idolpro | Shrike's Heart (#3)

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!heart games

Shrike's Heart (#3)

The woman before you is beautiful—fair of features, with lovely golden skin and luxurious long black hair, petite. You have the immediate and distinct impression that she's just let go of your hand, and she steps back, and smiles.

It's not quite a happy smile.

"I'm sorry," she says. "There's just nothing I can do, as things are. But the way is there; it just needs to be lit."

You open your mouth—maybe to say something, or to express confusion—but you have to cough, and taste something metallic, spattering black blood onto the ground in front of you. Then you realize—blood seeps from opening wounds in your arms, your chest, your stomach, your face. It rims your eyes and trails from your nose and you feel like you're dissolving—

—and you fall through the ground like it's the surface of a lake, and go down, down, down.

> Wake Up

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[ CONCERN INTENSIFIES. ]

[ The howls grow louder, and closer; you can soon hear the footfalls of large paws stalking through the brush, like some kind of primordial horror. ]

[ Taking a deep breath and if he's still got yolo feelings in him that means he'll start looking for ways to defend himself and this place, or at least barricade the place. ]

[ rooting around, you manage to find some swords in the closet that look battered but usable. otherwise, there's mostly just the desk and the cots, five of which have been neatly laid out with a suit of white ceremonial clothing and a lotus flower on top. the sixth is empty. ]

[ Looking at the sixth cot for a moment... ]

[ ... Gently lays a sword there out of respect?? ]

[ You place the sword there, which feels... well, it does feel like it should be there, somehow?

Also, whoever made these beds is really obsessive about those military corners. ]

[ Makes sure the sword is set very neatly and in the exact center. ]

[ shrike avanteengarde thanks you.

but anyway, you can hear the pacing of heavy paws outside the barracks; a low growl of something very close. ]

[ This seems like a bad idea he should really leave but also this doesn't feel like a place he should leave alone to whatever is going on here?? ]

[ Yolo feelings give him strength, clutching onto a sword and calling out with force in his voice. ]

Leave this place!

[ It's dimly lit in here, as it's night, and you can feel the heavy breath of the beast outside the door, but—you have that uncanny calm, you have your sword, and—

Suddenly, the world around you is aglow with radiance like the sun, like you exist within a pillar of pure light. And then, when it fades, the sword in your hand is made of a sturdy, golden metal—not proper gold, but something more perfect—and you feel... strong. Healthy. Right. Like you could take on the gods, if you wanted to—and these creatures are hardly at that level. ]

[ Oh so like when you make a killer spike in volleyball- ]

[ Oh... oh, this is a much more reassuring feeling and Gold is going to run with it, gripping the sword to defend this place from whatever tries to come near it. ]

[ The creature has—probably a lot of very, very sharp teeth, judging by how it's able to sink them right through the door, tearing off a hunk of wood, but—you're pretty sure you can drive it back. The metal of your sword almost seems to glow. You might be glowing. ]

[ Gold has only ever learned how to disable from Cardigan, always made it a point never to learn how to kill, but he knows what's important is to make the first strike in this case, so he ducks down, keeping his center of gravity low and dashing forward while the door is still there to give a wide slash up to any bits poking through the door as a very sharp warning. ]

[ The sword is now very sharp, and the creature—which seems to be some sort of elongated wolf with a face as long as a horse's and full of saw-like teeth—recoils, screeching, and reels back on its hind legs. You hear an amount of shuffling around outside—the others are clearly paying attention to the fact that there is danger here.

There's some further growling, and... some paws padding around, and... then it gets quiet, again, like they've gone off.

And then, you realize, the sky outside is lightening; dawn's on its way. ]

[ Breathing out a sigh of relief, no lives taken thank god, but he keeps his guard up, backing away from the door, looking through the hole made through it toward the sunrise. ]

Ah... sorry, for letting the door break...

[ kind of frames the sunrise nicely, though, doesn't it? it looks like it's going to be a nice clear day.

the light fades from the sword in your hand, and it's ordinary once again; that strength has left you, but the memory of it remains. you gain +1 WILLPOWER.

and perhaps there's somewhere else to go, now? ]

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Shrike's Heart (#3)

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