Mayfield Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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welcome_rpg2012-07-09 03:24 pm
mayfield_mods) wrote in welcome_rpg2012-07-09 03:24 pm
Entry tags:
day 5
[The fifth day doesn't dawn at all. In fact, the sky simply isn't there anymore; the only thing visible if you look up is pure black nothing. Most of the carnival itself is no longer visible, having been blanketed by thick white fog; any attempt to enter said fog will result in your body rapidly disintegrating. The street at least still seems to be intact, but with no way out and the fog slowly creeping in, who knows how long that'll last?
Luckily, it seems like the cavalry has finally arrived.]
(OOC: This marks the last day of the event! Anyone who has won a prize from Mayfield's carnival will be able to access both Mayfield and this area through the funhouse, and will be able to take one person with them on each trip they make. If your character is not rescued by the end of the day, they will be disintegrated by the fog and will wake up the next morning in Mayfield with the standard revival effects. You are free to comment in this post regardless of whether your character signed up for the event.)
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Okay. I'll do that. Because we're making it back.
[They have to. She doesn't even know what a kiwi is. She can't... Die. No. There's still so much to learn... And she's just too scared; not at all ready.]
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[his eyes wander down to the source of warmth around his hand and he wants to sigh again, if only to push everything - the stress, the anxiety, the hunger, the exhaustion, the thirst - out. silly thought, of course, but he never claimed to be in his right mind right now.]
Where to next?
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[That's a great question. She has no idea, and she has to blink back tears for a moment. When she speaks, her voice is shaky...
To think, there was a time where she was having fun in Mayfield.]
We'll follow the street. There has to be a safe place somewhere.
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[She gives his arm a tug.]
Come on... We'll go there and see if we can find anything-- We will find something. And then we'll be home.
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Yeah. Alright.
[it's easier to walk when he has her pulling him like this because it reminds him that he's able to move. he wiggles his toes to remind himself that they're still there and, at once, the horror comes back in full force. he doesn't want to die here. who in their right mind would? but at the same time...
no. there's hope left. I know there is.]
...How much time d'ya think we have left? [he looks over his shoulder at where the church used to be.] Another day?
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Maybe half that. Maybe. It doesn't look good, but...
[But he promised to protect her, and she made the same promise back to him. So things have to be okay, right?]
But I never break my promises.
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[She gives his hand a squeeze.]
I'm still not entirely sure what happened to you back where you're from, but...
[She doesn't care? She thinks he's good anyway? She's not sure what to say... And so she just goes with what she feels.]
...I wish I could make it better for you.
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[because then you're just admitting that things really will never get better. hope is awful, but he'll cling to what he gets. it's all he has left.
he doesn't acknowledge her last statement for another minute and a half, thinking things over to himself, silently.]
I, uh. I never told you that story, did I? 'm sorry. I think I fell asleep. I can't really remember.
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[She thinks for a moment, then shakes her head.] No. You never told me... Why?
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[the last chance we have. he's not going to deny that he saw Mal's body at the food stand; he's reached the point where it doesn't faze him so much as leave him painfully, scarily resigned to whatever happens. obviously people do die for real here, or if they don't, it's different in this version of Mayfield. he swallows hard.]
...It might be fun. Listening to yours was.
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[It will take her mind off of things, and that's relly what she needs right now.]
And thank you. I'm glad you think so. [Though he sure didn't seem to at the time. But he's being sweet, so she's not going to say anything.]
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I mean it. I guess I'm just not used to happy endings. I like them, but let's be honest here; most of the stories you hear now aren't the kind you feel like clapping to when they're over.
[case in point: his. he takes another deep breath, trying to make his tongue feel like less of a gross lump in his mouth.]
Well, okay. Uh.
[he stops short again and, with some hesitance, starts again properly.]
Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived with his family, far away from any towns or outposts. Y'see, they were farmers. Problem was, they weren't very good at it. The land around them was dry and hard to till, so it was difficult to grow vegetables even when the weather was on their side, which was rare. On top of it all, his family wasn't... Well. They weren't the type you'd expect to be farmers. His father left when he was very young, probably went off to have some grand adventure or search for treasure or capture fairies, whatever people of the time used to do, but he never came home. That just left him, his mother, his broth- siblings, his aunt and his uncle. And while they were pretty happy with the life they had, the boy wasn't.
He wanted to be a knight.
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[But then she's listening intently, and yes, she notices his stumble over brothers, but she doesn't make anything of it yet. She just nods along, looking genuinely involved and interested.]
Did he ever get to be one?
