Taking place in the beautiful new Civisect City, Bloodfest made a huge splash in the summer with exciting new events, competitions and brand new additions to the event. Seasonal activities abounded as trolls took the plunge to search for treasure in the waters outside of Civisect. Inland, a lottery was held (in which certain trolls opted for a more... Cheat-filled option for success), and the boardwalk was alight as always with festivities and shenanigans. Events such as capture the flag, a cook-off, ger-bowling (sponsored by NummCorp) and a fashion show made up the events schedule, and trolls came from miles around to take part for their team.
As tradition mandates, teams were decided by blood color, and for the first time in Bloodfest history each blood color was represented as a separate team. Astonishingly, for the second time in three festivals, the purplebloods took overall gold, with redbloods trailing close behind. Team greenbloods captured third place with a prominent showing by Maihue Tivona in her skillful diving win over the seadwellers. Other team leaders were Etsali Azeban and Keionx Rutace for the orangebloods, winning gold in the Lottery pick and Ger-Bowling respectively, the Queen Regina Marian herself in the Cook-Off and Capture the Flag representing the purpleboods, redblood Odette Cygnet putting forth an excellent, gold-medal showing in the Fashion Show and her companion Athene Bramma winning gold in the Fashion Tell for the greenbloods. Honorable mentions went to the ever-present redblood Alifax Bunsem for his persistence throughout the competition, as well as newcoming seadweller Cebass Lusita.
Newly introduced this Bloodfest, troll-run booths took center stage during boardwalk festivities. Civisect leaders found the opportunity to sponsor potential groups and business in the city quite profitable. Friendships were made, children were harmed, and overall the event was considered a great success!
Highlights from the competition:
Events:
Treasure Hunt
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Swimming with fishes sounded oddly nefarious, like something she might have heard on some show on tv right before a guy turned up dead. Which made a kind of sense, because this was usually the hunting ground of seadwellers, not thieves like Etsali! She couldn't let them get the better of her this time, though, not now that her treasure hunting abilities had a chance at earning her a nice shiny trophy.
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Reemus's face fell when it turned out he had brought in something completely useless. Damaged? How could it be damaged? All the junk looked pretty similar to him! But the experts did know what they were talking about...he couldn't really fight with them much outside of whimpering "But...but...but..." uselessly.
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SkinkDad gave a lazy stretch as he found himself a nice rock to perch on and namely moon bathe in. It was nice to see his troll boy less tense than usual. Normally the kid was normally wound up tighter than a royalist bickering over tax dollars. The fact he kept pushing himself in his endeavor was equally pleasing, it was strange to realize one’s own child had grown up, even if the kid was still small in his eyes and perhaps always would be.
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"This is fun, though, innit?" Aerona chirped to Odette. Doing this with a partner was making things much easier. She could almost get away with not cheating. As the group began to float away, however, Aerona turned back to her nasty tricks. As quietly as she could, she lobbed an explosive back where they had been searching. If Odette asked her about it... She'd say she slipped. Aerona smiled.
Cheating the Lottery
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Rubbing his neck as Zindel struggled over the last few letters in the cryptogram, he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose and kinda... Sorta... Squint. He could barely see the paper, fuuck. Was his eyesight going bad?! No, of course not. He'd be fine. Finally he kept at it, squiggling a few hard words and trying to make sense f them and pronounce matters before words and fusing things. Ugh, ******** everything... He only wanted the money at the end.
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Maihue was definitely not one to cheat. But this situation was different. Sort of. Maihue sat out on an empty part of the beach, a little far off from all of the events going on, but still close enough so that she could hear all the noises and laughter going on. She tied her hair back as she stared own at the puzzles in front of her, trying to solve them as quick as she could. There wasn't really a real reason for her to solve them, but she had started and she absolutely needed to finish or it would just completely drive her crazy!
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"Two tickets please," he said, handing the booth owner the two numbers he wanted. He looked over at his lusus and narrowed his eyes. "Don't even think about it," the young troll growled. Machim gave a guttural hoot.
Why not? You take stuff that isn't yours, and that'd make a great nest.
"But I didn't keep any of it. It was for a booth, remember?" he remarked.
Not what I'm talking about.
"It's not stealing if no one wants it," he said defensively, slowly realizing what Machim was doing. The lusus scratched her chin.
Ch'ever you say Hazmas.
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Ugh, he still couldn't get it! He scribbled at the numbers. Noticing his frustrations, Glitch offered Leeroi a pencil. With an eraser, he wouldn't have to worry about starting over when he got things wrong! Leeroi plucked the pencil out of her half-mouth and snapped it in half, tossing it across the room. If he couldn't get things perfect, it wasn't worth it. No one got high scores using mediocre pencils.
Cook-Off
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Regina bounced onto the stage, waving at the spectators who also doubled as ravenous protein-holes, future recipients of whatever sludge she was going to pour into their plates. "Hey hey! Welcome to cooking with seadwellers! Today I'll be making cuttlefish smoothies. Don't worry, they're just as delicious as the name sounds."
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As soon as Tamiya got comfortable, she had delved into the soda supply under her table. What she didn't know, however, was that this particular batch was -- well -- not exactly handled with care. The (surprisingly flammable) liquid exploded everywhere. Fire exploded every. FIRE...! <********!" Tamiya screamed. Vivid memories of her hive bursting into flames in front of her sent her into panicked throes. The explosion that injured her hearing and then the bombing that took everything from her swarmed her senses. She couldn't think straight. Tamiya flipped her table, and the fire spread. Stunned drones were rather late with their extinguishers as other competitors' tables were also lit aflame.
The ******** was spectacular. When the flames died down and Tamiya calmed down, she stood a ways away from the burning black waste she had made. "I do not frequently cook in this quantity," she explained.
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Leeroi stared at the oven, which had burst into flames. He definitely had made a mistake. Turns out you couldn't cook meat faster just by turning the temperature up to 1000 degrees. How silly. Did normal trolls have the patience for this? He should have just stuck to making plain sandwiches and macaroni and cheese.
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The relief to no longer being caught up in a cooking frenzy would settle in later. Sinter was surprised to find himself more excited than frazzled.
”Next sweep! Next sweep, Bloodfest. Look out!”
Capture the Flag
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THERE! She lunged and waved her arms around wildly, somehow slipping into the fort. She screeched, louder than ever before, and grasped the flag firmly with both hands. Ripping it from the sand, Treide bolted as if her arse was on fire. YES YES YES!
"VOSCIL!" Afyrse cried shrilly, panting and winded now from the mad dash, "RUN VOSCIL RUN. RUN RUN RUN RUN RUUUUN!" That was all he could get out, but he stayed in the unzone, ready to lunge at the flag if he had to.
OOPS. Wait. No he grabbed it from her. What the hell was he thinking!?
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Trying to snatch the blue flag, she was interrupted as to her horror, the lowblood got it first. "HEY! You get back here!!!" Furiously, she tried to get out of the mass of blueblood bodies and chase after Keionx, intent on retrieving the flag for the glory of her team, and more importantly, her own vendetta.
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Keionx stared dumbly at the purple flag, trying to piece together (haha, it was half in pieces, haha) what had just happened. Had she actually done... something... heroic?
It had been so long... She stared, wide eyed, back at the other trolls, feeling exhausted and absolutely filthy.
Please... she prayed, don't let there be another round...
Fashion Show & Tell
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Keionx dug through the box and grabbed what she could. Suffice to say, they were not to her liking. The hero panicked and proceeded to choose which of the HORRIBLE TREASURES she would return to the box from the underworld...
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Despite the strange outfit, she had enjoyed the event. She could see members near the front row of the crowd doing something weird (it looked like something you did at a concert, not a fashion show...) and ignored the troll gagging. She was fabulous. She walked back with the same passion and stance as before, taking one look back at the crowd before exiting their sight. Eostre gave a wink, and slipped away.
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There was one thing Athene hadn't addressed though and she took a deep breath, smile dropping from her face a bit.
"While your boots general, erm, outline go with the look. They are, to say the least, absolute monstrosities." She started, trying to still be nice while explaining how bad the boots were. Really, they were awful, although the audience seemed to keep up the nature they had from before, thinking she was perky due to excitement. "It's the colors that ruin them the most, honestly, but if you ever are able to find another pair please try this outfit again! It's absolutely adorable and everything works together fine. Except for the boots. I think they need to meet a fire."
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"Reemus normally wears what looks like a plastic bag, no joke! I wonder if it is. So the fact he came out today and did his absolute best is worthy of applause and our praise. I mean how many of us are willing to like, get up there and rock that oufit? I certainly wouldn't!"
Clapping enthusiastically, she gave Reemus two big thumbs up, "GO GO GO PUPPY BRO! YOU ROCK MAN!"
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Then there was just silence. Nothing. No words or even a cough. A faint trickle of sweat crept down her neck. Did they hate her? Were they in awe? Had the audience left? It was hard to tell with the bright lights everywhere, if the shadows in the foreground were that of chair of troll. She smiled weakly and struck a demure pose to the judges before turning and sashaying her way towards the entrance of the walk. It took all her might to not run away from the silence of the crowd.
At the end, in the back, she collapse and began to undress slowly. It was over. While fun, it had been a little nerve wracking.
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Reaching the end of the runway, she posed dramatically, one hand on her hip and the other behind her head. Coyly, she cocked her head and winked towards the judges panel. She felt like laughing! This was a lot more fun than she expected. She hardly felt nervous at all anymore. Odette grabbed her skirt so that it made a lovely wave as she spun around. She continued her confident strut down the catwalk, absolutely delighted. She looked at one of the cameras towards the end, watching it pan down to- oh goodness. Odette looked away, blushing bright red. Maybe she gave a little bit too much of a show.
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Cebass did his best to ignore the unruly and strange audience. He'd already decided that land dwellers had rotten brains except for a select few. And so as the drones dragged out one particularly obnoxious and, to be frank, it was a good thing that he was dragged off by his horns. That was the price you paid for such rudeness.
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”Also, try to come out when the audience hasn't all gone to get breaded meat products!” she advised, ”It would probably be better that way!” She didn't want any meat products herself – she was happy with her snacks: generously provided by the organizers and... was that the queen at the judging bench?! Oh goodness yes! This was great. Psykgi was not complaining.
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A colorful shirt covered in red and white flowers, a baggy pair of gaudy, striped pants, spiky shoes, and suspenders to top it all off. It was probably horrifying from a fashion standpoint, but the blueblood adored all of the horrifically clashing colors, and pulled his new get-up on over his speedo with a laugh.
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When it was her turn to speak up, she shrugged and put on a blank face. "Y'know I can honestly think of nothing funny to say that would get more laughs than just panning the camera back over to this delicate plate of finery. Go on! The best thing is the more you look, the more you see, and the more hilarious it gets." Obligingly the camera slid back around to Zeffer presenting some mildly explicit gestures towards some trolls in the audience. The timing was perfect and the crowd surrounding the two trolls guffawed loudly, having already been on the edge of laughter for most of his walk.
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Tamiya was well dressed. Slipping on a pair of plain fingerless gloves (the fingers on most gloves were far inferior for her needly fingers anyway), she checked her make-up. Flawless as always. Tamiya was ready to present at any moment. She had the shoes of her people, the delightful sweater that reminded her of her dear moirail, a flamboyant tutu that was so close to her heart (blessed Odette) and of course some fingerless gloves that were probably reminiscent of Larque or something. Frankly those had been a throwaway, but the symbolism was there. She could make it there if she wanted it.
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"All in all, a good outfit. Keep at it, good luck!" Perhaps she sounded too cheery... or was it too funny? She had thrown in a couple subtle but funny remarks in there... The audience did not seem pleased. Oh damnit, now she'd have to face the consequences or something... Time to try a little harder to be... Well... Mean.
