lostcarnival | ⇨ 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

"Ya can't do it without what? I dunno what 'that' is, zura!" Carly, you are not being helpful here! Use your words! This isn't doing anything to help calm Hanamaru's worries as she gives Carly an exasperated frown of an expression.

"W-Well I didn't have time to make a name-!! Just... ...Just watch, ok?"

Trust her, it's super...cool?

Actually it's probably hot. Once Carly figures she has the space, the transformation seems to manifest more as a pillar of light and feathers than anything. She's hardly gigantic, but she's certainly very large by the end.

A great big feathered snake, more than large enough to carry someone on the back, is now somehow squashed in the area with Hanamaru.

"....Tadaah?? ...I think I did it right?" This is literally the first time she's tried it, please, bear with her,

Hanamaru was not expecting Carly to turn into a huge, fuck-off snake. As such, she makes a little yelp of surprise before scurrying away behind Carly. It's only when the huge, fuck-off snake speaks in Carly's voice that Hanamaru realizes that the snake is Carly.

What the heeeeeck. Very carefully, she walks over towards Carly and attempts to climb on her snake back.

"D-Don't drop me, zura!" Hanamaru's still a little bit wary about all of this because Carly saying 'I think I did it right' is REALLY NOT VERY REASSURING.

"I won't!! I won't, I promise," Carly assures the girl, somehow managing to grin. "Just...hold on tight!" She's got plenty of feathers for that at least, and quickly darts out and upward before anything around them can start attacking. Spreading her wings helps to get some room for them on its own- after that they're heading into the air. "Once we're above everything...it'll be way easier to see where we can go!"

She's not yet realized she has a time limit for this of course.

As Carly takes to the air, Hanamaru just holds on for dear fuckin life. She's not going to try and talk to Carly, she won't distract Carly, this is just her clinging onto Carly, digging her nails RIGHT INTO those feathers and snake flesh and just bear-hugging her entire self onto Carly's back in an attempt to not fall off.

"KFFFHH-!" AS IT TURNS OUT, THAT KINDA STINGS A BIT.

But not enough for the snake to just drop her passenger. Carly is off, beating her wings against the air and breathing heavily as she goes. She was already sort of tired before...but that? That took a lot more than she thought it would!

"Okay..! Ah...let me know if you see something ok?" Not that she's not looking, but it's easier with two...

Oh, she's got to do something! Hanamaru lifts her head up, then fights the urge to look back down as she spots just how high up they are. Still, she can do this. Just don't think about falling...

"Uh, erm, there's a building covered in crystally vines, zura? Is that a good sign?"

"Crystally vines..?" Carly turns her head, and soon enough catches a glimpse. "Oh..! That...might be something?"

The snake wavers a bit, seemingly strained for breath. "We just...need to get there then, great..!"

"I-It's that way?" Hanamaru tentatively says. She points towards the direction of the crystal vines, sways a little in the wind, realizes that she should be holding onto Carly, and then proceeds to squeeze onto Carly's flying snake body really tightly.

"Can ya see it? I'm not gonna point again!"

"G...Got it..! I see it..!" Carly replies, wobbling in the air. "I... Seeeee..."

Carly is still in the air, but she seems to be slowing down. And fading, actually.

Actually it seems they're slowly falling, now.

"Watch out!" Hanamaru calls out, as she buries her head pretty much in Carly's feathers. Because yeah, she's noticed that they seem to be slowly falling as well. And Hanamaru doesn't want to look before they crash on the ground and splatter everywhere.

"Hahhh...? Watch..?" The ride is an unnervingly smooth descent- a bit of bobbing up as the snake fights sleep weakly, and tries to keep herself afloat- but otherwise continues to glide downward toward a series of rooftops, spread wings enough to keep them going.

"I.... ....I can't seem tt...to..."

Are those rooftops getting closer? Hanamaru isn't too sure. She nudges Carly a little, still anxious about all of this and a bit worried that things might go south.

"H-Hey, keep going! We've still got a bit further to go!"

They're absolutely getting closer. And closer. And-

"I... ...sssrry...." Carly seems to say goodbye to consciousness just moments after saying her attempted apology- and in the same vein, they only then manage to end up skimming against rooftops and tiles. The chunks of wood go flying against the sides but the snake doesn't seem to respond, their crystal-walled goal still shining a bit in the distance. Small holes poke through to rooms below every now and then, but mostly Carly's body seems supported by the roof's beams.

...Speaking of. Carly...

"Sssnnssfffff..."

She's apparently passed out.

⇨ WYLD HUNT

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