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 Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 7:31 pm
It was a little less fog-ridden at the side of the Horsemen facility that awaited. No, not the small enclosed area next to Amityville, but what had once been the islands of the Four Clans. This was where the Horsemen of Death had brought you to reclaim your lands, with just the barest of walls between you and the creatures of Insanity that infested the fallen Four Clans islands.
It was quiet now however, and the fog was very thin. The Horsemen of Death looked pleased, as he waited for each and every one of you to cross through the threshold. He nods, just a bit, a Starbucks double chocolate chip mint Frappuccino in one skeletal hand.
"I still have to say, well done, very well done. Another step of victory for us, and for the team. I mean, all you have to do, is look outside."
You do. You peer over the walls.
There is not a single Insanity titan in sight.
"We made progress," he continues, fiddling with the bendy straw in his drink. "And that was all of course, thanks to this Distortion thing going on. Wouldn't have done it without you."
You sort of just look at him, because while there are a distinct lack of Insanity titans, it is unsure what exactly that means other than pressing on.
"Oh, what I mean to say," finally continues the Horsemen of Death, "is that you guys just earned yourself some vacation time. Loosen up. Go live a little. Get something nice to eat for yourselves, and explore the world a little more. Somehow, I don't think I'll need you help that soon. I'll let you know when we've worked out a little agreement on what to do next."
He shoos you away and doesn't leave any room for argument. You do see however, a generous stash of Silver Pumpkin seeds on the way out. Maybe you should take some and just loosen up.
OOC WELCOME BACK HORSEMEN- This marks the transition between the end of the meta and the beginning of life back for Horsemen, whatever path they choose! Feel free to interact with characters, rp, so on so forth in this thread, before moving on! They can not move around in Amityville, take classes, do school things, go hang out with citizens, whatever they please. Whatever loosening up means. Congratulations for finishing the meta!
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:14 pm
When Shik first arrived, after the glitz and glamor that was a total and absolute void and then going through a door that was thankfully not blindingly white, he didn't quite know what to expect. Maybe the familiar sight of his home, or the walls of the Lair, the stands of the Colosseum, something.
He did not, however expect to be greeted by a completely ordinary, Insanity Titan free Islands.
And vacation.
Vacation. Vacation.
Shik stared into forever, stunned and confused.
How does one "vacation" . . . ?
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:36 pm
Shaheen had made it, going through that final door, awake, full of her memories at last. Maybe not quite all of them, but she had no idea what she had given up....that was sort of the point, after all, right?
Best to just not think about it. It was time to move on, move forward, go back to the tasks she had been doing before this had all begun. She did feel quite disoriented at first, however. A little dizzy, her forehead furrowing, her eyes squinting.
Wait.....where were they? It took her a moment to figure out, even with Death talking, it took a little bit of effort to concentrate.
And then it all clicked.
The isles, the tower, the battlefield of the insanity titans. Except....there were no more? They were.....finished?
They were supposed to take a vacation? SERIOUSLY???
Shaheen could only give Death a dead pan stare in response.
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:45 pm
Lifen was home.
It was a little confusing at first and she did have to spend a few minutes kind of blinking her eyes as if they had sleep in them still, rubbing them idly as she walked up close to the two others she had known very well - Shik and Shaheen, as if wondering if they were real.
"That was rather peculiar, was it not." She murmured a little, as she received her funds for what appeared to be a vacation - a word that meant little to the work-heavy woman.
She had never been on vacation.
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:23 pm
Like waking from a long dream, it felt strangely good to be himself once again. It felt good to be back on the soil of the isles, to be truly home again.
Kiwi stretched his limbs, and listened as Death praised them for their efforts. He still wasn't certain what to make of the Ancient, though he seemed more reliable than Medea, to some degree. But his worries were little and far between, even the Insanity's whispers seemed still and hushed in the wake of the empty fog around them. He glanced to the others already gathered, his friends, and to an extent, his family.
A hand ran along the spiderlilies laced in his hair, pulling one free. He twirled it through his fingers, not quite sure why ... But she was important to him. He couldn't bring himself to forget her. He wouldn't be the colt he was, if not for her. And them as well. He glanced up, and cast a warm smile to the others, before tucking the flower away in his hair again.
A vacation sounded pleasant. His honey eyes scanned the misty grey horizon. There was one place in particular he had been longing to see ... Soon. Very soon.
Still, it was strange to be dismissed with nothing to do, and even stranger to have such quiet clarity of mind. His friends, how were they ...??