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If Rasali knew anything about fashion, it was how to rock a pair of sandals--socks be damned. In fact, she quite liked the zubaz. The elastic was quite convenient... And they came in so many patterns!
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“Hey sugar. Listen, this whole get-up you’ve got going on? It’s not working for me. You’re split between a lot of bizarre choices here, and the audience is clearly up in arms about it. You’re not really breaking any barriers here to begin with, and for the love of the messiahs I cannot imagine anyone wanting to look like you in any point in history. The fuzzy shirt is the only saving grace here, and even that I feel you could plus some. Two words: crop top. Come on, girl. Is it that hard to style? Work your game to your body type. Your fanny pack is doing your fanny no favors.”
Aandes rattled off. He shrugged and tossed some of the curls of his pompadour. “Also, you should invest in a stylist or at least spend some time in front of a mirror.”
Booths:
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Also, sometimes there will be people trying to keep you from retrieving your items. They might throw around words like 'thief' or, I don't know, 'stop right there, you fiend', but this is all part of the game and shouldn't be taken seriously at all. Just make sure you lose them in the crowds on your way back, alright?
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The perky blueblood adult sitting inside seems somewhat familiar. Perhaps you've seen her somewhere before? Or maybe she just has one of those familiar faces. Either way she radiates an almost maniacal level of friendly helpfulness, and in her free time is constantly leaping over the front of her booth to help give directions to trolls who have gotten lost in the crowd. How nice.
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Tamiya surveyed the crowd. A troll had taken one of her pamphlets! She pursed her lips in gratitude. The word was getting out, praise be. "Bless you, ********! Scripture and musical sermon are also free!"
Was that... Regina Marian? Tamiya had studied her very closely in propaganda, and had seen her in person during the situation with Chittentown. This could have been a doppelganger, however. A "clever" "disguise" was "expertly" shrouding her features. She took a swing at her booth and missed. Alas! Queen or not, Tamiya would greet her with the deepest respect and gratitude. The juggalo way.
The megaphone squeaked on and Tamiya cleared her throat. "Try again, glittergills! Show me you are not a lugubrious shamesquirt on your next attempt!"
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So maybe Athene hadn't totally supported her role in this booth 100%. After all, she had only thought she was making costumes not... actively participating on the wheel. But Vremea was Vremea and could always wheedle Athene into doing what was needed and after a few sighs and huffs, she agreed to sit in on the booth and hoped no one would pick her.
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Lounging behind the counter, Regina is sporting a tshirt stating that 'this is not the queen you are looking for' and a pair of false glasses complete with nose, hairy eyebrows, and moustache. In other words, she's incognito. Occasionally, she gets up and leaves the booth unattended for long periods of time, seemingly unworried about possible thieves or vandals. Perhaps the reasoning behind this is all the rather badly disguised plain-clothed drones lounging around near the booth, or the security cameras quietly humming away all around.
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WHO'S THE BEST LI'L SHARPSHOOTER AT BLOODFEST? IT'S YOU, PARDNER! THESE HERE HAT'LL PROVE IT TO EVERY FELLA YOU MOSEY ON BY. YEEHAW
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Walking through the throng of booths you notice one run by an incredibly calm, reserved, and worryingly pale greenblood. Very, very pale. Is she well? As you look at her, she matches your stare back calmly and gives a polite smile. Perhaps you would enjoy playing one of the games she has set up for the young trolls? Or are you interested in the fine array of antiques she has on display?
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Step on up, gentletrolls, to the ULTIMATE SHIPDOWN OF ULTIMATE DESTINY. It’s time for the battle of a lifetime. Where do ships truly reign supreme - the sea, or the sky? Well, folks, only you - yes, you! - can answer that question.
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There are booths, and then there’s…this. The fledgling N. FLARP League has set up shop near a fenced off field, and its publicity materials spill over onto the ground in front of the booth. Mannequins displaying painstakingly recreated costumes entice the casual viewer, and the display of Real Authentic Weaponry lets everyone know that they mean business. Next to the booth is a sign describing the plot of the campaign they’re running this week.
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Psykgi wants to hear all your issues - you don't need to hold anything back. Don't worry! She doesn't judge... she just analyzes. You can talk to her directly, or - if you're more comfortable - you can talk to (one of) her Lusus(ii) or slide an anonymous letter into a box on the counter and come back later to see what she's written beneath it.
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Vos is determined to lure unsuspecting trolls into her little fantasy world for those who are looking for a semi-realistic view on the Saturday morning wiggler cartoon.
She had placed a large sign near the front of her stall.
ϟow opeϟ for busiϟess! Get your free starter card aϟd try and collect 'em all iϟ the time allotted!
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Rasali was looking for some dirty, strong, rough and tumble trolls for her league, but he had his own angle: the face to go with the body.
He felt a little roguish, using the booth as his own talent scouting opportunity, but he'd take what he could get. Aandes opened the booth and poured himself a cold beverage.
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Your experience with the music is done... You have over come, or succumbed, to the terror, beauty, and pain of music. Treide smiles at you broadly and motions to her little booth front. Oh? That's right, you earned some tokens. You suppose you could use them.
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"Welcome, welcome! Do you like cupcakes? Do you want a free cupcake? DO YOU WANT TO WIN TICKETS BY EATING CUPCAKES?!" says Cerise, very loudly and with a manic expression. "Then step right up and take a chance! Pick a cupcake, any cupcake! And if you pick right, you don't get a cupcake I made using the hottest pepper I could find that totally melts your face right off! And you get a tasty cupcake and a raffle ticket! All for FREE I might add!" she says with a huge grin.
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A troll is nervously waving her hand to get your attention.
"You can win flowers... And an assortment of flower seeds. You're welcome to try... B-but you don't have to, of course."
Have a favorite Bloodfest moment? PM any quotes you'd like to see added to the mule!
Once again, letters from the Alternian Military were penned and delivered to royalist trolls. This time, there appeared to be no great ado for the occasion - a simple physical with recruiting sign-ups appeared to be in store. While previously promotions of grandeur, rebuilding and great victory for Alternia for touted, a lull appeared to be in place. So too, for the Phoenix Initiative. Byakko and her companions had a huge undertaking in rebuilding their base. A special, secret meeting was planned in order to mourn and begin the recovery process. However, like anything on Alternia -- nothing is ever quite that simple.
Unbeknownst to the rebellion, the position of the rebel base had been leaked to the royalist troops - and soon the royalists were herded into a new mission: To eliminate the Phoenix Initiative.
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"Friends! Alternians! Countrytrolls. Lend me your fists! We've got a nest of gerbils that needs exterminating - yeah, right in our very midst. These are the same trolls who tried to halt progress in the construction of Civisect through violence and destruction, the same dudes who broke into one of your own facilities here, causing millions of beetles of damage to this great, awesome, dusty city. These are the same trolls who, lack of evidence notwithstanding, we are pretty dang sure collaborated with the jadeblood who tried to literally destroy pretty much everything! With the plants! You know, the-" glancing around, she realized that not all her audience was exactly following her at this point. "- ahh forget it."
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“Once we’re in position, I’ll give the signal, and then we engage. At that point, throw at them everything you got. Go nuts. Our objective here is for complete eradication, so there’s no such thing as overkill. I don’t want any loose ends making problems in the future. Capisce?”
Resting a hand on their hip, the figure swept their gaze over the crowd. A brief silence followed. Satisfied that their message had gotten through, they broke into a grin. “Well then. They aren’t gonna off themselves. Move out!”
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Her stomach lurched, knotting firmly in her throat. Akko's robe had been blown clean off her shoulder from the buck of the shot, and although her upper arm had only been lightly grazed, her brightly coloured blood dripped and collected at her sandals. Swallowing hard, the rebel leader steadied her stoical composure the best she could. They were trapped, and her secret was out.
The traitor - one Kursha Vidari - had lead the Queen straight to the Phoenix Initiative's front door. Byakko's mutant blood hue was exposed to both sides, and with the realization of life or death the rebels immediately took action to avoid their own execution.
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"Retreat! If you can avoid it, don't focus on retaliating- just run!" She barked a command over her shoulder to the members of the Initiative. The pinkblood didn't have the luxury to consider how the rebels would react to her mutation, thrusting her faith blindly that they would comply. Abandoning the headquarters was their only option.
Pointing her weapon at Kursha, Byakko let out a low hiss.
"I'm going to kill you, traitor."
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He was running out of time. His audience was getting antsy, but to be fair, so was he. It was time to get this show on the road—for the glory of the empire and all that. “Anyway,” he continued. Casually he unslung the rifle from his back. “It's been fun, but I've got a big mission to carry out. Infiltrate a rebel nest, retrieve a mother grub, collect a few heads, you know...”
His eyes glittered dangerously. The pupils morphed into crosshairs.
“Basically kill all of you here.”
Rebels fought drones and fleed from horrific gunfire from the royalist troops, inspired by the heavy weaponry touted by the traitorous gunman.
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Any fear Athene had morphed into pure, cold rage at this point. He wanted to kill them? Good luck. They had already survived so much, this would be nothing.
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Milieu nodded at the command to move back. She didn't hear it as much as see his arm sweep back. Body language would be the best way to go. He set up a move for them and Milieu sucked in a breath, waiting for that perfect moment. THERE!
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"Don't-! Don't touch it. It's a burn. I'll be...fine." She smiled bitterly at that word. Yeah. Okay. Right. Luxara prided herself on trying not to lie, but now she was just kidding herself. She found a way to lean on him with her good shoulder so she could aim at the son of a b***h who broke her heart. "Do you see those tats he has? Does he look familiar to you at all? That's Kursha. And at Bloodfest, I...we... Well, I guess everything he led me to believe about us was a lie. So, no, I'm not fine. But it's okay! Because if he's going to cut me, I'll get him deeper." But the fresh wound left her unsteady. Even using Anguis as support, she shook too much to hit her target. "********!"
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“Thanks,” Ephias managed. He took a deep breath, bracing himself. The sounds of gunfire were drawing nearer, and they could not afford to stay tucked away for long. “F-for everything.”
Tentatively testing his arm, Ephias put his hands on his knees. With a grunt he pushed himself to his feet. “I'm going to make sure we g-get out of this no matter what.” Reaching out he reclaimed the shears. He would be needing them.
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"s**t!" Bolts everywhere. Aerona dodged the first, and then spat up red blood into her bandana. What was that....? She looked over shakily and realized that there was a hot metal rod sticking out of her arm. "Hhhh--hhhhhhh..."
It was just like a serpent's bite. She smiled and laughed, tears running from her eyes into her mask. At least it would cauterize itself! She howled with cackling pain and tried to clench her fist, but the pain was too much. How would she climb now? How would she live?
She had to keep the rod in, or she might bleed out. Aerona bit down on her bandana and used it as a gag, biting as hard as she could to distract herself. No matter what, she had to escape. She couldn't let down the rebels. She couldn't leave Sophitia alone. She would survive, and she would win.
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Keionx didn't need to say anything more – she would have. She would have told Stryke what she was fighting for, happily. But she didn't need to – their resolve, together, was enough. They both knew what they were fighting for, and they would fight for it as long as they still had breath. Longer, even.
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Odette gave a quiet laugh. This tealblood sure was feisty. If the other trolls had nearly as good of an attitude as her, they'd be strong together. "I'm fine for now," Odette told the girl with a serious look on her face. She had to learn to disguise her pain, as a leader. To be strong for them. Odette took a deep breath, chest swelling. "Stick together, you'll be stronger that way," The redblood instructed, before flying off for her own teammates.
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"Good. We're almost there..." He tried to reassure, and hoped he was right. The cavern was gripped with chaos, a state he would have very much relished in were it not for the fact that he was looking after more than his own health.
Meanwhile, royalists assisted drones and fought their own way down the field - seeking justice for the damage that the rebels had caused.
