welcome to mayfield: day 3

[mayfield_mods]

[Those who wake up in the town on the third day will soon notice that something's definitely off. The cracks in the sky are appearing more frequently and lasting for minutes at a time, and there's a strange white fog drifting over the clouds.

For those who've just arrived, welcome to our new little town! We're sure you're glad to see your missing friends again; nothing to worry about here, they've just been too busy enjoying the upgraded carnival to go back home. Any bleeding limbs or serious wounds you may spot are obviously just a sign of how much fun they've been having.]

OOC: If your character damages or affects the carnival or town in a noticeable and normally permanent way, please comment here.

Comments

[badladyscramble]

[Someone has no interest in games or prizes. This is simply the first area outside the funhouse that Remilia stumbled upon, and she is now tearing through it just like she was tearing through the carnival on the other side, breaking down stands, throwing everything around with wild abandon as she rampages about with more strength than her little frame would imply.]

Flandre! Flandre, where are you!?

[then_there_were_none]

[A little blackish blob stirs from a string of carnival lights at the uproar--and then darts away from the lights as the stall they were hanging from is overturned. The bat chitters shrilly and flits in panicked circles for some time after, having been able to sleep only in stressed fits and starts. She hadn't left that form once after escaping from the funhouse, feeling far too insecure. And something had dislodged her from her nominally safe spot, which made her mind explode in panic again.]

[badladyscramble]

[It's a moment before Remilia notices the bat and stops her rampaging, pausing the midst of destruction to look as it flutters off in confusion]

F...Flandre!?

[then_there_were_none]

[The bat flinched away from the voice initially; had the voices found her again? Was nowhere safe anymore?


...but, no.

That was a voice, yes, but...not the ones that had chased her, had hurt her.

She lands on some of the wreckage, though "landing" was really a nice euphemism for flopping over in an exhausted way, wings draped awkwardly rather than folded up neatly. Even adrenaline was having a hard time keeping her going now.

There was a figure over there, though this form's eyes were too weak to see more than a blurred picture. Bat wings, small, blue (?) hair...


...Remi?

The bat chitters once more, in a timid, quiet, tentative way this time.]

[badladyscramble]

Flan!

[Remi swoops down, landing besides the exhausted bat and scooping her up into her arms.]

You're safe now, Flandre. Your sister's here.

1/2

[then_there_were_none]

[The bat squirms and flails when she's picked up--but stops almost immediately afterward. Her ears perk again, and she chirps just a little back at the voice. Her sister's voice. Sister was holding her now. Even these eyes could see that. She could relax now; this was safe.

Safe. Safe. And relax she did.]

2/2

[then_there_were_none]

[Her form loses cohesion for a moment, dissolving into a cloud of blackish mist. The cloud reforms, grows solid--and then there's Flandre in her normal shape again, clinging to her sister. Her staff clatters to the ground, unheeded.]

Remi...Remi came to see me...

[She rests her head against her sister's shoulder, completely trusting. But she seems to have trouble raising her wings to complete the hug; there's a spot of sticky dampness between them, where blood was still sluggishly oozing from the cut there. The injuries had stopped hurting when she was a bat, but now...now they did.

Flandre whined a little at the reminders.]

[badladyscramble]

I did. I'm right here, Flandre.

[She hugs the vampire close to her, careful of her injuries. Seeing them reminds her that, HEY, SHE'S KIND OF STARTING TO FRY OUT HERE, so she picks her sister up and quickly leaps over into the shade of one of the stands she hadn't demolished yet.]

It's going to be all right.

[mayfield_mods]

[There's something else in the shade of that stand. At first glance he could be an ordinary drone, if ordinary drones had mouths that literally split the skull in half and no tongue.

He is wearing ripped slacks and a fancy shirt with a bow-tie, he is also carrying a very sharp wooden stake, which is throws at Flandre's chest.]

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre had been clinging to her sister when she had been picked up and held crosswise, so she spots the drone first--and stiffens.]

Remi, there's--

[--and then she sees the stake, which makes her shriek.]

