⇨ END OF EVENT LOG

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone participating in the Prince's challenge.
When: Day 178, Afternoon
Where: A Conjured Forest
What: The Carnival takes to the Hunt again, but this time, with the intention to win.
Warnings: Violence and death.

SACRIFICES↴ In a bid to definitively settle a victor and reclaim the captured carnival workers, the Ringmaster has challenged the Prince to another hunt. If the Prince wins this challenge, he can claim the Blue Rose the Carnival stole; if the Carnival wins, the Ringmaster will be allowed to claim one True Name in the Prince's possession. With the Manor reshaped as it is, there's no longer a courtyard to transform into a suitable hunting ground. Instead, the Prince's magic has turned one of the floating islands between the fortress and the Carnival into an overgrown forest. Being a fae contest, of course, each side's idea of victory is not as straightforward as it would appear, but for those participating in the hunt, there is only one objective that matters: to kill their prey in the time they're given. The captives who have been transformed into beasts will have little of their human sentience remaining, and will be set loose to wander the forest freely. Instinct will compel them to conceal themselves or attack hunters, depending on their individual disposition. Upon death, the beasts will remain in their bestial forms. IN HOT PURSUIT↴ To win this challenge, the hunters must bring all of the beasts down with weapons or innate strength within the time limit: an hour and one minute. No magic may be used to take any of the beasts down -- any use of supernatural or magical abilities to trap, track, or kill the creatures will result in a forfeit to the Prince, and this will be made explicitly clear to the hunters before the contest begins. Hunters are allowed to bring their own weapons and mounts, provided they are non-magical in nature (or their magical abilities are not being actively used). If they do not have their own, ordinary ones of any variety will be provided to them. To expedite the proceedings, rather than dragging the bodies back individually, each hunter will receive a token from the Prince: an enameled blue rose. To formally claim a kill, they must place the rose on the dead beast (ideally, in their mouth, though as long as it's touching it it will do) and activate the spell by reciting the following words: "I claim this life for thy Master's game." "A life surrendered to claim my prize." Using the rose in this way will cause its petals to instantly wilt and magically bring the dead beast, and any hunters touching it, back to the Prince. So, don't touch it if you want to stay in the forest for more hunting. A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE↴ The Prince and the Ringmaster will be waiting for the results of the hunt in a roughly-constructed marble amphitheatre on another floating bit of rock. Those whose stomachs are too weak to take up even just the appearance of hunting can stay at the Carnival or hang out in the amphitheater, with the caveat that any attempt to attack the Prince or use magic to aid the captured prey will instantly default the win to the Prince. Should they want something to do other than twiddle their thumbs, the non-fighting carnival workers can peer into the hand mirrors left on the seats, smaller versions of what the Prince is watching the hunt through. They will be unable to control what images are brought up in the mirror, and it essentially only shows whatever the Prince is looking at himself. There's no sound, but the images are in full color (all the better to see blood with). This is also the area that the hunters and prey will be brought to when the spell is activated (or when every creature has been hunted). So, expect for a pile of corpses to end up there. [ OOC: This log wraps up the end of the Heartstone Manor plot! It is up to hunters and prey to create their own toplevels and sort out who will be delivering the finishing blow (feel free to use the OOC post about this event to coordinate that), but OOCly, it's set that the Carnival will win the Prince's challenge. The hunt's conclusion will be posted as a separate comment for characters to respond to.]

Comments

[dressedtothe]

9S is looking for Rita. He doesn't know which of the beasts are her, or if she's even one of those who are transformed. But if she is, then just based on the bicorn, she'd most likely be some kind of winged or feathered beast, so that's what he's keeping an eye out for; the bicorn had transformed back into a horse woman, so going off that single point of reference, that line of logic makes sense to him.

It shouldn't matter which of the beasts he fights and he should team up with someone else; he's not a combat unit after all, and they need all the beasts to be killed. Even worse, he can't use any of his scanning abilities and he's had to disable his NFCS, so his usual methods of non-hacking based combat are out. As a result, his sword is strapped to his belt instead of its customary place hovering at his back. Additionally, a quiver of arrows and a bow are slung over his shoulder.

This is going to be a struggle; he's not capable of smoothly switching between the usage of the two weapons like combat androids are. Physically holding a sword is already hard and his archery is passable but unreliable. He wanted to take a spear, but without the ability to use his magnetic field, he would have to rely on his throwing arm, which would be even less effective than a bow and arrows.

This is a poorly thought out plan and he knows it.

"Pod, if something happens to me," he begins, his saddleless horse going at a canter, "I want you to broadcast a signal for help."