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A stunned pause. Screaming children. And then all hell broke loose. The hooded figure that had led the army there had apparently been a rebel traitor and the mutantblood was clearly not happy about the discovery. Abrila snorted and huffed much like her lusus used to and quickly set on retaliating before things got completely out of hand. The rebel commander tried to aim a kick at Abrila's chest but she was quicker, using her shovel to slash at her ankle. She fell and Abrila took the opportunity to slash her again with the shovel's blade.
Now she had pink blood on her clothes. Gross!
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Adamaz heard an explosion in a nearby chamber, and a host of yellow mist began flooding in. Keeping to his orders, Adamaz kept away, and on the lookout for drones.
One drone he found was wiping the gas from its eyes. Adamaz helped by squirting it with a water bottle. He gave the drone a thumbs up.
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As Chiara tried her best to yell drones into getting up and fighting, she noticed an acquaintance of hers getting the drones up with far more efficiency. "What?! How are you getting them to respond so well?" the blueblood called to Adamaz. "I keep yelling and yelling but it only does so much!" Chiara said in frustration.
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"I will -- get--!" Tamiya choked out. Her throat was filled with gravel and quickly constricted. She dropped her weapon and grasped at her throat, feeling demons and spirits tightening her breath until she could barely inhale. Her voice squeaked out small and then popped out.
Tamiya sputtered and writhed on the ground.
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Breath coming out almost ragged and short, Nictor felt himself being pulled back towards the tunnel system, away from the main fray of soldiers, Drones, and furious teenagers. Inching back, bit by bit, hugging the walls, Bee led him more towards the fringes of the royalist forces, stopping every few steps to push Drones towards the fight or for Nictor to call some Encouraging nervous words at them.
"Y-you need t-t-to protect..." Nictor trailed off, his brain balking and refusing the finish the sentence, letting him go silent as he watched the battle before him.
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Leeroi turned his attention back down to Psykgi. Glitch screamed for her charge to stop, but her voice fell on deaf ears. He climbed down the drones back to receive his power-ups, face glowing with excitement. He gritted his teeth as Psykgi prepared the syringe, smiling disturbingly as he received the treatment. The serum left a strong feeling in his arm, almost numbing his hands. A different feeling coursed through the rest of his body, making him feel dizzy and light. His vision swirled, and Leeroi did his best to keep his balance. Whatever Psykgi gave him was strong.
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Witikodad was prepared to protect Afryse. Even if he seemed like a bad parent, he truly did care. When the blow came, he blocked his charge and was thrown into the cave wall.
In horror, Afryse went to rescue his father, tears streaming down his face. "DAD! DAD NO!"
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"How long have I been out?" He wondered aloud and stopped when he heard a desperate scream. They sounded young, no older than himself. Quickly, the green blood sat up and looked around. The place was a mess of blood and motion. But he was able to locate the the troll whose terrified cry had roused him, a blue blood whose lusus was either missing or.. Dead.
"Hey you! Fuzz hood! Over here!" Hazmas called, waving his arms. He paused and looked over at a nearby drone. "Well what are you waiting for? An invitation? Here, this'll help ya!"
With that the green blood, the green blood tossed the drone a vial and hoped the blue blood kid heard him.
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"Dictys... r-run!" She shouted over the noise. The stalactite came lose with a final crunch and the orangeblood shoved Dictys as hard as she could away from the danger, taking the entire impact on herself. The stone slammed her into the ground and her breath whooshed out of her body, and she gasped, tasting blood where she had bit her tongue. Her vision swam as she felt something on her head come lose from hitting the ground so hard, and she vaguely wondered if Mommydaddy had acted in time to help their charge.
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She remained paralyzed, her bile sack churning. The fresh blood that stained her face began to run cold, mimicking her own unclear emotions overpowering her. How was she to feel? Or was she to feel… nothing? Was this… good? Should she... feel happy?
Suddenly, a shadow cast over her, a larger figure blocking her view of the body, breaking Elidae from her stupor. Mechanically, the little yellowblood lifted her head, her little nubs focusing on the words proclaimed from whoever came to her. A purpleblood, a tall and noble one, with an aura of light surrounded her. Her savior's speech reached Elidae deeply; she felt safe.
A handful of trolls even defected, finding themselves fighting on the rebellion side of the conflict for the first time - for a plethora of reasons.
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His heavy breathing fogged up the sight of his mask. But as soon as Kursha threw the first flashbang, Ganyma was ready. Vision already obscured, he was able to quickly react to the blast. He released his pushblades with a sharp click and roared, turning on his own side with a boisterous call. It didn't matter that he was fighting the royalists. He was out for only one troll's blood.
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"Blossmom, keep them busy." He scanned the area for maybe a rebel or someone that might actually know a safe way out of here. It was risky to pair up with them but it seemed safer to follow a guide that knew what they were doing rather than a clueless drone or royalist. It was clear their leader Kursha had only known which way to go since he'd been down here before at some point. Cerpin didn't really know much about that whole issue and betrayal.
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She had been right in assuming he was upset...and had made him panic. Patting his back gently she stayed close even after they let go of one another. It wasn't her intention as she'd promised him. Relaxing, and while still worried they were all making a horrible decision she had to admit he was right. It was scary, but if they stuck together maybe they had a chance? "You're right..even if its scary we'll be okay. We'll make it out." She agreed, nipping at her bottom lip despite her reservations.
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With his flesh burning away, all Reemus could do was cry out in anguish and fall to the floor, trying to paw at his face as if that could possibly do anything. He could hear Woofmum bark in alarm, then whimper as she tried to lick his wounds better, only burning her tongue for the effort.
"M-Mum..." He touched her fur blindly, crying from eyes he couldn't even open right now. It hurt too much.
Finally, the rebels managed to reach a choke point. Byakko initiated a final trap that caused a cave-in, blocking off the rebels from the royalists momentarily. The rebels had to act fast - regrouping and healing themselves the best they could. While some of the royalists pressed to dig through the barrier, a number of the rebel forces loaded the hidden Mother Grub onto a cart for passage out of the cavern. It would be a treacherous task for every troll.
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Abrila waited until the ground was nice and quiet again. She peeked out from her hiding place, looking around to see if others were as dazed and confused as she felt. There was no way they could pass that cave-in, could they? So now what?
A nap. This called for a nap. Suddenly feeling very tired, she dragged her poor body out from the rock and lay against it. She shut her eyes and placed her shovel across her lap.
"M-medkit..." she whispered, to no one in particular.
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"You okay, little Man? We made it...you did a really good job." He huffed a sigh, and tried to catch his breath. Zeffer, like most everyone else, was an absolute wreck. His clothes were shredded and burned, and his face was covered in blood and filth. His legs ached from where the acid had eaten them, but he knew that they wouldn't have long to rest. Shaking himself, he sat up, and ruffled Maneki's hair before glancing around, seeking out Aprife's wide horns, or the yellow of Vremea's flowing clothes.
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Shifting a little, Vremea couldn't help but feel that in this moment, everyone was feeling the same— It was time to run. Not only did Kursha personally know who each of them were, he also knew what their plan of would be: To keep the mother grub safe and sound and move her from her place in the deep cavern. Before Vremea got too deep into thinking, the yellowblood blocked it out, allowing herself some well earned, 5 minute rest.
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Nictor was well and truly a sheltered child. He stayed at home as much as possible. He was terrified by social interactions and had to take breaks to pull his wits together when visiting the grocery store. Bee coddled him, keeping Nictor close, hardly ever scolding, never pushing him, letting Nictor remain firmly in his bubble of comfort. Bee never had any serious injuries before, to Nictor's knowledge. He'd never seen Bee so vulnerable and it was terrifying. Before, when Beehemoth had crashed into the water, the fear he'd felt then outpaced anything he'd ever felt before. He felt the same deep all consuming fright now and Nictor hated it.
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It was all just a ruse. She was just as much a sap as the rest of them. No, the biggest one, who was she kidding. But how? How did he end up like this? She had tried so hard, hadn't she? She had wanted to help, wanted to eventually get him to open up...she had the best intentions. Didn't she? Did she shut him out?
No, that wouldn't be fair. He always needled her, she had every right to take shots back. And when he had cried, when he needed someone to care but didn't deserve it, she was still there. Yet she was still nothing.
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Nursing his knuckles, now slightly tealer but at least not bleeding, he looked around for his companion. Luxara, she was the first to find, she needed to come with him. His eyes settled on her back, found her near the rubble and he started forward towards her. As soon as he reached her though he realized she was crying and that made him pause, stop for a second in... worry? Fear? His emotions were so messed up he couldn't tell, couldn't figure out what it was.
But he did know that he wanted to make her feel better.
Crouching down beside her, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lux?" He whispered, hoping she wouldn't startle and hit him. It was all he could figure out to do.
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He doubted they would win this; there was simply no way, the numbers were so sorely unbalanced. Would this be the end? Immediately, he cut that thought out of his head. He refused to believe it.
It couldn't be the end. He couldn't die.
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Poe looked around him, and realized he didn't know anyone here either. There were adults and teenagers, judging by the size and sound of them. Maybe some children like him. Not many though. Would they even let him stay, or would they attack him too, now that the fighting was over and they would discover that this stray greenblood wasn't with them at the start? He grasped Lanata's body for comfort, his bloodpusher racing.
He began to cry. Softly at first, with little sniffles and whimpers. Then full blown sobbing as he truly understood his position. Lanata was hurt too because of him, and when he was culled no one would be able to protect his flock of woolbeasts. All these trolls were like the howlbeasts that hunted him and his flock, but especially the royalist ones now... "P-please don't hurt me," he cried loudly, hoping if they noticed him they would take pity on a lame lamb.
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Without a further sound, and only one more glance towards Luxara, His face was drawn, eyes cold and weary. Ganyma pulled his hood back on, swimming in the crimson-tinted vision of his mesh mask. He turned and began to walk. Away from the rebels, away from Luxara. Out the main tunnel where the rebels would be sure to follow.
His pace quickened as the Mother Grub grew smaller and smaller behind him. The natural obstacles of the caverns kept him conscious of his surroundings, but the time he spent jogging through the cave would later be an earthy blur. All Ganyma would remember would be staggering out into the evening air. Metallic breaths, quivering nerves and the quiet empty darkness were mementos of isolation.
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"We need to get the Mother Grub and whatever spawn she's laid out of here, posthaste." Byakko commanded, nodding in the direction of the increasingly distressed meows. "There's a wagon nearby that should fit her and the eggs. I need volunteers to load and transport them out of the area to safety- they'll need guards, too. The rest of us will spread out and scatter, drawing the military's attention away from the evacuation." She narrowed her eyes expectantly on the Initiative's officers and some of the more veteran rebels. She needed them to step up now, more than ever, to make this escape plan run smoothly.
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Stepping onto a small boulder, Kursha stared out at the crowd of trolls milling about, gaze hard. His mouth was dry. “All right, folks! If you aren’t dead or deaf then I’m gonna need you listen up!” He cleared his throat and felt a trickle of blood enter his mouth. “Due to our little roadblock, there’s been a change of plans. From here on out, we work as two separate units. The first task force is to stay here in the tunnels and clear the debris. Reinforcements will be down to assist with the process, as well as aid the wounded. Once the way is clear, you continue your pursuit and block off their retreat.
“Task force two!” Kursha barked. “You’re with me. We’re going back to the base to regroup. From there we’ll track our target on the surface and cut them off in a pincer movement. We know exactly where they’ll pop up, so between an assault from the front and back they won’t have anywhere left to run. Any questions?”
Expression fierce, Kursha glared out over the crowd, daring them to challenge him. If he heard just one complaint, just one objection to his authority, he would not hesitate to shoot. There were none however.
“One last thing,” Kursha continued. “This mission has changed from an extermination to a capture and retrieval. We’re bringing them in alive.”
