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+--- Thread: Crossroad (/showthread.php?tid=6749)
Crossroad - Nameless - May 01 2019
There was so much, maybe too much to think about. She had not expected Septiezal to bust in like that and she hadn't expected her own reaction. She hadn't seen coming what her decision had ended up being.
She didn't wear the vine around her neck anymore. She had been before only because she had forgotten it was there. But now it was in front of her, a piece of it, the sliver of scales she had torn from the snake was missing now. And soon the rest would be as well.
Again, she had hope. Or, at the very least, something to do that didn't include murder. She couldn't make up for what she had done, she couldn't bring anyone back from the dead or take back wounds she had inflicted, but she could at least offer closure to those she had hurt. She could at least give back something she had taken. But two of them, the tooth and the broken emerald and the claw with its broken talon...they would never return to any owner. Blackberry didn't know what to do with them. Perhaps give them a proper funeral where she had killed them. Return the last pieces of their bodies to where they had fallen and their spirits had burst free.
But she couldn't do it now. Perhaps she would never do it. She'd told Wilder that she would stay here. She didn't really want to confront Pride, not now that she had a goal in mind, but it was inevitable, especially because he knew where she was. And, after all, it was better to face him now, rather then later, when he would be more likely to kill her on the spot. Not that he wouldn't now. She didn't really know what to think about the stag.
So the goose waited, sitting patiently in her cave, sitting before the beam of light that broke the darkness. Anyone looking in would see her immediately, watching out of her cave with a calm, neutral expression.
RE: Crossroad - Pride - May 02 2019
When Pride arrived, he had to pause--out of breath, having run at his top speed for the entire sprint. He had stamina, but it had been a long run--a couple of miles--and he needed to catch his breath.
He didn't pause to do so, though; his hooves clattered through the tunnel and he slowed, antlered head swivelling to and fro as he looked for the brief, vague image he'd seen in Wilder's mind. He reached out with his magicka, too, looking for any sign of another living creature here.
After a moment he caught the glimmer, in his mind, like some sense long-forgotten: a gemstone, not far, and imbued with life.
"This way," he murmured to Envy, his voice low and harsh with implied violence and his short gasps for air. he wasn't sure if Wilder would have bolted straight here, but he had no reason to think she wouldn't. He also didn't know if her own exhaustion had been faked, or just how fast, or how far, a cat could run, but he wasn't about to take any chances.
They'd be quick, with this. One way or another.
Pride's silhouette would appear before Blackberry's cave's entrance, his silver eyes aflame with intensity. In he peered, waiting a moment for his eyes to adjust, tense and ready to fight.
@Envy
RE: Crossroad - Livius - May 02 2019
Envy clung to Pride's back, their quills rattling softly with every graceful stride. The world flashed by around them, faster than they could ever run, and they tried not to think about what awaited them at their journey's end. A Battle? An end to all the pain and destruction that had, for many cycles, leached itself into the furthest reaches of the cave?
Either way, it was not going to be pretty. The weasel shuddered. They almost hoped that, in response to Wilder's warning, the goose would have taken the opportunity to put an end to it all herself, and that all they would find in the tunnel was just a broken and mangled corpse. That, Envy mused grimly, would be the easier option. But in a way, that would make a fool of them all. In the end unless they killed her themselves, she would have the last laugh.
Envy was jolted back to reality as Pride skidded to a halt, and they clung to his fur and clenched their jaw with the suddenness of it. Raising their head, they cast about their magic, looking to pick the goose's signature out of the dark.
Almost immediately, there she was. There would be no hiding from them now. They felt her as strongly as they felt Pride beneath them. They slowly made their way up from his shoulders and onto his head, their crown glittering and eyes dark.
@Blackberry
RE: Crossroad - Nameless - May 02 2019
Blackberry's head jerked up as a shadow fell across her, plunging her into darkness, but she could still see him standing there and she could still see his eyes, burning with anger and hatred and his tense form, ready to fight. And she saw the scars stretching across his face and sadness passed through her eyes. She remembered doing that in the battle but she tried not to think about it. The memory brought her brain and caused her stomach to turn. Most of her memories seemed to do that.
