⇨ 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

[mylastchance]

For all his bad planning Strange is at least smart enough not to run in a straight line. It slows the human down, but so too does it slow down this prey turned predator. The kirin is stronger and faster than a human could be, but it's hard to run full speed head lowered in a charge while also dodging around the thick tree trunks that surround them. He snorts out a breath, smoke and small flames sparking into existence as he does so. He's losing patience.

It's then that Carly's arrow flies past his head, missing him by inches. As a kirin Lauren might not be intelligent, but he understands what the sight of a weapon means and in an instant understand he too is being pursued. Where he himself, he'd appreciate Carly's desire to make things quick, but he isn't. He only has the strength of his changed form, and the instincts that go with it, instincts that are telling him to make quick work of the fairy dragon's hunter before he has to face his own pursuer.

He takes in a breath, before opening his mouth and breathing out a jet of flame. It hits some of the trees as such an attack is bound to do in a forest, and yet the bark and the leaves of the plants between he and Strange remains unharmed. Strange won't be so lucky if the flames hit their target. If they actually manage to make contact with Strange's clothes they'll light up instantly.

[kingsroads]

He's managed to get out his dagger before the dragon's breath hits Strange right in the face. And if there's one thing that's a big ol'fat weakness for Strange, it's mental attacks. He just kind of blinks, confused for a few moments, long enough for the dragon to squirm away slightly. Thankfully, there's Carly's arrow to somewhat bring Strange back to reality and a literal jet of flame to fully snap him out of the confusion. Fortunately, the flame doesn't hit his limbs. Unfortunately, the tail of his coat is now on fire.

It's an awkward series of actions as Strange, now with his coat on fire attempts to slash at the faerie dragon with his knife. Strange has surprisingly good form and aim, but there's the whole 'trying to slash at a small moving creature when your coat's on fire' sort of thing. He honestly has no idea if he'll even manage to hit in the first place.

"Don't let it get away!" he calls out to Carly, though whether he means the dragon or the kirin, Strange hasn't specified.

[wild_magic]

Said small moving creature does its best to get away as soon as it has the chance, taking the human's confusion and shock as a chance to bite at his arm before flapping hopefully out of range. It's not quite enough to not get slashed though, and he makes another hissing noise in pain before going invisible again and landing heavily on a tree branch. The leaves rustle as he lands but he stays still, unable to go far with one stony limb and one bleeding. Maybe if he stays quiet they'll be too distracted with the bigger dragon to find him.

[fortuneglass]

What a pain-well, perhaps not a pain. Pain would imply that these were matters of annoyance, but if anything this is a matter of panic and she's barely keeping herself contained. "I could say the same..!" she shouts, pulling back another arrow as she does her best to keep on the tail of the other. She's quick after all-hummingbird quick, but trees exist, and so do bushes, rocks...

"Don't let him...Ah...Gore you!" she manages, pulling back and firing again. Even a leg would be good here-she just needs to slow this one down, let Strange hit the other!!

[mylastchance]

The arrow connects, piercing the kirin's side and it bellows in pain as it sticks deep inside of him. He wants to protect the small dragon, but now there are two hunters and the one chasing him down is clearly the bigger threat. He keeps running, but in a circle so he can face the newcomer head on. Hopefully he can deal with her quickly enough.

He runs towards her, in what looks like a charge, but in a second he's breathing fire again, and this time it's aimed straight at Carly!

[kingsroads]

Strange quickly manages to get out of his coat, dropping the now-on-fire garment to the floor. The problem here is that he doesn't know which tree the faerie dragon landed on, just that it landed on one of them. Ignoring the kirin for a moment (it seems to be focused on Carly anyway), Strange backs up so that he's standing underneath a tree.

The dragon's bleeding. That could be useful. So Strange's eyes are scanning the lower branches of the surrounding trees, trying to look for any blood, rustling of leaves, sudden appearances of faerie dragons, and so on and so forth. And if he spots anything? He's got his knife in hand, ready to strike.

[wild_magic]

The faerie dragon is small, he knows he needs to hide or he can be caught and killed, but he doesn't know what to expect from the humans. He waits before moving, staying quiet and still, but finally moves after a long pause, the branch he was waiting on barely moving...

