⇨ WYLD HUNT

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 100
Where: Shabondamashii
What: The Wyld Hunt unexpectedly crashes the Shabon's dimension, leaving chaos in its wake. Those that have been with the carnival for a while might recognize it as the personal army of a fae called the Huntsman - also known as one of the Ringmaster's age old rivals, whom she dethroned thousands of years ago. The last we heard of him, he was pursuing the carnival, and it turns out he found them faster than anyone thought.
Warnings: Violence, theoretical cannibalism.

THE AUTUMN MOON↴ There isn't any warning. You might not even notice what's happening at first, with the approach of the threat happening as spontaneously as a zombie uprising. You're minding your own business, enjoying Shabon, when a random alien charges you on foot with sudden and aggressive intent. Whether or not you can throw them off or defeat them, you'll soon find they weren't alone. An entire army is descending upon the city now, and the carnival is the target. ► THEY ARE LEGION: The Wyld Hunt comes in all shapes and sizes, with beasts and men from all kinds of different universes having been caught up in its sway. Those that have been in the Hunt for a long while have more or less completely lost themselves - they now function only as part of a pack, hunting whatever the Huntsman wishes and consuming what their prey leaves behind upon death. Some members of the Hunt are newer and more unsure, but they are all a part of a psychic hive mind that compels them to move as a unit. Everyone in the Wyld Hunt instinctively know what the Huntsman wants them to do, even if they never speak to him. Their skills, powers, and physicalities are all over the board, but there are a notably large quantity of Wyld Fae among them, often being used as mounts by more powerful humanoids within the Hunt. When NPCing members of the Hunt for threading purposes there is a lot of flexibility to what you face, including entities and beasts from your own worlds - provided they are creatures capable of functioning independently. ► HUNT OR BE HUNTED: When set upon by the Hunt, it is easy to become overwhelmed. Unfortunately, in that situation, the only way to beat them is to join them. Beginning to hunt alongside the others will immediately pacify them against you. As soon as you start to follow, the thrum of the Huntsman's will will start to take over - the more you hunt, the harder it is to turn away from it. If you do stop, or successfully oppose the compulsion, they will be quick to set upon you again. Like the others, you will feel the craving to consume any individuals the Hunt has felled - you must resist this, because once you have eaten the prey of the Hunt, you'll be trapped within it indefinitely. ► WORN OUT WELCOME: The people of Shabon are used to crisis, but this is a bit beyond what even they are prepared to tolerate. The Hunt will be causing collateral, both of the human and the material sort. While the workers in Shabon have very well practiced escape procedures in the event of something like this, the other guests are not as fortunate. Plenty of them are capable of fighting back on their own, but they will not always be capable of avoiding the hordes. The longer this goes on, the worse it will get. Eventually, the Shabon workers will realize who the Hunt is after and start actively trying to turn carnival members over to them in order to make it stop. ► IN TWO PARTS: Tragically, this turn of events and the realization that she's managed to put everyone in danger once again will be what finally causes the Ringmaster to split in two. One side will immediately become disinterested in using violence to counter this problem, while the other will be desperate and reckless. This will also completely screw her ability to get anyone back to the carnival in time. There will be at least one Megathread dealing with her actions during this. PLEASE NOTE: This is a conflict the carnival is meant to survive, not win. The main point of this is to get the plot rolling in a new direction, so don't worry about figuring out how to defeat the Huntsman, because in this moment it basically won't be possible. Have fun threading out the crisis, and see where it leads. I wanted to be up front about that, as opposed to letting everyone grasp at straws to prevent a result that will be inevitable, even if the details will shift.

Comments

[bananaspeedrider]

[Since the prey as dictated by the Huntsman's will is anyone recognizable as being as changeling aligned with the carnival... at first shouting such a thing might not seem like it works, until soon enough it gets answered by a distinct-]

*PWING-FWOOOOOSH*

[Incoming. A searing blast of plasma if it's not dodged fast enough.]

You BASTARD...!!!!!! WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!??!!?

[Oh look who it is. Someone sure sounds pissed alright.]

[alphudo]

Yuusei admittedly doesn't expect such an immediate response, and so the plasma blast manages to sear him a bit along the length of his arm. Part of the pipe takes a hit too and loses a decent chunk of itself, though the fact that it's even lasted this long is pretty surprising to him anyway.

...but anyway.

He feels a little bad for this. "What, all that shouting of yours damage your ears?"

[bananaspeedrider]

At that this dark half of the boy growls- actually growls, which sounds somewhere between a dragon and a mad dog.

"Now I'm really looking forward to tearing you apart." he snarls with perhaps a surprising amount of menace before pouncing for him.

