lostcarnival | ⇨ WYLD HUNT

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⇨ WYLD HUNT

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Nope!"

Truly, a reassuring answer in these dire times.

Certainly the utmost reassuring, when Joker looks absolutely worn ragged and exhausted as he lunges forward just in time to avoid being hit with a too long and too flexible tail. "Run!" He'd say more, but right now, they really need to, uh-

Run.

Wow. WOW. Ginko's mouth twists, and he drops to his knees and presses his hands to the ground, sending a surge of tendrils pushing out of the ground to grab onto the hunter, trying to tangle them up and slow them down, if he can't stop them entirely. Which is probably a stupid plan - really, he should run. But, uh.

"You're going too, right?"

Edited 2018-10-07 00:34 (UTC)

Oh, thank god or whatever other appropriate entity there is for the vines. In which case, he supposes Ginko is God, right now, in this moment? Sure. Joker doesn't really think the metaphor to its conclusion too much, instead lurching forward and hopping over the vines so that he can haul Ginko up by the shoulder.

"Yes! I can't fight! And that arse stole my sword!"

If, on a scale of relief from 1 to 10, seeing Joker to begin with was, say, a 7? This is more like a 9 - and it doesn't hurt that this is a genuine surprise. He doesn't resist at all, instead jumping upright to run after Joker.

"Good-- not that your sword is gone, I mean-- you get it."

"I'd ask what," Joker wheezes, trying not to grimace too much and kind of failing, "but- just run!" They'll have time to talk about things later, when they're not out in the open like this. Right now, the most important thing is getting Ginko to safety, and maybe stop running around himself.

He makes a sharp jerk of a turn into a smaller alley, recalling this street vaguely from his memory. At least, he thinks this is the right street, when he looks past all the chaos which is painted over it.

"--Fine! Fine."

Ginko scrambles after Joker, wincing and narrowly retaining his balance as his hooves skid on the ground at that turn. He'll keep following until Joker gets them somewhere relatively safe, keeping quiet to conserve breath... and keep from distracting Joker.

It takes a lot of work to get them somewhere safe for even a moment, and Joker is just fortunate that his wings have meant he's been able to get a good layout of the city before all of this happened. Just letting this horde herd them is a horrific idea, after all... So he does his best to lead them around, evading the hunters that way.

He's not sure how well the plan has worked, but it's gotten them safe for the moment- in a tall building whose rooms seem to have been empties for the time being. Joker heads to the stairs, pausing for a moment to catch his breath. "Yer not hurt, are ya?"

Ginko stays close behind, barely slowing when Joker does and giving a slight shake of his head. "Not seriously. What about you?"

At least, if Joker is hurt, Ginko can do something about it once they're safe. His healing spell might not be as fast-acting as what some people can do, but it's better than nothing.

"Broke my wing," Joker says, because that's always a comforting thing to tell your boyfriend. Now that they're able to get a little bit of calm, it might be easier to notice the tender way one of his wings sticks close to his back but isn't quite able to fold right- there, near the base. "I think I could help it heal, a little bit, if I could just get a half a second ta myself and set it, but..." He tries to shrug. Mostly, he's been ignoring it as best he can.

Which has made running away a little harder than usual, but, well. It's happening. It's not like he has a choice, if he wants to stay alive.

"Besides, there's worse."

Ginko swears under his breath. He notices, vaguely, how unusual that kind of straightforward comment is from Joker, but there isn't really time to comment on it - whether to poke fun at him or encourage this behavior in the future. Or both.

"What's worse?"

"I'm, ah..." Wow, this is awkward to explain. He's almost kind of embarrassed, even, considering what he said to Jasper. "I'm sorta... not entirely myself right now?"

By this point, with the carnival as close as it is, Ginko's... probably picked up on the problem that had happened even before they started to be hunted, right?

Oh. Well, that... that figures. And it would explain Joker's behavior, this time and the last time he was acting... weird. "You... split, too?"

"Sure seems like it." Even when he's arguably the 'better' of the two halves, Joker can't help but give a nervous laugh.

"And we haven't found each other again, yet. I'm a little worried, honestly."

"It'd sure explain the last time I saw you... or, when half of me saw the other half of you, I suppose." It's not hard to guess that, if Joker has split, this is not the half he ran into before. He's pretty sure the only other time he's seen Joker acting that bad off is when he's drunk off his ass, and even that is a somewhat different kind of... well, misery.

"I can imagine. But... we can't very well run out and look for him right now, can we?"

"Oh, definitely." A wheezed out laugh. "That's why I've been runnin' out lookin' for him and Doll."

He knows, it's a great plan. Really great. Please hear him out, Ginko.

"I was gonna try and head back, but there was, ah... Kind of a problem." A grimace passes over his face, prompted by the aches of pain. "I ended helpin' out Gongenzaka get Yuya safe, but that sorta... meant gettin' stomped on by one of the hunters that was a little stronger than the rest. As in, proper fae stronger." Just not high fae stronger, thank god. "A literal stomp, for the record." He skips a couple of steps to the next landing. "At my back."