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 10:00 pm
These were ... these were the Isles of the Four Clans, were they not? So much of the fog was missing that it actually surprised Nkosazana, who, despite her sleep-adled state, knew that the isles had been covered in thick fog and the roaming sounds of Insanity Titans the last time she had been here. Much of that seemed to be ... well, lacking now.
Sure, it was nothing like it once was, but it was oddly peaceful in a way that Nkosazana found almost confusing after all she had gone through in her dreams and all she had seen here before. It was hard for her to forget the first encounters she had with insanity, and most of them had occurred right outside of these walls. Death was saying it was the high presence of Distortion that seemed to be allowing some of these things to roll back...
If that was the way to truly fight Insanity--large amounts of Distortion--they needed much more where that had come from. Perhaps it was time to get back to work on gathering Distortion frag--
No?
Sure, Death was right--there were no Insanity Titans she could see when she looked over the edge of the wall. But ... a vacation? That was what he was proposing--no, basically telling them they had to do? A suggestion from Death was not one a follower of Death really wanted to reject, after all.
Nkosazana admittedly hadn't taken on an excurison for fun since she was still just a foal, and the concept of it seemed almost stranger than the concept of waking up again after such a long dream in an oddly quiet Four Isles. Still, Death seemed fairly insistent on it, considering there were a bunch of silver seeds sitting there for them to take in their hands. Were they just being given these? How --
Never mind. It was time to have fun now. Nkosazana plucked up some of the silver seeds for herself. She could do that... hopefully.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 11:08 pm
Ying arrived home, heavy sigh leaving her body. She was terrified- there were spots in her memory, ones she didn't understand. She was frightened, worried.
She immediately clung to the first familiar thing she saw.
"Wh-what's going on? Where is my brother?" She looked to Death, then back to Lifen. "I ... I h-had this horrible dream and-"
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Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 11:45 pm
Shaheen had, at some point, glanced towards Shik. What they had just been through...it had been weird, and she was sure if she focused on it too much she would be given a headache for her efforts. She remembered most of it, if not all, and she certainly remembered that even in that other place, she had known him, had been drawn to him. Giving her head a small shake, she made her way closer to him, brushing a wing against his back in greeting, and also offered the words, "Welcome back, growly man." Muttered beneath her breath with a smirk. Vacation? She could give that further thought later. Right now, and as always, she had a surly executioner to torment with her very presence. With the arrival of Lifen to her side, she tilted her head towards her, a smile playing along her lips. "Peculiar is one word for it, and I have a word for this vacation thing as well. It is called bullshit." She said it just a hint of animosity, though the smile never left her lips. "Hello, Ying." She said to the other conquest artisan when she grabbed a hold of Lifen, blinking a little in surprise at her sudden outburst of odd questions, but leaving it for Lifen to take care of in her usual, motherly fashion.
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:18 pm
Lifen's eyebrows rose when the small artisan made her way closer to Lifen, a panic showing on her face as she clung to the elder artisan. Giving he a soft little look, she slowly went to lightly brush her hair out of her face, calming movements to cool her panic down.
"It is all right Ying, we are home now, it was all for the greater good, I am sure." She explain to her, looking her over. "Are you well? Did you get hurt - I am certain that Jing is in the lair also, probably worrying just as much as you are." She tried to explain, before looking up to Shaheen, still holding Ying close as a support.
"I do not think that any of us have had vacation, before. Maybe nobles." She teased a little, giving a little sly grin at that.
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:44 pm
Shaheen stared at the artisan for a time, clearly not getting the joke as she was sure Lifen, of all horsemen, would never lie to her. Conquest nobles took vacations? Shaheen's eyes narrowed. "War does not rest. Absolute peace does not exist. If we are to spend this time relaxing, I would spend it cleaving heads from humans shoulders. That is, if Death would be so kind as to let it be so." The way she said it, however, implied she cared very little for what Death thought, and she would do as she wished anyways.
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:26 pm
Hurriedly, Kiwi made his way over to where Lifen, Shaheen, Ying, and Shik stood. It was a relief to see them all together, to know everyone had escaped seemingly safe and sound. His arms wrapped around each of them in turn, with a friendly clasp to Shik's shoulder. "I am so glad to see everyone safe." He smiled warmly.