[alphudo]

Yuugo does just as Yuusei was hoping. The taur's feet shuffle slightly to allow him to hop to the side, arm and shortened pipe extended to take a swing ay Yuugo as he comes around. A solid hit to the gut would be preferable.

[bananaspeedrider]

No one ever said that Yugo was a formidable opponent in a physical fight, especially not while hot with blind rage. He does get hit... and finishes with a painful landing onto the concrete rather than lunch, but he's tenacious enough struggling back to his feet that he defiantly blasts another shot of his plasma breath at Yusei.

Barbecue will do.

[alphudo]

He'll get a barbecued leg, at the very least, with the swift bounce away from Yuugo not quite being enough to fully evade the sudden burst of plasma erupting from his jaws. Yuusei staggers significantly and forces the majority of his weight onto his two front legs, his back left one thoroughly-cooked, as it were.

This gives him something of an idea, though, as Yuusei attempts to pivot on his remaining leg and lift his forelegs up with the intention of knocking Yuugo down and bringing them back down on top of his back. He wants to pin him, though, not crush him.

[bananaspeedrider]

The boy puts out his best effort, but the slam reunites him with the ground and there's plenty of handholds including the crystal projections on his back for the opposable digits of those foreclaws to grab without causing injury.

As a bonus, this Yugo is in no position to keep spamming their one good power. "Get off me...!" he shouts, though somewhat muffled by his position. Fat chance, but it's token resistance.

[alphudo]

Really, disabling Yuugo's plasma breath was the big goal in all of this. Yuusei tries not to put too much of his weight on Yuugo's body, but still enough to keep him pinned there.

"Not until you come back to your senses, young man," he snaps lightly. "I know you're the reckless sort, but this is too much! You've been apart from your other half for too long, and now you've lost yourself to whatever maddened horde set themselves upon us."

He leans down a little, careful not to shift the amount of weight he's pushing onto the boy's back. "I know you don't want to go back, but we can talk about that later. Right now I need you to come back to me, back from whatever's possessing you to attack your friends!" Back from the thing that nearly took half of himself down with it.

[bananaspeedrider]

"What makes you think I would even care about anything like that...?!"

Ah yes, that's a strong point. But perhaps easier to counter against now that Yusei is familiar with how his own split halves were acting.

[alphudo]

"I doubt you do, but your other half is worried to death about you. He's been asking left and right for help in finding you. Carly's worried, I'm worried. And I get it, I get the repulsion you probably feel toward him. How he's supposed to be the 'ideal' one but surely something so pathetic could hardly be fitting enough for that. I get that. But it's not true. You need each other to be the true ideal self. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

[bananaspeedrider]

He lets out a hiss in frustration, but stops wriggling fruitlessly in favor of mulling over the words. The guy is nailing his feelings right on the head, after all if his useless other half was so worried, then why didn't they-

Oh wait.

"... You're right." Yugo simply says with a rather deep-seated honesty. Maybe it's finally occurring to him that just as much as one side might get pulled back, the other side needs a push forward to do anything. Like a pendulum.

[alphudo]

A smile peaks out from the corners of Yuusei's lips. He eases some of his weight off of Yuugo, although he can't afford to do that much since his back leg is toast(ed).

"Listen, I'm not gonna force you two back together," he assures. "You do need to come together eventually, but that's a process that you both need to work out between yourselves, on each of your own terms. For now, we just need you both in the same place, and furthermore, safe."

He cocks his head to the side. "Come back with me. Take a deep breath, and come back with me. Can you do that, Yuugo?" He's very careful to keep from pronouncing it 'Fusion' instead; it's a fairly easy slip-up.

[bananaspeedrider]

Despite the fact there's nothing in this dark half that feels anything for anyone else, it certainly doesn't change that there's friends and found family that care so dearly for him. And it feels to this part of Yugo that he can't throw away such dedication to protecting his wellbeing.

But the hunt- no, therefore he needs to make that voice shut up.The prey is getting complac-

Enough! He can't let everyone else down... the the predatory fury in his eyes dies down to his 'usual' simmer as the 'angry' half.

"Fine.... okay." Which is the most calm he can show in his current form. "Since you care, I'll come."

[alphudo]

With this confirmation, Yuusei carefully treads off of Yuugo, mindful not to push his claws further into his back while doing so. He steps in front of Yuugo and extends his hand to the boy to help him off the ground. "Thanks. Really... Are you okay? I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?"

[bananaspeedrider]

"I might feel something in the morning, but I don't think you did as much damage as I did."

Nevertheless, he accepts the hand up.

"But let's just hurry up and get off the streets already."

[alphudo]

"I'll check on you then."

Yuusei helps Yuugo to his feet, though when he begins to approach the boy from the side to let him sit on his back, he finds himself staggering somewhat. Right, his leg. How did he literally already forget about that. He bites back a sigh and glances between Yuugo and the open path ahead. "Right. Let me know if you feel the Hunt's pull again."

