as it encases them, trying to get to Gongenzaka before--well, he can't now, staring dazed for a moment from his pink entrapment before he realizes, or, this thing is keeping him from helping his friend.

His friend who's screaming, in pain, and Yuya tries to push himself forward despite the shield, slamming his fist against the wall.

"Damn it, let me out!" He spares Steven only a quick glance--is he the one responsible for this? Before he's back to staring at the violence in front of them, his attention going to--his arm, it's biting his arm. "Let me out, I have to--!"

Help.

There's so much blood, even when it looks wrong, Yuya knows it's blood. His skin goes cold and his mind blanks as he sees the arm separated, utterly, silently still.

For a moment. And then he's banging the bubble more insistently, his voice raising in volume and hysterics. "Gongenzaka! Gongenzaka! Let me out of here I have to HELP HIM!"