But that doesn't stop the drips of blood from leaving a (very small, he's a small dragon after all) trail to another low branch, still easily within range. Again the branch barely moves, and if it weren't for Strange watching for it, or for the little bits of blood, it probably wouldn't even be noticeable.

[fortuneglass]

"Nh-!" Carly's not charging fire head on then-but she's not giving in either. At least Strange can focus on the other 'thing', but Carly swiftly vaults back, beating her wings until she's not only above the fire but possibly blowing it back anyway.

She's not giving in. She can't give in, and her eyes dot with tears as she pulls back on her bow again, struggling to see past branches and fire and trees to aim proper. He was just ahead so this has to-

It has to work, when she looses the arrow, she has to hit..!

"...I'm sorry..!" she manages, swallowing back her tears. "...We have to do this..!" For them..!

[mylastchance]

The kirin can't see through its own fire. It's eyes actually close as he breaths out the flames. He doesn't even see Carly jump back at first. Until he's stopped breathing and charging into where he expects her body to be. It's not there though, and before he even thinks to look up Carly has fired. Her arrow flies through the air before piercing the kirin's throat. He rears back, panicking at the pain, blood staining his fur as it leaks out around the wound. He makes a sound of confusion and panic, and it comes out water sounding from the blood dripping down his throat. It's long tail twitches in nervous agitation. It has to move, it knows this, but he's confused. This hunter is fast, it might be too much. He's not sure he'll make this fight, but he could at least try to help the other dragon escape.

He changes targets again. He isn't too far from Strange, he could do something to stop him, surely. He turns running away, but his gait is staggered, and he sways from blood loss. Still he tries to avoid running in a straight line, trying to throw the hunters aim. It's a straight charge at Strange, horns lowered. Whether he hits or misses, this is likely his last chance to do anything.

[kingsroads]

There it is. If he hadn't been specifically looking for those few blood droplets, those small signs of movement, he'd overlook them completely. Strange adjusts his grip on the knife slightly, remembering every instruction Lambert's ever given him, as he quickly steps forward and gives a wide slash in the area he suspects the faerie dragon to be.

At the same time, the kirin charges forward. It's horns scrape against Strange's back, tearing his shirt and leaving his back bloody. Strange just clamps down on his tongue with his teeth, trying his hardest to stifle a cry of pain. He's keeping himself going and upright through sheer adrenaline and determination but Strange honestly doesn't know how much longer he can push himself.

[wild_magic]

If he weren't injured, the smaller beast may have been able to dodge the slash, or at least move out of the way faster to avoid such a direct hit. As it is, though, he tries to avoid it but is hit anyway, and the invisibility drops immediately as the dragon screeches in pain. He falls from the branch, wings flapping to try and catch himself, and as some kind of last ditch effort to scare these predators away he lashes out at Strange again, at the hand with the knife, his little fangs digging in and holding on tight if he gets a grip.

[fortuneglass]

When the fires clear she freezes. The arrow passed the flames too quick to suffer significant damage-of course it would pierce something, but somehow seeing this, somehow watching the kirin stumble and turn is what makes her pause. She's still crying-tears are running down her face, and for a moment her bow is lowered...

But then the Kirin isn't running anymore, he's attacking-tearing at the back, piercing what can be pierced-

Carly sucks in a breath, and with a stronger voice, aims for the neck.

"...I'm sorry," she says more clearly, strength in her words. "....It's all we can do for you."

She fires, and hopes it's not too late for the one who won't be brought back to life after this.

cw: gore i guess?? death is gross

[mylastchance]

He stumbles, finding it hard to focus as his longs fill with blood. He doesn't even know if he hit the first hunter or not. As the arrow hits its mark and he stumbles, limbs caving beneath him. There's a loud sound as he crashes to the forest floor, the arrow at the front of his neck pushed deeper inside before it's tip re-emerges from his back. The creature makes a pained pitiful sound, lamenting not it's own death, but it's failure as its consciousness begins to fade.

[kingsroads]

Strange is trying his hardest to ignore the kirin and block out the awful sound that it's making, a sound which seems to strike him to his core. He has to keep going. He's not done yet.