< This course of action is inadvisable. Unit 9S is not a combat unit and is operating under severely restricted functions. Proposal: Unit 9S should support other hunting teams instead of hunting alone >

9S grits his teeth and looks ahead. His eyes are uncovered; the combat visor wouldn't be allowed. "I don't care." He's durable compared to a human. He doesn't see Rita as the sort of person who would easily run from a fight. He might not be much of a fighter, but he has stamina and endurance going for him while Rita is, like, a total slob. They only have one hour to kill all the beasts, though... But he's determined. "I'm going to find Rita and kill her."

Put an end to the pain and get her back. He doesn't want anyone else to kill her. No one else is allowed to kill her. It has to be him.

It's easy to pick up the trail of fire and burnt plant life and follow it until he comes across the clearing where the phoenix is located. A larger than usual bird, but smaller than some of the other beasts he'd spotted on the way.

This must be her.

Immediately, he fumbles for his bow and arrows. But his approach had been less than subtle, and he is slow on the draw with the unfamiliar weaponry.

[fireorflight]

The phoenix stops.

She lifts her head, seemingly alerted by some noise, then cranes her neck around to scan the area with her unmoving eyes. Ash. Trees. And... there.

A person. Weapons. Danger.

Her eyes flash. There's no recognition in them; only the fear and fury of a beast. She turns her body around to face him, the feathers on her neck puffing out -- even the stone ones, oddly enough. Bending forward into a crouch, she points her head at the android and lets out a menacing screech.

It's a warning, and perhaps the only one he'll get.

[dressedtothe]

9S didn't expect Rita to recognise him anyway.

Those too far gone from the logic virus have to be killed to prevent them from spreading it to other androids. This is just like that. At least the killing someone you care about for the greater good part.

And just like an android connected to the Bunker, Rita will be back.

So he'll kill her.

Nevertheless, he flinches at the intensity of the screech and his horse neighs, jerking in a direction away from the phoenix. Still, her gaping mouth is the perfect opening for 9S to shoot an arrow into her stupid mouth. Maybe this will be quick.

Somehow, he manages to let loose an arrow in her direction. Except his actual skill with bow and arrow is not nearly good enough to strike such a small target, especially with his terrified horse throwing off his aim.

[fireorflight]

The arrow soars through the air, but it veers to the side of the phoenix's mouth, piercing her left wing instead. There's another cry, one of pain, as the bird pulls her head back. Kicking up soot and ash into a dark cloud, she flaps her wings to lift herself into the air. The movement causes her pain, but that pain only fuels her anger as she throws herself at the android, sharp talons grasping for him in an attempt to pull him off his horse.

[dressedtothe]

At least he hit something.

"Damn it!" he swears, as Rita flies up out of his immediate reach and flaps up a cloud.

Blinded by the soot and ash that's also getting caught in his filters, 9S tries to urge his horse to gallop out of it, but the horse is panicking, movements jerky and irregular as it veers off to the side.

But he doesn't have to worry about that for long; he's quickly dragged from his horse -- accompanied by an indignant yell -- and his back hits the ground unceremoniously. 9S has plenty of experience in unceremonious landings, though, so he immediately rolls onto his front to both avoid a follow up attack and so he's in a position to get back onto his feet more easily.

His horse immediately bolts. At least this horse will live another day.

[fireorflight]

Having succeeded in pulling him to the ground, the phoenix brings her head forward and snaps her beak at... the spot where 9S was just a second ago. It appears that moving was the right choice.

He's still near, though, so she lurches closer and tries snapping at him a second time.

The horse's retreat goes ignored; the beast is solely focused on her primary threat, the android.

[dressedtothe]

9S manages to scramble to his feet on time, but it leaves him wrong footed and facing the wrong direction. So when he turns, he barely has any time to react to the second bite attack, only being able to bring his arms up to protect his face and neck.

The beak rips away the fabric of his tailcoat's sleeves and gouges a long gash along his left forearm. Synthetic blood leaks from the wound and his artificial flesh probably tastes gross. It hurts, but the injury will heal in time. It's not a wound worth paying much attention to.

But it means that Rita is close and not flying out of his reach. She's too close for him to draw his sword, but if he could just keep her grounded and restrict her movement, then it will be a lot easier to kill her.

Ignoring the pain, 9S shifts his weight and curls his legs under him before springing forward, intending to barrel into her and tackle her to the ground, hoping that his weight would be enough to pin her down.

[fireorflight]

Anticipating the satisfying taste of flesh and blood, the beast's triumph is dampened when she tastes something alien instead. It tastes wrong. Bad. It's been so long since she's eaten, and this is the first thing her tongue touches? It's disgusting, and it makes her mad.

But before she can properly take that anger out on the android, he's launched himself at her. The phoenix staggers, flapping her wings as she tries to maintain her balance. She's clearly larger, and shaking him off should be easy, but just as the android is deceptively heavy, the phoenix is quite light for her size, with the exception of the stone patches on her wing and chest.