The forerunner rebels and their respective hunters set out immediately, North past Four Fronds and Busthind into the unknown wilds of the Dark Swamp. Those in small units meant to draw away royalist fire from the mother grub found themselves in maze-like conditions, fighting off treacherous environments and fleeing from capture the best they could.
The first team of rebels - a fiery group of trolls known as the War Babes - traversed through the treacherous Fingers of the Swamp. They were pursued by a group of very young royalists, and after a long period of inactivity the eight trolls met and conflicted face to face in tense confrontations. However, the children were no match for the scrappy rebels, and Aerona Scrall, Rasali Panaka, Forera Serpen and Luxara Seleni escaped handily from the clutches of Leeroi Furore, Eridia Tsifer, Psykgi Mentha and Azrael Mortis.
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Leeroi wrinkled his nose. First, he passed out at the end of the battle, and missed the grand finale, and second, he got teamed up with a bunch of nerds for the hunt. Psykgi was fine, she was cool enough. She had certainly proved her worth in the last battle. But Eridia? And that blue kid, whatever his name was? They were only going to hold him back.
And then Eridia had the gall to think she was better than him. Leeroi scoffed. Player 2? She must have been forgetting her place. "Uh, no. I'm always Player One." Leeroi argued. "I'm the hero. I'm a winner, unlike you." He sneered, leaning back on his lusus and closer to Psykgi.
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Aerona shifted her weight and looked around at her companions. Easy enough - no one had weird, cryptic symbols anyway. "Nice to meet y'all."
Luxara and Forera both seemed to have the right amount of energy for the task. Subtly, the redblood pushed ahead to get her own opinion in the mix... Above the rest. Rasali, she knew, was a seasoned member of the rebels (there was no way she could outshine her). These two, though, she had some wiggle-room with.
"So I'm thinking..." She thought for a moment and pointed at Luxara. "Moon. Obviously."
Shifting over to Rasali. "Steam. Aaaaaaaand...." Aerona tilted her head at Forera. "Snakebite. And I'm Ace."
She clicked her tongue. "No time to waste, right? Let's find a way out of here! C'mon, Moon!"
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Rasali squared her shoulders and regarded the kids—namely the bossy-looking purpleblood. ”This is really no place for a couple pupas like you.” These children had several castes on Rasali, but what she lacked in status she made up for in height and weight.
One altercation later, Rasali had all but picked Eridia up and dropped her unceremoniously in the deep, sticky mud. Her lusus would likely be distracted for a while trying to retrieve his charge from the goop. Forera could handle the other one.
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Getting closer, she saw the young girl. Covered in mud from her dainty little feet to her precious pigtails. Aerona's lip twitched as she tried not to smile, but fortunately the adrenaline had her "alarmed" setting kicked on high. "Those rebels are our kill - we been chasin' em all night," she snarled. "Which way did they go? That way?"
She was ready to split. Hopefully Luxara would either follow suit or sneak around back. She may not be able to fool both kids, but this one looked upset enough to buy anything.
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When the stranger asked for the other two Eridia instinctively looked at the way they went, and back at the troll. Her fists cletched and her mouth tightened. "Your kill? YOUR KILL?! EXCUUUUSE ME, THOSE ARE OUR PRAY! GO FIND SOME OTHER REBELS! THINK THERE'S PLENTY TO GO AROUND!" She spatted. How dare the greenblood send someone else to do their job? Did he think the mission would be too much for four kids? Impossible!!
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God, was it fun to watch the purpleblood have a total fit, though. Following Aerona, she couldn't help but say, "Maybe next time you're sent out on a job, you'll wear something a bit more..." she looked Eridia up an down, "professional. Just some advice, kiddo." With that, she chased Aerona down until they spotted another new figure. Rats!
"On it." The redblood was amazing at taking point. Luxara veered off, hoping that Aerona would make it through okay going solo. Who knew if the baby brigade had actual back-up just waiting to snatch them up. Rasali and Forera had disappeared after their little debacle, and hopefully the team would regroup soon.
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Sitting on top of the struggling purpleblood, Leeroi moved to stand. Wrapping his hands around Eridia's pigtails for support, he pressed his foot down on the back of her head and pushed, holding the highblood's head underwater. He wanted to list all the things off that she had done wrong, all the things that led to their downfall. "You're the worst!" He yelled, voice cracking, "You ruin EVERYTHING!" It was all he could manage to say. His head was in a tizzy, barely able to form words. Snarling, Leeroi pulled harder on her pigtails, attentively watching the bubbles around Eridia's head.
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The fifth punch or so made Azrael see stars but he did his best to hang on to the outraged blueblood idiot. The fist pressed into his jaw made any form of talk impossible. He let go of Leeroi with one hand to knock away the hand at his chin. When that was out of the way the blueblood lifted his head back and slammed it as hard as he could against Leeroi's. Whether it connected with his rival's head or with his face Azrael didn't know. He was back to seeing stars and could taste the irony flavor of his own blood in his mouth. He changed his position so that he was straddling Leeroi and began his own series of punches to Leeroi's face.
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”Get off of him.” Psykgi growled, lunging forward to punch Eridia. She'd left her weapon at home, and it would have been absolutely ruined from the mud anyway, but she could still grab, shove, and punch, even if she wasn't very good at fighting. Her fist met Eridia's face, and though her fist hurt from the blow, unaccustomed as it was to such violence, she punched again. ”I said,” her voice, now, had a very uncharacteristically murderous tone to it, narrow and cold; ”get off!”
It had gone too far for Ma'am too. Could the children not see that their quarry had gotten away? Could they cease fighting for a moment and chase them? Morever, could they not ruin her troll's potential chances at a productive and respectable future? The swarm practically boiled from the trees and mud, having summoned more of itself in the interim time. Gathering into a solid mass of roaches, she was quite ready to push trolls out of the way and take charge up in this swamp.
The second rebel group consisted of the newly defected Miache Gahiji, who started off his journey with the royalist group of Tamiya Aiguma, Eostre Diazzi, Adamaz Karoth and Chiara Moteku. He joined Cerpin Sugall, Matewa Drumon and Tevini Euruft in a tentative and anxious flight through the swamp. The Still Pools were a wet and miserable stomp for all of those involved, eerily filled with biting fish and a moist climate.
Unfortunately for Tevini and Miache, their splitting from the main group lead to a hasty capture by Adamaz and Chiara -- but, Matewa and Cerpin managed to slip just by the other royalists and escape by the skin of their teeth.
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Eostre's rage had subsided, but only enough to be hardened into a determination to complete the mission, in whatever way she felt suited her needs best. The rebels might be in for a surprise if she got a hold of them. She clenched her bare fists in her hood's pockets, pressing her nails into her palm. How she missed her gloves! Thankfully, her wounds had been fairly superficial, easily patched up and nothing to write home about. Volcano would be proud of his battle-ready kiddo.
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He knew.....he knew Keionx had been right, none of them were safe, not even three young, stupid wrigglers would get away from punishment, not this time. She wanted to wipe them out, she'd made that clear. What could he do?
He had to get them out. That was all there was to it.
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As the group walked, Tamiya noticed something... Missing.
"Miache!" She called. "Miache, cleanliness imp! A dry log lies ahead for your fancy ******** feet. Miache!"
He was not responding. Tamiya became irritated at his silence towards her kind suggestion and whirled around. The teen blueblood followed behind her, forging the trail in her delicate clothes. Where were the other children? Oh, there they were. So small, so drenched in water. She frowned. "Where is that blue slime?"
Her head swiveled towards Eostre. Surely someone else would have noticed his disappearance. "Did you hear anything of his disappearance?" With all of the splashing she was doing, she had to admit that her attention was elsewhere. However, she was totally justified in this fact.
"You! Children. Chiara. Adamaz. You are closer to this unholy sludgeground and farther behind in the pack. Tell me your observations," She hissed.
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"I'm Cerpin. We should stick to-" He eyed her over, teal it looked like. Mixed with brown. "What happened to you? Ugh, hold still." Her face had splatters of swamp on it and he reached forward to wipe it clean with the remaining cloth scraps he had left of his cape. He'd torn it earlier to make a protective mask from the gases in the tunnels but had a few leftovers.
"Are you hurt? Stay behind me if you are." He personally wasn't great at fighting but if she were badly injured, he would try to step up to the plate to get them both out alive. It wasn't that he felt a strong need to help others but just that above all else, he really hated to lose.
So he just needed to make sure the Rebels won then.
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Adamaz heard a chitter from his hair and tensed. He motioned for Chiara to stop. Listening, he glanced up. Papa Roach hissed quietly, one feeler flicking towards a tree, and the other to Adamaz' trash can lid. He understood. Slowly, Adamaz lifted the trash can lid up to his hair. He felt the weight move from his hand to his head as his lusus hefted it with his strength.
Adamaz stood perfectly still. He was good at that. He waited. Soon, curly horns and hair moved from behind the brush. "Yo." Papa Roach flung the trashcan lid with all his might.
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Squinting at a silhouette up ahead, the curly haired troll waded over in hopes of having found Cerpin. Horror struck her at the sight of an unfamiliar blueblood in tattered shape. Stumbling back in the muck, the image of green blood filled her mind once more and Tevini splashed into a run to escape the man. Unaware that he meant her no harm, the girl sped away to escape capture or death.
Panic flooding her mind, she glanced behind her to see if he was following and failed to notice trouble ahead. A voice called out, startling her, and then with a clang something shiny filled her vision before Tevini went down for the second time that day!
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He heard the young troll getting taken out by another royalist and foolishly gone to protect him, and just where had that landed him? In a losing battle with another child and his lusus. Humiliiating.....his own lusus was safely back with others, having been left behind by Miache's terrible tumble into the swamp, it was a small blessing he was safe. However....finding him later would be an event in itself.
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Her phantoms had disappeared into the fog, but Tamiya could no longer follow them. She herself was a horrifying entity, dissolving into the mist. Her dripping white fox mask rattled as her teeth clattered together. Tamiya’s arms rose until she was spread wide in the swamp, ready to release a deathly howl. She screamed.
There was no use any more. Whatever she had seen was no more, trolls appearing to haunt her. She had lost her hive and home, the trust of her father in pursuing a lover who spurned her, failed on every mission, broken apart from her old friend and witnessed him gravely wounded and had herself ripped to shreds at the behest of the Queen. Tamiya dropped to her knees. The water seeped into the top of the kimono and poured down her chest. She had lost again.
Finally, the foremost rebel group consisting of the rebel leader herself, Byakko Mawiya, and her protegee Maneki Belbog. Zeffer Siroco and Stryke Nvrmor completed the group, facing against none other than Kursha Vidari's unit which held Alifax Bunsem, Sarcel Cincil and Lorata Gorgos. They set out in The Spiral Eye, lost in the tangle of nettles that seemed to trap them there. Unfortunately, it would be a significant loss for the rebels. All rebels were captured in valiant efforts through this portion of the swamp, leading to intense escape measures and peculiar releases.
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The verdant foliage of the swamp brought back memories of fighting that jadeblood, especially as their path forward grew spikier and spikier. Alifax's eyes narrowed as they approached. He almost preferred the desert, and had been a little annoyed that their group had been assigned to search in a direction that brought them away from it. Still, though, he had to admit that at least his throat wasn't parched. It was ******** humid.
But on top of that, the little device that the military had given them was flashing. Which meant they'd been one of the groups that'd set off in the right direction. Great.
He had no idea where the life signs that the device detected might be, though. "Hey," he said, using his normal voice, and glancing over at the three of them. "********. I forgot your characters' names."
For an admin of the fledgling NFL, Alifax sure was great at roleplaying.