The dragon's fangs dig into Strange's hand, which makes him bite down on his tongue even harder. Unfortunately for the beast, Strange has two hands. With his other hand, he attempts to grab the dragon by the neck, trying to yank it off his hand, not really caring if the teeth tear the wound further. If he succeeds, then his next action is swift and decisive: with his now free and now bleeding hand, Strange attempts to stab the faerie dragon in the chest, hopefully where the heart is.

[wild_magic]

The dragon is easily pulled away, momentarily distracted by the sound the kirin makes; even as Strange grabs him by the neck it takes a moment for him to do more than turn towards the sound, although he quickly turns to struggling again, his wings flapping. It isn't enough, though, the creature small and weak, made weaker by blood loss, and it isn't hard at all for the knife to sink into his chest, past the scales, the faerie dragon letting out another hiss as the knife pierces its heart. His wings flap one last time as he tries to get away, to get to the other dragon, but then the small creature goes limp.

[fortuneglass]

"Ghk...." It's over then. She waits for a few moments with the silence when the creatures sounds stop, the only other sound her breath, her choked sobs, and whatever noise Strange may be making.

...Strange. She stiffens, and hurriedly runs toward him, dropping her bow and floating over the Kirin's body to alight near him. "S-Strange..!" she shouts with panic, looking to his back. "...Strange, how bad did he get you..!?"

[kingsroads]

Once he sees that the dragon is dead, it's like someone's flipped a switch inside Strange. His hands start trembling, his breath becomes a bit more labored, and the pain that he's been trying to hold back is visible on his face. It's honestly a miracle that Strange is still standing upright at the moment (though he looks like he might fall over any moment). He lets out a hiss of pain as he looks to his bleeding hand.

He can't really answer Carly's question about how badly he was gored (Strange doesn't have any way to see his back, after all) but he doesn't move as Carly floats over to him. It doesn't look good. There's three gashes on Strange's back thanks to the kirin's horns, all bleeding profusely. Two are more shallow, but the middle one is large and looks like it definitely would need stitches or some sort of magical healing.

"My coat should have a handkerchief in it," he says, with a little nod towards the now smoldering coat, still hanging out on the ground. "If you get that, I can—"

But Strange cuts himself off, looking down at his hands with a frown. They're still trembling, shaking too much that there's no way Strange could tie that handkerchief around his hand in the first place. It's a nervous tic he picked up from the peninsula, something that he thought used to be a sign of him being scared or doing great magic. Strange has a feeling it might be a sign of him doing great violence as well.

[fortuneglass]

"H-Handkerchief..!?" Carly balks-Strange doesn't just look bad, he sounds bad after all. The woman finds herself hesitant to so much as place a hand on his shoulder, and as she looks over the back she can see the damage. She swallows-and finally moves to try and gently take his arm. "...You need to sit," she finally says. "You need... ...We need something more than a handkerchief, you're bleeding horribly..!" she squeaks, looking around. Where....Where?

There must be someone, anywhere....

....

"...I hadn't seen Zecora, after we left the ball," she murmurs, whispering quietly. "...But...Did you see Steven, at all? Did he come in for the hunt?"

[kingsroads]

Strange's breathing is getting heavier, partly because of the pain shooting across his back, partly because he needs to be calm, he needs to be the capable one here, he can't let them get distracted. "You have a token, correct? We need to worry about the—the bodies before we worry about anything else."

After all, the bodies needed to be returned to the Prince. And they're just the bodies, just think of them as that, not their fellow co-workers...though a morbid part of Strange's brain is currently wondering who he stabbed in the heart. It was a dragon, after all. It could have been Lambert.

His hands are still trembling, but at least they aren't trembling as violently as they were before. With slow movements, Strange wipes his knife off on his shirt (the shirt's ruined anyway) before putting it back in it's sheath.

[starseedling]

The sounds that draw Steven in their direction are far from pleasant ones. It sounds like someone is dying, and, well... given what they're all doing out here, someone probably is. It makes his stomach turn and squeeze in against itself in a way that makes bile rise to the back of his throat. Still, he puts his hand on Lion's head and tells him to head in that direction.