It wasn't normal for Ying to cling so close to Lifen's side however. With a worried smile, he quietly reached out to squeeze her hand gently. "Are you alright, Ying?? ..." he asked softly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:27 pm
Ying shuddered as Shaheen described killing humans in great detail. She'd experienced many things in the cloud, but if anything stuck it was an absolute sense that killing was wrong.
"Um ... Ms. Shaheen, p-perhaps you could spend your vacation sparring with the o-other horsemen? That way you could still fight wh-while also obeying Death..." Her voice dwindled as her eyes stared dreamily at the ground, remembering a far different scenario.
She turned to Lifen. "If you d-don't mind, there is something I wish to discuss with you Ms. Lifen." She looked darkly at the other horsemen gathering, then up at Death- who actually received a rather gentle look from Ying. "P-Perhaps another time though."
Then Kiwi's hand filled her own. Ying jolted at the movement, but softened when she saw it was her own good friend Kiwi. "Oh friend!" she said tiredly, departing from Lifen's side for a moment to wrap her arms around the famine boy's tiny, tiny waist. "I am glad to see you well."
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 3:37 pm
Stepping through the door and finding himself whole again, Yves blinked slowly, a somewhat stoic look on his face as he instinctively seek out the familiarity in both Shikora and Shaheen's presence by taking the spot next to them. Something was different about this place. At Death's bidding, he turned to peer over the walls and noticed the apparent lack of Insanity Titans that once tread upon the lands which were rightfully theirs. At least something good seemed to have come out of this entire... mess.
He felt strangely at peace with himself and everything, something he hadn't felt for a while. He didn't linger too long on the why or how it came about though, attributing it to what Death said about victory being theirs and taking them all one step closer to reclaiming their home. "Indeed it is good to see everyone back in... one piece." He echoed Kiwi's sentiment, a small smile on his face as he swept his gaze over everyone present.
Taking a step forward, he stretched out his arms to place his hands on both Shikora and Shaheen's shoulders before gently proposing an alternative to what Shaheen had to say about taking a vacation. "That may be true. But don't you want to go out there and see what's left of our home after all that we've been through to get it back?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:59 pm
For one brief puzzling moment Nergui didn't know where she was, what she was, or a great majority of the tragic events in her past. She stood very still as she watched the horsemen of Death advise them all to kick back for a while, and mismatched eyes narrowed in confusion. It was lucky they had been taken to the isles, lucky she had reappeared around familiar faces she had met after the fall, and not before, because the sights that met her, and the people around her were enough to trigger the return of a great deal of things she'd forgotten. The isles had fallen, they had been relocated to Halloween and forced to adapt. Many were dead, but she had a new family, and new friends. The flood of regained memories was enough to stagger her, and she snapped a hand out to grab the wall, catching her balance, before walking out into the sun to join the others. There were still gaps, but she felt a lot of important things had been returned, and since she couldn't remember what was missing, she had no idea how very important those things may be. "We're home." Not the reserve. Not the lair. Home. It made her smile, a hopeful little twist of lips as she moved up beside Kiwi and placed a hand on his shoulder. Lifen was safe, and Shaheen, and Shikoba, and Ying. She was relieved, but there were faces missing. Important people that weighed on her mind as she searched the growing crowd.
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 7:07 pm
Everything felt heavy in a faraway way, similar to how one goes swimming with all their clothes on but still is particularly aware of the buoyancy of one's body. Coming to feels a bit like being underwater as well, or maybe Thrain was just really wanting for a swim as he opened his eyes and looked around. This place, while devoid of water, was also devoid of familiarity... In a sense. It was not the place he expected to be, which really should have been expected after how surprised he found himself continually being in that other place. What is most unexpected, however, is not necessarily Death standing there but the fact that he has a tasty looking drink in his hand. Thrain wanted it. Even if would make him 15 minutes late by default. But another surprise came at the mention of vacation. Why would... Who would... How did.... Vacation?!The Guardian honestly pouted as he wandered over to the small group that had formed, not really sure how to feel about all this. He had worked so hard for so long and gotten nothing accomplished. How was he supposed to just drop all that? He hadn't done anything to deserve time off, which was the most upsetting thing about all this. A curt nod was given to Shik and Shaheen, along with a little motion of his thumb that could have meant a number of things but was intended to be something along the lines of 'can you believe this guy?'. Another nod was given to the three horsemen he was not familiar with and then something more polite, a very small bow, was given to Lifen and Ying. "I am uncertain as to how I feel regarding a...... Vacation." Hopefully everyone else would help him decide.
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