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Kursha yanked a foot out of the mud, scowling as it squelched around his new boots. His boots were not the only things that were new; he also wore a pair of grey trousers, and a long-sleeved, camouflage jacket. Thankfully they proved more practical than his usual attire would have for braving the swamp environment; an unexpected bonus. His wardrobe change had been more for vanity than practicality. Even sealed and dressed, his wounds from the battle at the Phoenix Initiative headquarters still stung. While the morphine kept him on his feet, it did nothing for his dignity. The scars that marked him were a terrible reminder of his failure—a reminder that he intended to share with no one.
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"Maneki, this is Stryke." Akko tugged down the hood enough for the smaller mutantblood to pop out. "I guess you haven't been introduced formally, but this is-" the eldest of the group was spreading muck all over his face. "Zeffer..." Akko pointedly rolled her eyes, stopping to untangle her leg bandages from a patch of brambles. She balled them up in her fist. "You can roll around in the mud if you want, but I'm fine." She jutted a finger up at the hood that shielded half her face from whatever moonlight trickled through the trees.
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"Princess!" She announced, and she figured that was good enough because it was a name and a class all its own. Quickest character explanation ever! She tilted her head at the Captain's question with a hum, and then laughed. "We could give them names! I don't think it really matters what they might pick, since this is our story." She nodded decisively. "They're only going to die in the end anyway, that's what villains do."
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Next thing she knew, Sarcel was staring at that glaring pink slathered against the tree. Alifax had already vanished into the damp undergrowth. A soft crunch tore the bluebloods attention away for a moment; it came from a different direction, didn't it? Narrowing her eyes, her body faded back into space again. She saw a glimpse in the darkness, not too big, not too small...
Biting her lip and steadying her gun, she followed.
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Something seemed off, the yellowblood tensed, rather uneasy as he reached down for his daggers. He heard a sound, but saw nothing around him. Where had the rebel leader gone?! His pump biscuit hammered wildly as he felt branches grip at him causing him to slid down in the mud landing with a heavy thud on his back off the trail he'd been on. Whatever it was he'd heard wasn't around him now. That didn't solve the problem he was still alone.
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"Uh - Captain, Princess," Alifax said into his communication device when it was all over. "I have the pink one with the stick. But Sarcel said she saw another one nearby, and I haven't heard from her since..."
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The screen lit back up, map and life signals all there, and she let out a relieved sigh. Then she squinted at it again, curious. Hey, according to this, they were back where they'd started. So the rebels must have been going...Ah! When Kursha suggested they split up, she nodded enthusiastically. They were so close!
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 4:15 pm
Hunters (continued)
Captured rebels from the Wild Hunt and their captors traversed the Dark Swamp, dangerously close to the rebels protecting their traveling Grub. Exhausted and now beleaguered by dangerous lost drones, swampbeasts and even daywalkers, the trolls caught up in such strife could catch few breaks.
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Submit your favorite Dark Swamp or Meta-Inspired PRP quotes to the mule!
Suddenly, issues with the royalist and rebel TPS devices came to light when word of a huge space ship crash in Four Fronds buzzed over the radio.
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"Volcano?"she called out, wondering where her guardian was. He could be stubborn but he wouldn't stay in the hive if it was collapsed would he? "Volcano! You stupid lusus, get out here!"Her pumpbiscuit was beating hard, when something creeped up behind her.
Sheesh kiddo, what's got yer bloomers in a knot? I'm right here,Volcano said, thumping his foot on the ground behind her. The dang tunnels broke. Can't get to the boxin' block no more. Real shame, kiddo. He seemed grouchy (normal), a bit dusty, but otherwise not seriously hurt. No worse shape than Eostre herself.
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The trio of trolls by the fountain were a ragtag group of grizzled veterans. Their chatter grew louder as the children approached, mumbling rough words and occasionally looking from the ship and back to the rest of the flames as though such destruction was all too common. They eventually became aware of the kid’s presence, and while they at first ignored them their efforts were finally acknowledged. All eyes – pupils filled in with teal, orange and red blood – focused on the little trio on front of them. They then looked at each other, and laughed.
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Just as ey was about to speak again, though, another voice spoke up. Honestly - were all the volunteer forces so brainless? No wonder they'd lost the mother grub, and the children she'd born. "Pay her no mind," Dictys said, narrowing eir eyes at her. And here ey'd thought she had some sense to her, in the battle! Perhaps it'd been the adrenaline muddling eir senses. Still, ey couldn't help turning to hiss: "They're open-horned and display hemochrome! They're clearly not drones!" The one who'd declared herself the highest-ranking member had a gatling gun for an arm. Lowblooded though she might be, she was clearly not a member of the uniformed firefighting crew.
"I apologize for this..." Dictys trailed off, flashing eir fins at the younger trolls around em. "This disgrace," ey finished, tilting eir head to the side. "I only must ask - was the return planned?" Why hadn't Dictys been informed that Alternia would be returning to the open void? "What are you back for? Is your helmsman still in good condition?"
A pause. But Dictys couldn't help but push on. "And what were you there for? Was it beautiful?"
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"No, you're the ******** fool, Eridia," Leeroi said, speaking slowly, and deliberately to keep himself contained. "You had EVERY chance to catch the rebels, but you lost them every time. HELL, you even SHOWED them the path to victory!" He sneered, baring his teeth. "And now you have the GALL to disrespect these officers, who just survived a ******** tragedy?"
"You're a gogdamn embarrassment to the royalist army," He spat, turning away from her. She'd already made a mockery of him, but it just wasn't enough, was it? She'd continue to sully his name at every possible chance. He could only hope that she'd turn around and leave with her tail between her legs, but he was almost certain that she wouldn't.
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“Woooow.” He remarked. What a mess. “I don’t really care what happened to ya, kids, but ye’re in serious need of discipline,” The exhaustion from the trip, the crash, and now this yammering had clearly begun to set in. He looked behind him. Loulah and his redblooded companion had begun to walk back towards the ship a ways, with no destination but away from the squabbling grubs in mind. He pouted. “H-hey!” The comment dissolved on his lips and he stuck his lip out in a frustrated scowl. Tigwyn, too, began to slip away from the group, hoping they’d be too distracted by each other to notice him getting some distance. He shot a sideways look to Dictys and gave em a subtle wink.
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"Words can kill Psy, I intend to use my words and my fists to kill anyone, or ANYTHING that provokes me." She now turned to Leeroi and glared down at him. "Go ahead Leeroi, hit me. Save this pathetic scum that can't even defend herself physically. SAAAAVE HER."
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Left with her own thoughts Chiara could not help but think of all the trolls she had met today. Was all this really only one day?! It was a lot to take in. The blueblood would have to think over what that orageblooded brat said to her in the mud. There was Adamaz to think about too. This was all just so much... stuff for one day. Should she hold over Adamaz's head that she saved him? What would Tamiya think. Chiara couldn't help it, she still looked up to the crazy juggalo, even if the purple blood did squeal like a little girl.
With a sigh Chiara gave the beautiful flames one more longing glance. How she wanted to let all her anger out and burn everything. But then what would be left? Only ashes and coals. You cant build anything without the trees and wood. Chiara turned and went down to the lake to wash off the grime.
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She felt the wet tears rolling down her cheek before she realized she was crying. God, she had done so much, and still failed to catch all the rebels. She still had nothing, and her lusus could have been killed while she wandered around a filthy swamp. Her fight had helped, but only for a bit. And now the emotioned returned twofold.
Eostre put her face in her hands, feeling the wetness of tears directly on her fingertips for the first time in a long while. She sobbed, unable to hold back anymore. "Da-aad...." she cried between her heaving, and Volcano reluctantly got closer to her, rolling his eyes a bit.
Ah sheesh kiddo, yeh don't gotta be like that. Wipe yer tears, Eos. He stamped a foot and sniffed. Yer betta' 'n that, huh. Good t'see yeh without yer silly gloves on too. Gimme a pat, kiddo. He crawled into her lap, laying his head down and sniffing again.
It was a welcome and fortuitous save for the remaining rebels, who all were, for the most part, able to escape with their lives in tact.
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What the hell...? "Whoaaaaah," Forera exclaimed, astounded. "Guys, guys, like, wait, look!" Forera said, eyes darting from tree to tree as she realized what was really going on-- This place looked like... a hidden village. "Are you guys like, seein' what I'm seein'?" She marveled, searching for a way up. "We totally need to check this out!"
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And as the four emerged from the swamp, first into the opening that presented itself, she gasped. There was hope for all of them. Abandoned hives? No reception from royalists, totally hidden. “We – made it!” She yelped. Aerona covered her mouth with her hands and her legs nearly gave out below her. “Ohh—ohh!!” She realized then that she had been running for days. Aerona felt the twitching and locking in her thighs and calves with unbridled joy. “Moony – wait for me, ahahaha!” Nothing could stop her from climbing again.
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Rasali’s wild dreams of success were cut off by an unfamiliar, fifth troll’s approach. Rasali turned sharply to face the rustling foliage and gripped the chain looped around her shoulder when she failed to recognize the child—and a highblood to boot.
Rasali was struck with surprise, however, when the stranger seemed to recognize Forera and Luxara. She turned her attention to the two of them, looking expectant, if not anxious. ”You know this kid?” She asked, because she sure as hell didn’t. She turned back to the highblood. ”Who’re you. What are you doing here.” Rasali didn’t want to think their newfound haven had already been infiltrated by a royalist. The Phoenix Initiative just couldn’t catch a break.
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"Hey, wait- no, watch it! Ngh-" Aerona grabbed him and he stumbled in surprise, trying to catch his balance. His weight pressed on one of the weaker rotting boards and went clean through as he lurched at it, scratching up his leg in the process. "I think you're more dangerous than I am, frecks." He scowled at the redblood as he extracted his foot from the hole and rubbed at the injury out of habit. It didn't do much to soothe it but it wasn't very serious at least. He flushed at the realization that he'd grabbed onto her hand with his free one in his panic and let go while moodily averting his eyes. This was not his week.
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All Stryke could say for certain was Sarcel in her act of kindness had given him hope when he thought he had none left. He wouldn't waste it so easily again. He prayed she was safe, and no harm or foul would come of her not taking him in. That went for every single rebel out there in the swamp, he held out hope each would be spirited to safety in due time.
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His eyes wandered over Keionx's sleeping form, frown still firmly in place. Daywalkers. Why had she dragged his a** into DAYWALKERS of all things? The two had only barely made it out alive, but neither looked like they'd gotten off scott free. Keionx's stomach wound from Kursha had her almost bleeding out, his throat (The most clothing-free and easiest to maul flesh) had ben clawed and bitten into. The two were a bit worse for wear. He moved over her, feeling for her pulse. It was weak....but she was still alive. He removed his vest and bundled the article of clothing, placing it beneath her head as a make-shift pillow. Perhaps he could find someone or some sort of medical supplies.
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He tensed at first when he felt Luxara on his arm, then relaxed as he realized she was just leaning on him. For moment he just savored the silence, the odd feeling of peace before finally saying "At least the only way we can go from this is up. Unless somehow this can get worse, which honestly, I don't think it can."
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“Mama…get some rest please? I’m going to go explore the village for a bit.” The psionic added, slipping her weapons from her bag she’d brought along for the journey to “aid” at the queens request when she called everyone to arms at her speech, and had the hooded greenblood lead them. Voscil didn’t want to sit and watch the stars in the sky, she needed to keep active or else she’d pass out. Being terrorized without sopor to sleep in wasn’t on her list of priorities. Maybe she could help, she could hear familiar voices not too far away. The more Vos thought about it, she realized at the time been happy to bounce along, thinking it was just a big game when the army marched. Her lusus didn’t put up any resistance, and soon was resting as well as could be expected. How wrong had she had been. Still, it had to count for something that Voscil was here to stay.
There was no turning back. Whatever happened to her, she would face the consequences. Running away from this wasn’t going to save her. Instead she’d forge her own, new path.