He can already feel the pain - both present and recently extinguished - as they move. Ahead, he sees Strange and Carly, and there's blood on them - and off ahead there's something worse. Lion skids to a start, and Steven is already jumping off of his back, extending his wings and gracefully floating down to Strange's side, seeing and feeling those wounds.

"Are you guys okay?" he calls, his voice cracking with worry and fear already. "Did you-" It's only then that he dares look at what's on the ground, and it pauses him to freeze in the air, his tail curling with dismay.

"Oh," he gulps, covering his mouth with his hands. "Oh no."

He knew this was coming, but it still catches him off guard. There are already tears in his eyes.

[insidescoop]

Carly shakes her head, trembling when Strange makes the suggestion. She can't-she CAN'T-but her voice is caught in her throat, accompanied by the padding sound of paws, and-

"Steven-!" She turns, and there he is. Ah...she half wishes this was like in the dreams. They'd talk, things would go silly, and then maybe they could even laugh it off and wake up.

This isn't a dream though, and it's far from something that could become 'amusing'. Carly if anything is straining not to finally break into tears as she calls him over, gesturing hurriedly to Strange. "Steven..! Please, he needs help..! I can't think of anyone else left who can heal, I couldn't find Zecora when we left before, and..." And...well.

Strange's injuries speak for themselves.

[kingsroads]

The first thought that runs through Strange's mind as Steven approaches doesn't really have anything to do with Steven. Instead, there's a brief moment where he looks at Lion and though the pain and hurt, Strange has one singularly confused thought of 'what the fuck.' That's a lion? But it's pink? And it's huge? Is this another Pokemon thing, this is probably a Pokemon thing.

He winces as Steven places his hand near the wounds on his back, clenching his eyes shut with a grimace. When Strange opens them again, that feeling of still needing to be the adult comes back in full force. Because he sees where Steven's looking. He's looking at the bodies.

"Leave the dragon and deer alone. The Prince agreed to the terms of the contract so he'll keep to his word as long as we keep it ourselves." After all, he is a fae. And all of the fae that Strange had worked with seemed to value the idea of following contracts. And Strange honestly doesn't know how healing the animals would fall under those terms and conditions.

[starseedling]

Steven's eyes dart from Strange, to Carly, to the bodies, and back to Strange again. Even now, this is still so hard to take in. He swallows, trying to hold back his tears, to keep himself from being a big baby again, when people need him to be stronger. He visibly flinches, a few tears escaping down his cheeks, before he floats the rest of the way down.

He balls it up inside of him, and tries to focus on Strange's wound, even as his head is swimming. It isn't hard. He... He knows what he has to do.

"I... I know."

He brushes away a few of his tears onto his fingers, looking at them remorsefully. Then, he presses those fingers to the exposed skin of Strange's back. His gems and the smaller jeweled freckles all light up at once, as the bloodied wounds glow and begin to mend. It's not a perfect fix, like it'd be at home, but... it's what he can do.

[fortuneglass]

She can do nothing but nod, as Steven mutters that acknowledgment. It's a horrible place to be in, right now-but it's the most they can do. While Steven heals, Carly moves to scoop up the body of the smaller dragon, while readying her charm. "...I'll get them together," she starts, swallowing.

"...Strange... ....We should go back as well, I think." She looks to Steven as she says this.

...But somehow she knows the other will want to stay, for his own reasons.

[kingsroads]

Strange lets out a hiss of pain as Steven's fingers touch his bloody back. Almost instantly, the two smaller gashes start to heal up. The larger gash starts to heal as well. But from the center of the gash, a mirrored covering starts to grow outward, covering over some of the wound.

Strange's shirt is torn to ribbons as is. Through the various holes and tears, Steven might be able to see the patch of matching mirrored covering near the front of Strange's right shoulder (and he can certainly see the matching mirrored covering on Strange's wrists). Strange himself is unaware that this is happening as he can't really see his back. But he's healing. The pain's starting to lessen so he knows that Steven's magic is working. And at Carly's statement, he nods.

"None of the other creatures I've seen were as small as the dragon. I only know how to use a dagger, I won't chance it on something bigger." A pause, before, "And thank you, Steven. I feel much better now."