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That's what he thought. His family? Nooot so understanding. At first, they thought he was joking around. But, when he wouldn't stop talking about it and it slowly started to occur to them that he was serious, they didn't really...handle it well. It should have broken his spirit, but nope - that kid wasn't going to be stopped. So, one day, he decided to leave his home and his family, and make his fortune as a knight in another land. He wasn't going to come back, not until he made his dream come true. Even though his family expected him to come crawling back, he was absolutely, positively sure that everything would work out for him. Eventually.
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[Following along with the story, she has no suspicions yet. She's truly taken with this story, and means what she says. It was so hard, for her, at least, to leave home, and she's still not sure if she'd go back to the tower if she got the chance.]
It's hard to leave home. Really hard. What happened next?
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Well, he went out and saw the world, or at least a tiny corner of it. It was a long and difficult journey. For a while, he thought he'd never find a place that needed him or his talents. He never gave up, though; everything bad that happened to him along the way just made him want to try harder.
And eventually, it paid off! One day, he happened upon a tiny little kingdom. Beautiful didn't even come close to describing it. It was...
[he grasps for the word.]
...Pure. Literally untouched by the outside world. The people that lived there weren't even human, so you can imagine how they felt when they saw a real one just come waltzing through the gates. They didn't trust him at first, but their king... Hoo boy. Their king really hated him. See, the thing was, this kingdom was special in another way, too: it had a great, vast treasure hidden inside of it. More precious than gold and diamonds combined...for a human. For these creatures, it was more of a - a resource. It kept them alive, you see. Through magic.
So of course the king had reason to be suspicious; here was this kid walking in like he owned the place, throwing this precious treasure around. He wanted him to leave and never come back. Instead, the boy got him to come to a compromise with him. If the king allowed him to stay and use this treasure sparingly to make his fortune in the nearby towns, he'd protect them. He wouldn't abuse their trust. He'd stick by them and - and keep their kingdom alive.
That's what he promised them anyhow.
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[...Oh. Now she can start wondering; this sure brings up what he just said about promises. She furrows her brow in uncertainty and confusion.]
He didn't keep the promise?
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At first he did. At first...things were pretty good. Not perfect, but good enough. He was...happy. He wasn't wanted anywhere else, especially not in the towns outside of the for- [he stops short again. please don't mess this up, please.] - kingdom. No one needed a knight, especially not him. It didn't matter, though; I mean, it did at first, but he started to accept things for what they were - how you could give something your best shot and that would be enough.
[he pauses, blinking abruptly for about a minute like he's just woken up, stirring himself from a deep sleep. or a dream.]
The king taught him that. He... Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he liked him. He could be grumpy and irritating and, and a big fat mooch with a savior complex, but the boy cared. They were friends.
That was around the same time everything changed for good.
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Gosh, what must he have done?]
What changed?
[There's trepidation in her voice. She doesn't feel like he's capable of having done anything that would change her opinion of him, but... What if? She doesn't want to think less of him. She really doesn't.]
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[it shouldn't hurt to say that aloud as much as it does right now. granted, he's thought about - boy, has he EVER - but words sound different in your head. when you give anything a voice, it has power. words can become weapons.]
Somehow, his...abilities caught on, and whereas people didn't care before, they definitely took notice now. And at first, it was great! He was needed and...and popular, and best of all, his family seemed to finally take his dreams seriously. Everything was great.
But...in order to keep things like that, he had to break his promise. Looking back on it, there was probably another way. I'm sure there was. At the time, he didn't think so and he - [his breath hitches again and he tries to cover it up by coughing.] - he wanted things to stay the way they were, so badly. And it was like no one cared about that but him.
So he broke it by claiming their treasure as his own. And he became a dragon.
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[It's... She's not sure what to make of it. She wants to know this, but part of her doesn't. Ignorance really is bliss.
But she's ultimately glad she knows now. Or... Has a vague, symbolic idea of things. This is important. So she knows, and... So he can grow. She can help. She certainly wants to.]
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[if not for the annunciation, you'd be forgiven for mistaking the word for a sigh. it's certainly shaky enough to pass for one; quiet, too. should he even go on? it's not like she shouldn't be able to piece things together on her own at this point.]
He destroyed everything. By the time he was done, they didn't even have a home anymore, and the king -
[The Lorax -]
- He tried. He tried so hard to get the boy to see what he was doing, because he cared. Even when nothing worked, he still wouldn't give up; not on the kingdom, and definitely not on the boy.
...But the boy didn't listen. And, eventually, the king stopped trying.
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[Rapunzel's sigh is a true one. She's... Well. He'd warned her well enough, hadn't he? And she knew he was... Hard-headed. Proud. But she's still disappointed.
In him, yes. But also for him. Because now he's stuck here, and he can't do anything to fix what he's done. So there's pity-- No, sympathy. And the fact that... Despite it, her feelings aren't any different. She squeezes his hand.]
I don't know what to say.