While the royalists aided fire drones in the intense heat of the new tragedy and bygone curiosity, rebels found a new home in the Abandoned Village -- a new sanctuary for the Phoenix Initiative that would then on be known as Salamire Outpost.
Unfortunately, the result of the rebel hunt was immense for the Phoenix Initiative. Known members were placed under watch, many unable to return to their hives or frequently visited locations. With the heat on the rebellion, the hidden Salamire would become a truly integral part of the rebel lifestyle.
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:08 pm
The Royal Masquerade
You have been chosen to perform a task. Follow the instructions below, on the date instructed, and at the location given. Do not inform any other troll of this letter, or the contents within. This letter and the accompanying envelope will destroy themselves shortly after being opened. For the glory of the Queen and Empire.
After the disaster in Four Fronds and previous rebel hunts had been smoothed out, gilded invitations found their way to the doors of previously affiliated royalists. A masquerade ball was to be had at the home of a known socialite, with exciting activities and the presence of the Queen in store. Trolls came from all around, including well known Alternian celebrities, socialites and military officials.
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Anyway, Aconan adjusted the jacket and entered folliwng the drone. Scanning the mostly empty room, she couldn't help but have her jaw drop. Surely not. It couldn't be. Was that.....was that....it was. Wow. Aconan's cheeks flushed with green as she saw one of her heroes in the flesh. Shishi Schrad. Aconan had watched every single one of her recruitment tapes multiple times, and also read the novellas - she didn't quite own the whole set, but she was getting there. Unable to resist, Aconan drifted across the main room closer to the celebrities, Loupsus padding along with his charge obediently.
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An invitation. An event. Something fancy. Her pumpbiscuit fluttered the moment she first read it. By the fifth time she looked over it in a row, Hemera was about to pass out from it all. Up until now, she had been a spectator. Even when she thought she could take part of ground-breaking events...well...the results were less than stellar on her part.
But, really, how many trolls could have been invited to this gala? Only trolls of worth would be allowed in. She was sure of it! Oh, and what to wear? And she would have to do something with her hair. And a mask! So much to do, so many references she would have to find. First she tried to track down the tailor she had been to before. Mera had even ventured all the way to NHC, and could swear she ended up at the right storefront, but the shop was clearly abandoned. Odd. Disappointing. All she could do at this point was look somewhere else.
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"Oh gosh, right, right, I’m sorry! Where are my manners?" Hello, pleasure to be of acquaintance? Is that right? My name is Elidae Bonbon!" With less grace than a hoofbeast on ice, the little yellowblood took hold of one side of the edge of her skirt, fanning it out and bending her knees in an attempt to curtsy while beaming up at him, wobbling a bit when she stood upright. "You look very nice tonight, sir. Also I really like your toof! Kinda matches my shoes!" Giggling, she put one foot out from underneath the fluff of her dress, displaying her polished and shiny gold footwear. After a moment, she held out one of the flowers to him with a coy smile between her gold flushed cheeks, batting her eyelashes from behind her veil. "I found this outside and I think it would really go really well with your suit."
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The blueblood immediately did a fast sweep over the present group with her eyes, not recognizing many, not taking the time to really focus in on each troll—oh my GOSH was that Sir? Sarcel's eyes were already glittering, but they still somehow managed to get brighter. She brought a gloved hand to cover her mouth, ignoring the warmth that crept into her cheeks.
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"Miss Puchen, sir!" He said, saluting the blueblood. Even if she had been stripped of her prior rank, it was the respectable thing to do. "I-I'm a big fan," He sputtered out, fingers dancing over the notebook. He blushed under his mask, thankful that she couldn't see his confidence breaking.
"Would it be alright to ask for your autograph?" He asked, the words falling quickly out of his mouth. He placed the notebook and the pen on the table and adjusted his cuffs, waiting patiently for her response.
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The blueblood sauntered up to Tamiya and Sarcel, grinning her wide crooked smile. Pulling up her fur stole, she placed a gloved hand on her chin. "What a pleasure to see you two here," she said, looking between the two of them. Definitely the last two trolls she thought would hang out together, but they seemed to have just met. Fun! "Tamiya, dear. How is your hand feeling now?" she said, glancing down at her metal claws. Well, they were certainly taken care of now, but the last time she'd seen them, it was wrapped heavily in gauze.
"And Sarcel... you certainly clean up nice," Eostre said, her tone friendly. The last time she'd seen her they were both coated in mud, so the same could probably be said to her. But no matter. In the military uniform she looked lovely. "You two don't mind if I join you, do you?"
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“Oi, what’s this! For me, yea?” He plucked it from her hand and gave it a quick dramatic whiff. Tigwyn thought for a moment. His lips pressed into a puckish frown. After a long pause, he winked. “Thank you kindly, miss Bonbon. My name is Tigwyn Ioyana. I like your shoes; they match my toof.”
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Puchen adjusted her coatsleeves and bent over to reach for the pen. She signed with a quick, whipping motion – her symbol elegant and dangerous, her name equally so even if it had lost its edge over the sweeps. It read in sharp scrawl: “Reach for the stars and don’t look back. Major Mapuye Puchen.”
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Still, she had to stay here for a reason. Clutching the side of her lusus, she put her face into Lynxmom's fur and breathed deep. At least she was here to help protect her from all of the vicious and horrible highbloods here. Silently, she motioned to her lusus to edge toward a table where they could hide, while the greenblood Erilyn gave their speech. What a perfect chance! The two scooted towards the table and Tierte breathed a sigh of relief. Before she could truly hide, she had to listen for any... "danger words". Signs from the highbloods that it was time to continue on and leave. The sooner, the better. She knew as long as she did was she was supposed to, there was no reason for them to kill her... yet.
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She sighed and did as told. Eridia folded her arms and looked at Chiara. "Thought you'd start mingling by now. Miiiight wanna get that done Chiara, though this isn't excaaaactly an exclusive highblood party." She shrugged, yet she had a point. Why invite lowblooded trolls to an auction gala? They didn't even have the income to purchase the majority. And by the looks of the host, the hive, their exquisiteness... surely those guests were going to leave empty handed. Her eyes trailed towards Elidae and... Tigwyn?
She was mingling with him?
"Ugh can't beliiiieve her... Talking to him and actin' all cute. EW."
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Kursha of course had taken the definition of “nice” to suit his personal tastes. To be fair, he had refrained from wearing his usual attire in exchange for something a more formal. After all, for the first time in several sweeps he wore a button down shirt. He did however have a... certain Spaghetti flair to his outfit; The gambler hat, duster, and boots were not the only ones. He also wore a bolo tie and a belt with a prominent buckle. Nor had his vest or pants escaped Western influence. The hem of his collar, and the sides of his slacks were adorned with patterned embroidery. Only his mask seemed to have been spared. A simple black piece, it was large enough that it covered his cheekbones and concealed his tattoos.
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That was another thing Nahori couldn't place... The outfit Guineamom put together for her had been so unbelievably pricy, so much more than they could rightfully afford. Mother was an avid saver, but she'd spent an enormous chunk of their safety net on this one outfit for this one occasion. It had even been custom tailored. Nahori had never felt both so low class and so pampered at the same time as she had the night they'd gone out to purchase it.
She shook her head to rid her mind of the memory. It was hard enough to focus on walking without recalling unusual things.
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"Oh, pardon my intrusion but, I wanted to hear some party throwing tips from you!" Her body slightly inclined, with a sincere smile on her face. "I've heard so much about you Mister Rutven and I want to learn from the best!" Her tone reflected her remaining childish innocence. Eridia awaited Gerard's response rather giddy. Oh the things she could learn from this troll!
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Adamaz’s struggle with fashion when he realized he’d almost forgotten a mask, leaving the house to catch the bus. He quickly cut some eye-holes in a paper bag and threw it on. His horns punctured bag and stuck out conspicuously. Adamaz felt like that wasn’t very discrete, so he grabbed another paper back and carefully covered his horns with it. Perfect. Problem solved.
The bus driver looked at him funny as he climbed aboard and deposited the beetles. He told the driver he was going to a party. The driver did not understand.
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Realizing something, Gerard popped up on his toes and rocked once before rocking back. “You must be quite the odiumstress, little spade lass. Bless your black little bloodpusher. I hope to see you at my parties when you’re a little older… I’m sure under my wing you’d reel ‘em in..!” Gerard trailed off and tapped his chin. “Hmm! But I digress.”
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The blueblood took a lead from the much taller troll, and got herself a glass of the blue Faygo, playfully taking a sip with her eyes locked onto Tamiya's. Under the table, she offered a gentle tapping of her shoes on Tamiya's sandals, wondering if she could actually initiate a little game of footsies. Eostre could keep this fun up all night, really. Anything to entertain herself. "You look like you enjoyed yourself with Comedi," she stated gently, taking another sip of the sugary soda. It wasn't really all that bad...
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Epratt offered a hand out to Kursha. His white glove caught the light with a familiar sheen.
“I doubt a young buck like yourself would have heard of me outside of very specific social circles. My glory nights were a great deal before your time, I’m afraid. I’ve had to leave the orphaning game up to my boys as of late.” Epratt grinned at Kursha with all of his teeth.
All trolls met in the North Outgrowth to dine in style and socialize with the greats. However, when everyone settled down to eat, a tragedy fell upon the room- the seadwelling Orphaner Epratt Kewrei fell over dead at the table! In the chaos, a new pair of suspects - two mutant blooded children - appeared from under the table, and the mystery of who murdered Kewrei was afoot.
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He fell to the floor with a heavy thud and a splash as he landed in a puddle of bisque and shards of dishware, chipping a horn in the process. He continued to writhe there on the floor for a few seconds longer, before stilling completely.
The lights came back on.
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Tamiya sat quietly. After a moment of feeling something brushing her foot, she twitched her sandal idly. Another moment, and it passed. Her eyes were wide at Epratt’s outburst. She was frozen. Tamiya’s mouth was agape. There was little time to react – Regina was giving her speech, and then… And then she felt a hand on her ankle. <********! GHOST!!! UNHOLY! HOLY ********!!!” Tamiya screamed at the top of her lungs and hopped up, aiming a sharp few kicks underneath the table.
There was a scream. A young scream, unlike Tamiya’s holy shrieking. The guests quickly turned to see what was going on, and a bright yellow smeared face appeared from under the table, tugged by the horn by the juggalo who was twitching and breathing fast. For Tamiya, everything went dark red. Her fingers tensed and her body became as rigid as a dead spider.
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Wait, what was he doing? Standing around and thinking? There was investigating to be done! The culprit was sneaking around, or maybe even trying to sneak out. Leeroi had to move, and fast. He gave a quick glance to Psykgi and the yellowblood princess, and clambered up on the table. Raising a fist in the air, he yelled "Fancy party's over! I'm gonna find the murderer first!" Turning, he gave a whistle for his lusus. Once the hornbeast was in reach, Leeroi jumped on her back, nearly missing the landing. And then he was gone, following quickly after the captured mutantbloods.
The party area for the hivestem was broken up into five areas: the north, east, south, and west outgrowth, as well as the central hivestem, where the Queen herself had set up a "clue examining" station complete with potential leads written on the wall.
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“Listen up!” he barked. His gaze swept over the room. With a grim smile he realised most of his audience were children. “We fan out and share resources. You want glory? Too bad. This isn't the time or place for it. Right now we need to maximise information. Mutant insurgence, personal vendetta, agenda of lowblood privilege, political manoeuvring... anything's possible. No matter how unlikely, or even how obvious it seems, you overlook nothing. Got it? Move then!”