Ginko hurries up to follow him, his tail lashing so that it bumps against the stairs behind him. "The broken wing." Yeah, that'd explain it, alright. "Should I take a look at it? Or do you think you can deal with it yourself?"

If it weren't for Joker's flexibility, the latter wouldn't even be a possibility, but... with that in mind, he figures he should ask.

"If I'm honest..." Which is a rare thing, normally, but isn't so frightening when he's like this and it's his other half which possesses all the anxiety about that. "I'm a little scared on stoppin' for it." As they reach the next floor, he pauses to peer around the corners just to make sure that everything is clear. They are talking, after all, and he doesn't want them to pay for it.

"I mean, I know it'll just get worse, if I ignore it... but all I can think of is if I stop ta try and take care of it right now, before I find Doll, or my other half, then that's when I'll get caught. Y'know?" With the coast clear, he slows his pace more to a walk while he makes his way down the hallway. It's not the best hiding spot, any of it, but he's sure they can find a connection to another building one way or another. That seems to be Shabon's deal, after all, with everything squished together. "And if I get caught... It'll just end up like Celebration again." Unhindered by his own need to fake it, Joker shudders. Even clear of his vampirism, just remembering the experience fills him with a sort of nauseousness.

"It'll be quicker to stop and deal with it now than to keep getting slowed down more and more," Ginko says softly.

He sets a hand on Joker's shoulder, gives it a gentle squeeze. "I understand why you're worried. But the fact is, the sooner you do something about that wing, the better your chances will be. And, if we do get caught, you're free to blame it on me."

Jokes! Maybe.

Somehow, Ginko's touch is what gets him to slow down a little bit, and he smiles down softly at the hand there at his shoulder before directing it up into Ginko's face. "Ah, ya know I couldn't blame ya," he says. "Not when I love ya so much, Ginko."

Shaking his head, he looks around. Well, if the building is quiet so far, then maybe... "I suppose we could find a spare room no one is in, lock the door and hope it holds. That might be enough time ta get it sorted out, right?"

Y'know, he probably should have anticipated a reply like that. But, somehow, he didn't, and then Joker has to go and ask him a question. Unbelievable.

"Uh--" Just give him a moment. "--yes. Yeah, let's do that."

"Ha." Alright, let him jut take you by the hand, Ginko. It's fine. He can hear that this place is pretty abandoned, because these long ears of his are good for that much, at least. There are plenty of doors up here, for whatever reason, so Joker goes to the one that looks the least bashed in and which gives way when his hand tries the handle. "Catch ya off guard?"

The room has definitely been abandoned, but it look sturdy enough and hasn't been messed with too much. Clearly no one was in it when the hunt started calling, and so no one burst out of or into it. Considering it looks like a sort of storage room, all blankets and pillows stacked along shelves, there's probably decent reason for that. As long as there's enough room to stretch even one wing, then it's fine by Joker. Considering there's an ironing board set to one side, he would say so.

"I--" Ginko follows close by Joker, and, fortunately for whatever dignity he has left, doesn't have to fumble for long before answering. "...Yes. And you should've known better." Dammit Joker you know he can't handle unexpected affection.

He can't quite say it without smiling, though, and he gives Joker's hand a gentle squeeze as he looks around the room. "...Seems like this should work, for now."

"Ha ha, sorry." Letting go of Ginko's hand, he lowers himself down onto the floor. It's not the most comfortable of places to get to work on this sort of thing, but Joker knows comfort might not be a thing they'll get to experience for a while. Not until they manage to get through all of this. "I just wanted ta say it. Feels good ta, y'know?" It's not something he would ever have thought to say, mixed in with his other half that's all lying even when it's not needed and uncertain of sincerity in too many places. He'll have to merge with his better half, he has to do it at some point, but for now....

Well, for now he's trying to get his broken wing fixed, and he scoots himself a little bit into a corner so that he can stretch it out proper. If he can. Just trying to move it has him grimacing. Forcing it to straighten itself out... "Do ya think it would be better if I laid down...?"

"...Yeah. I do know." From the brief occasions when he's been able to bring himself to be that upfront. ...Like half of himself, when he was the way Joker is now.

Ginko sits down near him, examining the wing with a frown. "Maybe. You might as well try it."

"Might as well." His wing is already not fit for flight. While things can get worse, well, it's already dead weight as it is. Anything else will just suck, instead of really making it worse. At least, in his opinion, struck by awkward optimism as he is instead of the pessimism his other half is burdened by.

Grateful for the ability to have two arms right now, Joker carefully shifts his body with his knees to the floor. Even now, however light they may be, his wings press awkwardly down against his back and shoulders in a way that's not really natural. Even here, like this, it's clear to see that there's just something not quite right near the base. It's not blatant or obvious, but it's... definitely wrong, once one is looking. Joker is carefully as he gets onto his stomach, arms folded up beneath his chin.

"I think I'll let ya work on unfoldin' it. I don't really wanna mess up by tryin' ta move it, and I know ya know what yer doin'." Ginko was the one in charge of the animals for so long for a reason, after all.

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