[bananaspeedrider]

He'll certainly put more effort in making the Hunt's pull stay out.

Yusei leading Dark Yugo back to the hedge fort is not exactly easy, but it's good that someone is around to keep this half of the teen reigned in. After all, unchecked impulses are pretty detrimental to sneaking about...

...

Meanwhile the light half will look more than relieved when the taur drags in his other piece. This Yugo has his tiny version of Clear Wing summoned like a scaly therapy dog for him to hold. And then the dragon notices the familiar figures first before signaling so.

"You're back..!"

[alphudo]

Yuusei waves with a more confident smile, happy that they've finally returned with each in one... Well he supposes Yuugo is still in two pieces, technically. Getting his dark half to stay focused was tough, but they made it in the end.

He makes an honest attempt to hide his limp, made easier by the fact that he's down one leg out of four. The plasma blast may have been at half power, but it still got him pretty good. "Yeah, wasn't too bad. Sorry it took me so long. I had some... other things to take care of along the way."

It's pretty clear that this isn't just Yuusei's dark half anymore by the way he regards the two boys, though now he's glancing somewhat nervously between them. He can't force them back together, but if Yuugo's dark half decides to try to bolt...

"...well, it seems like you two should have a talk."

[bananaspeedrider]

Within the next instant while in Light Yugo's grasp, the tiny summon of his dragon starts to fade in an unstable manner. The teen narrows his eyes in some effort to keep the spell going... before deciding that it's best to leave the poor card spirit out of this for now- so he allows Clear Wing dissolve.

It's almost a staring contest as the two halves hold their gazes on each other for a tense moment.

The light half would appear to be holding a tranquil fury if is wasn't for the fact that every speck of emotion resembling anger went into the other. But then he breaks the eyes contact, looking uncomfortable.

"...I dunno if somehow I should've tried harder in looking..." the light half starts. "I didn't want to end up dying for good either you know?"

At that, the dark half huffs irritably. "So basically we're screwed if one of us is gone, is that how it goes?"

[alphudo]

"That's the way I understand it," Yuusei chimes in, hoping he can serve as an appropriate mediator. "Your souls are pretty vulnerable currently, so if something were to happen to them like this, it's difficult to tell what the long-standing effects would be."

His gaze moves to Yuugo's light half, but he doesn't tread away from the dark one just in case he should decide to bolt. "You did everything you could from here, right? You're both at half strength, so the most you could safely do was make sure someone reunited the two of you."

He's baaaaack

[bananaspeedrider]

And even from within the card, Yugo's dragon can still radiate a fraction amount of their sentiment about the matter: very mad about the two being split like this.

The note about the power in their abilities being in half as well also catches the dark Yugo's attention. It explains why the summon spell for Clear Wing that steadily become so easy for the whole soul looked to be more difficult coming from light Yugo just now.

"... I might as well help you get this over with." the dark half finally decides, though it briefly confuses the other until suddenly he quickly puts his hand forward- as if to offer a handshake or something similar in meaning.

Despite perhaps being a bit overly cautious, slowly Light Yugo moves to accept the clearly soon-to-be permanent truce. "So that people can worry a bit less about us eh?"

There's something close to an amused snort before there's a flash of light.... with just one Yugo standing there and looking disoriented from the entire ordeal.

MY SON

[alphudo]

Yuusei watches the whole thing quietly. In the Yuugos' moments of silence, he doesn't interject; these final moments belong to them and them alone. If the halves needed even a few more seconds to cope with the fact that they were, in a way, disappearing, he would give them that. He knows it's hard.

And then Yuugo is whole again. It's so fast it almost surprises him given how it compares to his own merge. Seeing the boy well and relatively alright makes his heart swell with joy, though, and he can't help but grin for once. "How're you feeling?" he asks.

[bananaspeedrider]

"Like I never want to that kind of head rush to happen again." answers Yugo, more bothered by the feeling of being in two places at once that anything physical.

"But... what about you?" he adds with a note of upset directed toward himself. Because while his light half likely failed to notice Yusei's injury, the dark half merely held no concern. The teen also comes closer for a better look at it if the taur doesn't move in a lame attempt to keep hiding it.

[alphudo]

"I can understand that." He chuckles, only to blink and glance back at his hind leg. He lifts it gingerly off of the ground and wiggles his toes. They're stiff.

"Ah, it'll... It'll heal," he responds with only a fraction of certainty. "I made it back here, so... It should be fine with time. I've gone through worse, alright? So don't worry about me."

[bananaspeedrider]

"But it's still my plasma, I still ended up getting used by someone else for a second there!"

Someone sounds very irritated and bitter. The verbal attempt at comfort probably isn't working here.