But what really got her blood boiling was the second shadow that fell over her, much, much smaller then Pride's. It was Envy, standing atop his head and staring down at her with that same expression and she knew, she remembered, that they had been the one to murder her son. Of course, it was justified. She had killed before and people were angry at her. But that didn't take away her right to be angry at someone who had killed her own son. She would never not hate the weasel for what they had did, but she could at least see it as justice served against her family.
But what she noticed was that they were the only ones there. No Wilder, no Bonebound, nothing. Her eyes narrowed.
She didn't want to die now, but if it happened, she wouldn't do anything to stop it. She deserved it. She couldn't fight anymore, even if she wanted to. She looked between Pride and Envy, her expression remaining mostly impassive but a little disappointed.
RE: Crossroad - Pride - May 02 2019
There was a sense of deep urgency governing Pride's actions.
Had Wilder not forewarned Blackberry--had the cat not lied outright to their faces, and proven that nothing she said, nor her motives, could be trusted--then Pride would have imagined that they had time. Time to plan. Time to decide. Time to act slowly, and with caution.
But Wilder had warned the goose. And given the seemingly-innocent feline's ability to lie, straight-faced and sweet, he didn't trust what she might be up to. Contacting, mind to mind, more of the Bloodberries? He'd given serious consideration to the idea of a trial--to let the other victims speak for Blackberry's defense, or her demise. But he had no idea what other forces might be coming, now, and the idea of being forced off once more--his potential mercy leaving the murderous goose still loose in the caves to maim and torment... it was not a burden he was willing to bear. He'd thought about it, on the run here: if he killed her, and she was truly remorseful, then he'd killed a murderer who'd suddenly (unlikely, he thought) changed her ways completely. That would be no great loss to anyone; and she could just as easily change her mind back, if it were true. But if he erred on the side of mercy, let her go, and he was wrong then? ...Then the entire caves would suffer.
He didn't hear a word she said--he didn't wait for her to talk before summoning his magic. He might remember it later--if he survived whatever would happen here today. But for now all he heard was ice, intensity driving him. There was no anger or hatred there, regardless of what Blackberry thought she saw--only a single-minded intensity of purpose.
They had to get this done, and they had to get it done now.
Pride was not particularly vengeful, though--he didn't care for mocking, or torturing. He wanted to end this quickly--for the goose's sake, but more for theirs. He didn't want to be standing around talking when Jayberry and a bunch of others, summoned by Wilder's trickery, arrived.
He focused on the ground beneath her as soon as he could properly see. He focused on the potential that lay beneath.
He focused on forcing a thin spire to shoot up, to impale the goose--for her heart, if he could reach it.
Pride only hoped that his magicka would not choose now to fail him.
@Envy
RE: Crossroad - Livius - May 03 2019
Envy's quills grew rigid with momentary surprise as Pride jumped straight to the point. They couldn't help but feel a thrill of annoyance, but reluctantly, they thought that Pride's haste was probably for the best. There had to be some of the Bloodberries left behind. They, for one, didn't know what had happened to the wolf... and there might be others, too, hidden away.
So, with a deep breath, they felt for their magic to add theirs into the mix. Heart pounding wildly, they thought. They could have whipped up a black hole, but something made them stop, and reconsider. A black hole would be too easy, and a surge of horror rippled through them as they felt Elderberry's awful death sounds ringing through their brain.
They couldn't make another black hole. They couldn't kill. Not again.
Envy tried desperately to push down the growing nausea.
So instead they focused on the heartbeat they felt, the blood flowing through her veins, the life force that they could still feel as the magic gradually ebbed. They focused on Blackberry's body as though it was their own, willing her to stay put, stay on the ground, stay vulnerable.
They didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a shot, right?
...At least then they wouldn't be doing the killing.
@Blackberry
RE: Crossroad - Nameless - May 03 2019
He said nothing to her and it occured to Blackberry that he had no words for her. Only death. And the instant before the spire hit she realized that she really didn't want to die. Not yet, at least. If only he had come earlier, before Septiezal had found her, then she would have gladly let him kill her. But now...