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"Holy fletchin' duggers!" he shouted as the entire room erupted with sound and movement. First a murder, now a pair of mutants! 'And I thought the Innitiative was a mad house!' Hazmas thought and looked back toward the seadweller's seat. He knew that Eridia knew about his deterrents and that the only way to keep himself out of the culling circle would be find out who the real killer was. Easier said than done. However, sleuthing did pose an opportunity. Instead of just waiting for trolls to move on to the other outgrowths, he could look for clues and "encourage" others towards less... crowded outgrowths. After all, it wasn't like anyone needed to linger in a room with no clues, right?
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The queen came through, the awful blueblood hopped up to announce he had it covered, and- Oh! Oh that was the Captain! He was gone long before she could have reached him, but she was relieved knowing he was there anyway. And then Elidae turned to her, throwing off her mask, and Lorata grinned.
"On the case!" She agreed, tugging off her own mask. "Let's go solve this thing!"
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"He wants everyone to leave him alone right now. Gerard needs some air and I assured him no one would bother him while he relaxed. So tell me Commaaaander," She sighed. "want something from me?" Her tone gave away she wasn't in the mood, mixed with a hint of sadness as well. She was just an injured kid at the wrong time and place. Eridia rubbed her 'bitten' arm idly as she mumbled something to herself.
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Could something be hidden in there? She was once again glad for her gloves as she neatly sifted through the baskets. Clean and dirty. But a clue could easily be hidden amongst the old clothing and towels, and she wasn't afraid of getting dirty if it got her what she wanted. Eostre wondered how many towels Erilyn needed to dry their hair, with how large and voluminous it was. For good measure, Eostre looked under the baskets too, in case they had hidden compartments.
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"Excuse me, Ma'am. Would you happen to know anything about Gerard?"
She resisted the urge to whimper as the military highblood looked displeased, and instead listened carefully to the information given. Still left with the pervading feeling she had displeased the older troll she scurried off to the training room, not even looking before opening the door and bumping into the back another troll who was stood still, apparently observing - perhaps like Aconan should have done before running in. Yelping, Aconan sprung backwards from the collision, then whined in apology, waiting for the inevitable reprimand and possible consequences should they be a highblood.
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"Oh, hello!" There was lots to look at, but no way was she missing a chance to talk to the diva! They didn't look like they were handling things so great, which made a lot of sense. This had all happened in their hive, after all, and well, they were even a suspect. "Is everything alright? There's been so much going on!" She nodded as Erilyn responded, offering a smile and a light "Not a vicious assassin at all, I promise." How ridiculous it would have been for her to be behind all this! That wasn't her part in this kind of story at all!
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Comedi had given him a long stare before reaching out and gently squeezing the end of the greenblood's nose. "Honk, I've captured your sniffnode," he said and pulled his hand back, wiggling his thumb between two fingers.
The action was so bizarre, so unexpected, so silly, the youngster couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter. Just the action itself would be comically out of place, but coupled with the Juggalo's deadpan expression left the youngster in stitches. Quickly, Hazmas tried covering his mouth and nose in hopes of suppressing it, but his attempt did nothing more than slightly muffle his sudden fit of laughter. Unable to talk, Hazmas sat down on the floor, trying to regain his composure.
"I'm sorry, your Mirthfullness, I just-" the green blood tried to say before cracking up again, caught in a torrent of giggles that just wouldn't let him go.
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She'd hoped to find herself alone, but one of the adults from the head table was here. She had no idea who she was, and a nervous orange flush crept to her cheeks as she quite obviously attempted to avoid him, pacing around the room like he wasn't even there.
Okay, stay cool, she told herself. All she had to do was turn a few things over. If something seemed suspicious, she'd tell mom. That would work, right?
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"You were under the table... why were you hiding there? This place is... dangerous for you. You know that... right?" Elidae wondered if maybe they didn't know, observing the mutant's condition. As the mutant tried to vocalize what sounded like an apology, Elidae took a sharp breath. Moving closer to the bars of the cage, she asked sincerely. "Did someone let you in?" Elidae gave her full attention to the mutant, watching as they wilted before her. "I'm sorry." She mumbled quietly.
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He rapped his knuckles against the cell bars. “Oi! Mutant!” he snapped. “Anyone home? Come on! Shake a leg, let's look alive! You got wax in your sponge clots, or what? I know you aren't dead yet, so gimme an answer already.” No response. If anything, the child just pulled farther away.
“Tch.” Kursha clicked his tongue against his teeth. Kid must have been stupid. Or deaf. Either way, he didn't really care. If one of the mutants had been moved, he wanted to know where. He had at least one idea of who he could ask.
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Eostre fluffed up her stole and placed her hand against the wall, feeling for unusual cracks or something where a secret could be hidden. Maybe like in her spy novels, a loose brick would reveal a new room! She could dream about something fanciful like that, couldn't she? She was already living in a murder mystery!
Throughout the four hours of the party, guests investigated the mysteries of each invited celebrity guest as well as carried out the mysterious directives they had received in their own letters. Parcels were exchanged, some being mysteriously destroyed and others being planted for evidence to be found later. Some trolls tailed certain guests, while others subtly flipped the switches of the hive with planned precision.
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On the tightly folded napkin she slipped into his hands in her "handshake", she had merely written LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION written in a generic blue pen's ink. Vague enough, should anyone else see the hidden message she slipped him, but enough he would know what she meant...
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"I hope we find the murderer and cull them quickly....And I hope your lusus is okay. They don't sound so happy, you know?"
And then, almost absent-mindedly, she reached up to tug on Loupsus's ruff and directed him around Sarcel as she spoke.
"You wanted us to leave though right? See you later!"
Another jaunty wave and Aconan hopped up onto Loupsus's back, who gave a unhappy sniff and one last, warning growl before bounding off.
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"I-I have found some k-knives, yes!" her voice was a little too high pitched and strained for comfort, and she took a breath to steady herself, "W-Would you l-like one? A-Ah, I've already l-looked in here y-you see... n-nothing of n-note... I w-was about to s-search elsewhere...."
Nodding in agreement with herself, Sarcel dashed over to the rack, chose a particularly impressive blade, swinging it as she gesticulated nervously with her hands, "T-This is fine right? T-Though I uh," as she turned to Tamiya, her gaze looked almost questionable, "I-I'm not particularly... u-uh, knowledgeable... u-unless you're a bit more... intelligent—" a pause, "—o-on the matter?" She wasn't sure if Tamiya would get her hint or not, or if she was even aware, and she was sure she sounded like a rambling moron, but just to be sure...
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Eyes fixed at the piano, the little purpleblood smirked, cracking her fingers as she sat next to Hemera. "No but since you've interrupted me, I will take some of my glorious time and show you what a REAL master pianist sounds like! I'll even play Moze- art, is that how he's called? Whatever, Imma play one of his pieces."
"PREPARE FOR MY GLORIOUS PIANO PLAYING! THIS WILL KNOCK Y'ALL FOR SURE!"
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Hemera had little time to express her thoughts considering Eridia was yelling again, and then soon after that messing with the piano. First like she might, might have some respect for the instrument....then very clearly not. Might as well be slapping masses of keys, Mera realized. Her face pinched up a bit despite trying oh-so-hard to keep it cool. She frowned even further at the thought that a personality such as this might have tried playing during an actual ball. Yikes.
"I am definitely knocked. Out, or thereabouts. I could give you some constructive criticism, but I wouldn't know where to start, and there may be more pressing matters at the moment anyway."
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Wait - what had that been about a moiraillegiance? Hm...he jotted it down with a speed that he was becoming accustomed to. That was interesting. More interesting was the hint at greater plans, although - well, Alifax was already a little clued into what those might be. Maybe. Well, this'd be illuminating as to whether his hunches were correct or not. Either way, he had a lot to think about now. He jotted down all of the new information he'd gained about all three trolls - this was sure to prove illuminating.
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Walking over to the wall where the switchboard was, she was careful to look for anyone watching her, even though the room was empty now. She couldn't afford to be seen, and neither could her partner. She once again flipped the switch that would plunge the entire hive into darkness, ready to exit the area when she finished to decrease suspicion. Whoops~
As tensions rose during the party, mysterious happenstances began to occur. The disappearance of the golden-blooded mutant child followed the mysterious vanishing of a haughty socialite in the next hour after threats spoken to the other guests. When the rest of the group settled down for the final trial, the juggalo ambassador, too, had gone missing. Dark secrets were brought to light as trolls investigated their final clues, and finally the trial was set to begin. Fingers were pointed at many of the more violence-oriented trolls, but the diva Erilyn Awassi was eventually fingered as the culprit as well as a long-time supporter of the Phoenix Initiative.
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“Oi, Mr. Green. Who the hell told you that Deburu ‘n Rutven were fighting, eh? That’s a bald-faced lie. I was there. Deburu was too busy havin’ a physical argument wif the Trophy Block t’ do any arguin’ with no fancy mimsy. Afterwards, I tol’ him to cool down in the Trainin’ Block, yea? He was sweatin’ bad, make-up runnin’ everywhere. Told him to towel off ‘n take a shower. Didn’t hear a gun-shot neither, less that stolen gun was some fancy military tech.”
He shrugged and scoffed. “Rainbowdrinker… Feh. What a load.”
Tigwyn seemed, however, to be quite interested in the accusation of Awassi. He leaned back again and waited for what they had to say.
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Alifax had still been gathering his thoughts about Awassi - he had most of the Rutven things prepared because he'd only just compared them with Leeroi's evidence on the matter. But when Schrad spoke his head swiveled over to listen.
"I don't know about much that happened in the library," Alifax shrugged. "But I can produce these, which I think refute at least a few of Awassi's claims, although I fail to see how exactly they're relevant to the murder of Kewrei."
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Hazmas looked over at Puchen, his green eyes narrow. "... unless the weapon was missing before the party, either Puchen or Awassi herself took the weapon, leaving the three of you suspects in Gerard's presumed death. Which means in the time it took for everyone to change outgrowths, one of you shot him. Personally though, I'm more inclined to believe that Puchen shot him since she and him were in the same block together before the fourth hour. However, I heard from you, Sir, that she was already on a tight leash and that if she pulled anything, whoever was holding that leash was gonna cull her former second in command, Fluffl. So something like that would probably get Fluffl culled if her leash holder found out."
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He didn't understand the meaning of the letter before, but it was clear to him now. Firebird project, Phoenix Initiative, "Rise from the ashes?". The answer seemed obvious, but it only made things more confusing for Leeroi. "If we're all in agreement that this is Erilyn's penmanship, then I've collected some very incriminating evidence. Implications of assistance in a bombing, and hints of a relationship with someone connected to the so-called Phoenix Initiative. But why?" Leeroi looked around the room for input.
"Why would someone with so much to hide... cull someone and create a scene in their own hive? And do so without doing a better job hiding their dirty laundry? Between their connections with the rebellion, and their harboring of mutantbloods, they're dead to the military anyways if we found out. So why would they let us find out?"
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Tamiya had had enough. First of all, the horrendous and totally unloveable Leeroi Furore had said a piece possibly implicating someone other than Awassi (namely, a particular Clown Ambassador), and now she realized that he might in fact be in grave danger.
“The Major is right! Erilyn is ding dong dead anyway; we could have a greater squirtwrithing bleeder issue on our hands. Gerard and Brother Comedi may either be dead, in mirthless danger – certainly not undead, but if that is a concern then we should set off at once and stop this gog-awful excuse for lacey-a** debate. It is time to tally the votes of ******** judgement, I say! Let Awassi suffer for their crimes and may justice reign again.” Tamiya brought her hand down on the table, glaring heatedly at Awassi. There was no excuse for a rebel sympathizer, and their potential poisoning and framing of Comedi made her blood boil.
Instead of coming quietly, however, the diva had other plans. They escaped from the trial and made haste through their booby trapped hive, leaving other trolls to follow after in their best attempts not to perish, themselves. A handful of trolls met a quick exit in the hive, landing in the water outside - while others simply exited through whatever means they could find.