As she thrashes to try and shake him off, fire bursts from her wings with every beat, raining over the offending android.

[dressedtothe]

The fire catches on his clothes, flames eating away at the fabric, but 9S holds on. Not willing to give up an advantage, 9S grits his teeth and kicks at one of her legs in an attempt to throw her further off balance so he can try and pull her down to the ground. If he can just get her on the ground...!

He's not supposed to fight so physically, his internal mechanisms drawing more power from his core than they should.

< Alert: Black Box temperature rising >

[fireorflight]

The leg buckles, and the phoenix's attempts to steady herself are thwarted; she falls forward, chest hitting the ground, ash coloring her red-orange feathers.

This leaves her more or less on top of 9S, though, so as she thrashes about, kicking up dirt and ash with her legs and wings, she continues to produce heat and flames around herself. It's harder to actually aim at the android from her fallen position, but if she indiscriminately burns as much as she can, she'll surely roast him, or perhaps force him to let go so he stops weighing her down.

[dressedtothe]

This is not going how he imagined it to go. One of his arms is trapped under her body and in direct contact with her flames. But he is still determined all the same. He won't let her get away, no matter how hard she thrashes.

He wraps his legs around her and tries to grab her throat with his free hand. Cut off her air supply, make her weak. Living beings and fire need oxygen to thrive.

His clothes are burning and melting to him, fabric sticking to his synthetic flesh. It hurts. His pain receptors are overloading. His head is pinging with alerts that Pod 153 is echoing. But he'll endure it. He'll bear the pain. He'll kill Rita first.

[fireorflight]

While the stone sickness has spread to her neck, it only reaches its base. Above it is a long neck made of flesh and feathers... which the android's hand now clenches over.

The sensation sends the phoenix into a panic. She chokes out a squawk and scrambles to her feet, but the android's weight prevents her from lifting her head up, and all she can do is stagger around, dragging 9S along as she struggles, wings still flapping wildly.

[dressedtothe]

The flames had burned away enough of the belt holding his sword to him that when Rita staggers to her feet, his sword falls away from him.

There's no choice, is there? His other arm freed, 9S reaches up to wrap that hand around her neck, too as he holds on for a dear life.

"Stop struggling!" He lets out a cry of agonised frustration, ash and smoke choking his words. "Just lie down and die already!"

He can feel the synthetic skin covering the parts of him in direct contact with her burning and melting off his metal frame like a candle burning down to its wick.

[fireorflight]

With both of the android's hands squeezing her neck, the phoenix finds herself completely unable to breathe. Her chest convulses as she tries to gasp for air, but nothing gets through.

The thrashing intensifies, fueled by desperation...

And then she starts to slow down, the heat from her wings dying. While she was dragging the android around just seconds ago, she now weakly tugs away from him, with no success. He isn't letting go, and he feels even heavier than before.

[dressedtothe]

Now he's getting somewhere!

9S continues to squeeze. He might not be a combat android, but he's still strong enough to shatter a glass with his hands. And all of that strength is going into choking the life out of the phoenix.

< Alert: Core temperature at 75%. Further rises in heat levels will cause imminent system shutdown >

"I know that!" It's hard to ignore the way his vision is shorting, blurring at the edges and colours melding together. Even Pod 153's robotic voice is full of static to his aural receptors. "Just a little more...!"

Flames from his burning clothes lick at his back, charring both fabric and flesh. Already, patches of his clothes are stuck to his limbs, but he still stubbornly hangs on.

[fireorflight]

At last, the phoenix falls, crashing down into the dirt and ash. Her wings twitch limply at her sides and her chest convulses as she struggles to force some air into her lungs, but her efforts are futile. Her head turns slightly to see what she can of the killer, watching him helplessly through a bulging, bloodshot eye as her vision dims and the noises around her seem to grow distant.

This continues for what may feel like a long time... but eventually, she stops moving.

The beast is dead.

[dressedtothe]

9S falls with the phoenix, half buried under her body. What flames remain after burning up most of his clothes are smothered under the corpse. He lets go of her and drags himself out from under her, struggling to his feet.

"Finally," he gasps out, before his knees buckle under him and everything goes dark.

Pod 153 hovers there for a moment before floating down to place the ceramic rose onto the phoenix's body. Taking hold of 9S' sword -- floating it magnetically, much like he does -- Pod 153 uses its free hand to touch the phoenix's wing. 9S' overheated body is already half collapsed on top of the creature.

< "I claim this life for thy Master's game. A life surrendered to claim my prize." >

And with those words spoken, phoenix, android, and pod are whisked back to the Prince.