She felt the ground shift an instant before the crystal came out of the ground. She hissed and pulled away but Envy's magic suddenly stopped her in her tracks. She screeched as the crystal spire speared right through her body, breaking through the lower teeth on her stomach, and stabbing into her gut. It missed most of her vital organs, but she wouldn't so easily recover. And now she was stuck in place in two ways.
Shocked eyes opened wide and fear caused her beak to tremble.
RE: Crossroad - Pride - May 03 2019
Pride felt anger well up, at last. Wait, she was saying. She wanted to apologize. She wanted time.
"How many children begged you for more time, I wonder?" He felt the rage welling higher, and felt... dark, for the first time, truly dark. Perhaps it was Blackberry's own influence--a reaction to it, a necessary one... her brand of sadism and evil could only breed vicious backlash. There was no forgiveness to offer the things she had done.
He had a flash of memory--Elderberry crushed into nothing. He felt his magic welling up to twin with his fury. "How many cried 'no' as you told them 'pain is good?' As you pierced them and tore their skins away--?" And now his words brimmed with hatred, as he remembered her torturing the Lesser she'd caught. He felt the crackle of magic, of his own savagery lashing out at her, and he did nothing to stop or control it.
"You can never return what you have stolen from these caves."
His anger boiled over, then, black and crackling with magicka that flashed into violent being within the little cave she was in--a point of pure violence, aiming to consume everything that had generated it--to vanish it. To remove Blackberry from these caves, as if she had never been there at all... despite the scars she would leave behind.
@Envy
RE: Crossroad - Livius - May 03 2019
Envy kept hold as Blackberry struggled against it, letting her struggle, a little, but keeping her very nicely in place. They tried their hardest to wrench their gaze away as Pride's crystal hit its mark, but failed, and could only watch in morbid fascination, just barely managing to keep their expression from shifting to one of horror.
As she tried to beg, to plead, and then, finally, to barter, Envy looked with cold emptiness at her gift, only punctuated by a small rattle of horror; now no more than a reminder of a small, weak creature that they had tried so hard to squash. Had it been his, Pride might have seen the offering as something more, but, turning around, Envy showed her the bone scythe that now adorned the tip of theirs.
And that wasn't all. They rose up atop Pride's head, rising up to their full, small height.
As they finished, they felt the air begin to throb with power, a familiar sense of dread shooting through them as they realised, with pinpoint certainty, what Pride was about to do. A black hole was beginning to open, and they felt their stomach drop, sickening. They struggled to keep a hold of their magic, feeling it waning, draining. If they succeeded, then it would all be over. It had to be. And yet Envy could do nothing more than clamp their eyes shut, their ears against their head, and keep driving Blackberry into the dirt.
RE: Crossroad - Nameless - May 03 2019
Blackberry's heart sank when Envy refused the bit of tail that she offered. She wasn't trying to barter her way through, she wasn't trying to buy her time...they only saw her as she was before. Pride was right. He hammered in everything she had been saying to herself since she had awoken. That she deserved to die. That she had done enough. Nothing she could ever do would make up for what she had done. She couldn't bring back the dead. She couldn't undo wounds. But still, she had these pieces that she could return. Even if Envy would not accept theirs did not mean none of them would.
She had no more time for words, however, as a familiar pulling sensation began ripping feathers out of her back. She couldn't move her head, Envy's spell had her gripped too strongly. She couldn't turn to see the black hole. She could only hope that she wasn't dragged in. And she wasn't - Envy's own spell, as well as the quartz spike that impaled her, held her in place, but that didn't stop the magic from tearing off parts of her. She screamed as feathers and skin were ripped from her backside, as blood too began to be pulled into the darkness. She wasn't being crushed herself, but she was being torn apart instead.
She screamed and she screeched and she cried out as pieces of her wings and back were torn away and thrown into the void. By the time the spell was gone, everything on her back was a bloody mess. Her head fell forward, eyes hazy from the pain, and her breath coming in harsh pants.