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Adamaz's lips curled over his underbite with glee. Two. He knew two psionic trolls!! Tigwyn, the others had called him during the debate. He would always remember that name. He would also remember the nickname: Scooter. Sounded perfect.
"Count on it, Mr. Ioyana. I got this." He turned to the troop of youngsters. "E'rrybody grab a buddy and let's get outta here!"
Adamaz grabbed Chiara's hand. He gave her a small, direct look, and led the way out.
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"I-It's you!" her tone was incredulous, but assured "I-It'll be okay! S-Stick with me."
In the heat of the moment, Sarcel had forgotten a lot of her fear. It was replaced by pure adrenaline alone, and as the blueblood reached into her jacket pocket she produced a long silver knife that she had snagged from the nutrition block. It wasn't the only one she had, and it was certainly one of the smallest. It was merely a safety precaution. Insurance. She placed it in the yellowblood's hand while reaching for her other.
"Still k-kicking? B-Be on guard!" turning over her shoulder, she gave another uncharacteristically loud LET'S GO!
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Tierte was never happier to see her moirail. She gently tugged at Eostre's hand motioning her to get up close to her to talk. Not waiting for Eostre to get any closer she called out over the crowd. "Nahori....are you still here?" Lowbloods had to stick together after all!
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Her head shot around. Her name? Was someone calling her? Her thoughts went to Alifax first, but he wasn't there, no where she could see. No, in the distance, a vague shape among many, she saw Tierte. "I-I-I wanna go h-home!!" she sobbed, hands now clutched in her cape as she called out the only thing she could think to say with her mind as jumbled as it was.
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"Psy? Psy!" Leeroi reached out in front of him, hands searching for his friend. In the darkness, he felt his hand graze across her fluffy hair. "There you are!" He cheered, clamping his hand down on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked, incapable of checking for himself. He gripped her shoulder, trying to give her some comfort. "I'm gonna charge ahead, alright? Meet you on the bright side!" He tapped her with his fist, turning to run.
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With a crash the window broke, various pieces of it flying everywhere. Grinning she turned back to Nahori, carefully climbing onto the windowsill and offering her hand. Motioning to Lynxmom to stay behind for a bit to make sure everyone got out safely she turned back to the orangeblood. "Care to escape this horrible hellhole with me?"
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"I'm actually disappointed Comedi and Kewrei got taken out before I could get to them, they were both about as useless as you. Seems whatever's been going on tonight has been about getting rid of bad old blood. So you can just let go of whatever lovely warm ideas you had about crawling out of here on your belly, turn around properly, and meet your end face-on like the soldier you so badly want to be."
No pause followed the threatening words. There was a brief, alarmed choking noise before heavy crashing and thumping reverberated through the walls, shaking the floor outside of the block. Short violent cries preceded an immense shattering noise, then scuffling. Finally, a gunshot. There was silence.
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The instant there was a gunshot, Sarcel's foot found the weight of the wall, slamming it open in tandem with the mechanism. Her face was void of feeling, eyes wide and yet dulled as she took in the sight in front of her. Two trolls were standing when she watched through the peepholes. Now there was only one. Puchen looked just as shell shocked as Sarcel did. When Puchen's eyes swept the group, Sarcel refused to let her gaze falter. Every ounce of feeling was put into an intensity focused in condensed concentration through her eyes. There was no hatred in her stare. What respect she had for Schrad now laid to waste on the floor, still oozing red. What trust she had in her fellow man as ephemeral as the smoke from Puchen's revolver.
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“You’re strong, so fight. Fight for yourself, and the ones you hold dear.” She paused. Her eyes cast to the ground and blinking away the gauzy fog in her fatigued gaze. She pursed her lips and gave Sarcel’s hands a squeeze. “Lead, Sarcel.”
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Ahah! Aconan grinned as the door popped open, revealing the armory. Stepping into the light, she made a pleased chuffing noise. Loupsus however, kept growling, and frowning, Aconan followed his gaze to the medical chest, and soon discovered why. That was oh god that was a sleeve and an arm and blood and.
Aconan went pale. It was somehow....different, when it was a troll you knew, a troll who'd been polite to you and a little funny. And he'd been dismembered and stuffed into box by another troll who'd told you a joke. She stepped back into the corridor.
"That solves that."
Other trolls managed to track down the culprit, making a dramatic escape with the body of their moirail slung over their shoulder and what remained of any incriminating papers that they held on to. Having started an immense fire in the hive, they intended to ensure a blank slate for their escapades. They took shots at teens Tamiya Aiguma and Eostre Diazzi, as well as the child Eridia Tsifer, whose bullet was taken by the helmsman Tigwyn Ioyana. Major Mapuye Puchen, who had just killed her fellow officer Shishi Schrad in an explosive confrontation, managed to shoot the diva, sending them to their demise.
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"That. Was. AWESOME!" The sudden outburst roused confusion, but soon she grew to become horrified.
"This isn't... this isn't... this isn't..." Elidae found herself repeating words like a broken record, eyes wild and wide with shock, as she gazed at Leeroi, flouncing around showering Puchen with praise. Suddenly, she felt devoid of affection, her whole being bubbling over with anguish and rage. Even as she swallowed, a pesky lump in her throat remained, every inch of her heating up, hands balled into fists. She wanted to say something. She wanted to say something so bad. Regardless, she stayed silent, not knowing what to do with herself.
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A fire. A fire! Pagoni clucked and fluffed. He was going to burn for sure if they stayed! And Hemera...!
"Yes, yes, but these..." Mera went through the prints, scanning each with a quick once-over, then again, trying to commit them to memory. She had to remember them enough to report something later! Why did Awassi have photos of everyone upon entry?
Gun shots. Mera tore her attention away. They weren't safe yet; not from violence, and the fire was spreading. She had to move!
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I don't need anyone's help, all I need is Ger--
"It appears Comedi, perhaps under instructions from his traitorous moirail or perhaps not, killed Gerard and stuffed him into the medical chest."
She was still. The words repeated themselves infinitely.
"You... are lying..... He is not dead....." Eridia had her hand were her bloodpusher was supposed to be. And she seemed like she was holding its pieces close to her. She was now being delusional, having this subtle ability to warp actual circumstances into something different, Eridia lips trembled wanting to scream and shout.
"HE'S NOT DEAD!"
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Finally, Tamiya brandished her reticulated fingers. With a slow motion she drew close to Eostre and hummed. The cold point of her index finger would provide anesthetic, the wound tingling and becoming numb, and afterwards her middle would accelerate the healing process just like a miracle. The deed was done. One of Tamiya’s eyes closed in pain. She let out a quiet hiss and reached out to hold Eostre’s hands. The pain was nothing. They would survive, and succeed, together. Getting up was the next tricky part.
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"Listen up!" Sarcel's voice wavered a little, but she cleared it. There was an old, familiar urge to stutter there, but she couldn't let it consume her, "We need to work on evacuating, now. I need you all to get organized in the center, I'm doing a headcount," she paused, trying not to look nervous as she glanced around the room; she was merely surveying. It was like the incident with Gerard, how she hoped someone would take her seriously. There had been some then, there would be some now, she had to believe in this. "If you're still young enough to be lusii-chaperoned, pair up. I know a lot of you are shaken up by this, but a lot of you aren't. Find someone who isn't, stick together." her gaze came to rest on Elidae in the crowd, and Eridia too. Leeroi caught a glimpse, and she made a mental note to herself, "Anyone older and more able-bodied, help me with the injured. No one gets left behind." Sarcel sucked in a breath, making sure to catch Puchen's eye contact at least once.
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Regina stood in the door, watching the trolls inside. Turning her face to Puchen, she gave sardonic grin. "Nice aim. Shame on the everything else." Looking back, her eyes focused on Leeroi and Psykgi, each clutching their papers. She had seen how the blueblood had acted all evening and wasn't going to bother approaching him. No doubt the wiggler would snarl at her, and she'd be forced to cull him, and then everything would be spoiled. Her eyes trailed round to the older trolls. Could she ask one of them? Kursha was always an option, but relying on him too much would give the greenblood more power than she was willing to tip in his direction. There were others who had performed well tonight, but they all seemed tired - it was a little disappointing.
Rattled but relatively unscathed, the royalists made their way to safety. For some, the night was an affirmation of loyalty and opportunity within the military. For others, the event shook the foundations of their young lives. It would be a banquet not soon forgotten.
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"I almost died," she murmured, trembling, and though her mother's many eyes were on her, none of the heads seemed to have anything to say about that. It was very long while before she collected herself enough to resurface and call for help.
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Looks like he was one of the lower bloods in the water. But from above, he heard a familiar voice cry down about helping, and a ladder clattered to the side of the watery pit. It was Nahori! In his sopping tweed, floating on his back in the salt water, he waved at his nutrition-block buddy.
"Hey! Good to see you made it out too. Thanks for the ladder!" He gestured to the other trolls in the water with him, and remembered his manners, for once. "Highbloods first." He was on a roll tonight.
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"A-Ah, Alifax!" She crawled to her knees, eyes sparkling so very, very slightly as she waved down to him. Were Nahori the type, she might actually laugh. It still hadn't dawned on her the absolute ridiculousness of the ladder she'd thrown down if they were to believe this place was a legitimate trap. All she could think was how relieving it was that they wouldn't end up incarcerated in the greenblood's hive forever.
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"Either you apologize, right now, for how disgustingly awful you've been all night, or we go for a long swim." Her smile was quick and cruel.
"We could find out how long you land dwellers really can hold your breath."
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"It was so cool when Mr. Ioyana blasted the door open for us, right?" He didn't have an intended audience; the comment was to no one in particular, but for the sake of conversation. Adamaz's eyes twinkled in the fading starlight. "He's a nice guy. He told me to help people get out, and that's what I did. I bet he'd be impressed with me."
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“As for you...." Her eyes locked with his. "I will not try to convince you to love me, to respect me, to commit to me. I deserve better than that; I AM BETTER THAN THAT..." She bitterly laughed, malice was all over her tone. "Goodbye.” She said and once she saw a familiar shade of green...
"Hey Aconaaaan." She smiled rather mischievously, knowing she wanted to mess up someone he considered a friend. "May I speak to you for a second?"
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She couldn't fear death anymore. She couldn't be such a child. She survived. Now she had to use that life for something as respectable as possible.
She could start right now; a good first step in civil service was protecting those she was put in charge of to a T. Such as Aconan. Collaboration got them out in one piece, with little issue. Their lusii were accounted for, as well.
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"Sarcel!" Elidae greeted as cheerfully as she could, though faint grief dampened her tone. The yellowblood hesitated. A deep breath. "I wanted to thank you." At first she struggled, but eventually Elidae offered a simple smile. "You helped me and kept me safe when the night took a turn to the worst, even when... you didn't have to. You stuck with me. For a little while. I cannot thank you enough. I am eternally grateful. I-I-I- If you ever need anything, anything at all, please call on me." She bowed her head out of respect and humility.
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She paused to hand Leeroi a goodie bag from the slightly trampled pile before taking one for herself. She took a moment to look around at the lawnring around them, the interactions between trolls, that blueblood talking to Elidae, some sort of commotion from the water... ”Lets go to my hive, Leeroi.” she said, squinting at the bossy blueblood teenager before looking at him, ”I think we're done here...”
Once again, letters from the Alternian Military were penned and delivered to royalist trolls. This time, there appeared to be no great ado for the occasion - a simple physical with recruiting sign-ups appeared to be in store. While previously promotions of grandeur, rebuilding and great victory for Alternia for touted, a lull appeared to be in place. So too, for the Phoenix Initiative. Byakko and her companions had a huge undertaking in rebuilding their base. A special, secret meeting was planned in order to mourn and begin the recovery process. 