[badladyscramble]

What!?

[This is probably the only situation where protective instincts override combative instincts. Rather than try to face the threat, Remilia's reaction is to shield Flandre with her body and try to escape. Which means she takes the Stake in the back, luckily avoiding her own heart]

[mayfield_mods]

[The drone man lets out an unearthly shriek and starts to give chase, trying to bring them both down with a flying tackle.]

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre scrabbles at her sister's shoulders, trying to get her attention again.]

Remi, Remi--

[She raised her wings again even though the movement pulled her injury open again, instinctively trying to fly out of the way and carry her sister with her.]

[badladyscramble]

I know, I know-!

[Still holding Flandre, she uses all her strength to fly them out of there. It's fast enough that they avoid being tackled... mostly. Getting hit in the legs sends them tumbling over and crashing down on the ground a few yards away]

[mayfield_mods]

[Once they're down, the drone wastes no time in slamming himself towards the nearest girl.

His fingers try to close around her throat, attempting to choke the life out of her.]

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre had landed awkwardly on her side, and was still working out which way was the sky and which was Remi when something knocked the breath out of her lungs. She made only the barest gurgling cry before hands clasped around her throat. She hadn't regained all of her vampiric traits yet; she still needed to breathe, and this triggered an immediate reaction in Flandre snapping her fangs and thrashing around.

Her escape impulses were muddled, now; she didn't immediately dissolve into mist like before. Instead she struggles and flails and rakes her claws against the arms, the back of the hands, the tendons, make it stop make it go away go away]

[badladyscramble]

[It took a moment to reorient herself, but Remilia immediately noticed the trouble her sister was in.]

You stay away from her!

[No more running. Not even heeding the stake still in her shoulder, Remilia, nails like claws, tore into the drone with a force that, if he were like a human, would either send him flying, or remove a good chunk of his side.]

[mayfield_mods]

[Send him flying, it did.

He skitters to the ground, barely coming to a stop before he's on his feet again and sprinting away.]

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre's claws came up empty, all of a sudden; slashing at empty space instead of where there had been hands squeezing her throat.

She couldn't do much more than gasp and wheeze for a bit; air, air, air. She would never take air for granted again, it felt like.]

[badladyscramble]

Flan, stay back!

[Remilia positions herself between her sister and their attacker, doing her best not to mind the fact that the sun was starting to roast her alive, smoke coming off her skin. Luckily though, it seemed the thing preferred retreat to another taste of her claws. Once she was sure it had run off, she turned to the little vampire, gathering her up again and taking her into the shade]

Are you alright? Is your throat okay?

[then_there_were_none]

[The smaller vampire starts to thrash again when she's picked up--only to realize it's her sister, not the...other thing. She calms down, though her wings drag a bit uselessly now and the cut's still oozing blood.

When she speaks, her voice is small and raspy.]

Why does breathing...hurt so much, Remi?

[Air didn't hurt, though. That could stay.]

[captainofthe10th]

[ And that is when a huge, heavy shadow passes over them both. An armored being, dragging a seemingly useless left leg behind it, using a huge, spiked sword as a sort of crutch in one hand whilst he holds a tremendous, boxy cannon in the other, looks down at them. ] Remilia and Flandre, yes? My name is Garviel Loken. Meiling has sent me to find and protect you.

[badladyscramble]

Oh, Flandre... [Remilia's worries were overtaken though at the booming voice behind them, and she immediately springs up again, jumping back away from the figure with a hiss.]

Meiling? How?

[then_there_were_none]

[Flandre curls up with a raspy squeak when her sister moves so suddenly, only tentatively peeking her eyes open when she hears a familiar name.

Her voice is still small, and full of pauses.]

Meiling is...here?

[She doesn't recognize the shambling armored...thing. But it wasn't the other Thing from just before, so she uncurls just slightly.]

[captainofthe10th]

No. That is why I have been sent to help you both. [ He pauses, obviously physically pained by whatever damaged his leg. ]

Come on, if you can stand.