Heel

[animusmods]

Characters: open to characters who signed up for the Heel event
Setting: a familiar labyrinth
Format: any; party style
Summary: A game of hunters and prey.
Warnings: potential for violence, gore, angst, etc.

Event details are here. Please make sure to include the IC date and if your thread is open or closed in your subject lines. Please mark threads for any specific warnings.

Comments

[bloodyashes]

[He's no so socially inept that he can't tell a lost cause when he sees one, and Ruler and Tetra giving him the eyes over there definitely qualify.]

If I knew that, this would all be a lot easier, trust me.

[He glances at the other two.]

Three days is all I can promise the rest of you.

[sageprincess]

[Asch may say he'll never raise his sword against her, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the look of utter betrayal on her face.]

No, Asch, please, do not play her game!

[He can't go after Ruler and Tetra-- he can't.]

[faithstaynight]

[... Yeah. That's not helping, at all. Ruler shifts a bit so she's shielding Zelda just a bit more.]

Three days? You only give us three days? [She scowls.] If you swore to defend Zelda, then you should be helping us for the entirety of the time we're trapped here.

[bloodyashes]

Tch.

[His expression is pained, his voice as controlled as he can make it - if he loses his temper now, he's all too aware that they'll probably take it as a threat, even if it isn't.]

We were promised "additional motivation" then, right? There's no way of knowing what that might be - four days from now, I might not have any choice in the matter. In four days it might not matter at all because we're all dead.

I'm giving you what I cam promise now.

[Because he doesn't want to go back on it later. Better to not make any promises at all. His expression sours.]

If you'd rather take me out now than risk it, you're not going to get a better shot.

[sageprincess]

[She has to look away, clench her eyes shut to stem the tears that threaten to flow. When a friend is clearly being controlled, it's easier to shut down, ignore the the sting of their words. But when it's entirely of their own volition...

From behind Ruler, she balls her fists. This is not a time she can afford to show weakness.]

I will not allow you to hurt them. [She responds, low, wavering, but with conviction. When she forces herself to look back up, it's with determination.] That I promise you.

[She refuses to kill - that would only play into Ruana's game - but she will fight, and she will defend if she must.]

[faithstaynight]

[Even though they have yet to re-establish a proper bond as Master and Servant, Ruler has been close to Zelda for long enough to be able to pick up on her mood. So knowing that her friend is hurting so badly because of this man...

Well. Ruler isn't a violent person. Most of the time, she was the direct opposite of violent. But now? Now, the idea of punching this man doesn't seem like a bad idea at all.]

And I will fight to my very last breath to protect the woman I swore my loyalty to. [A completely unintentional jab right here. Honest.] If you truly have no desire to harm us, then simply stay away from us.

[stop_calling_me_zelda]

[Tetra gently pulls at Zelda and then takes her hand in her own, trying to comfort her. She can see it hurts Zelda just as much as Ruler can. And she hates that.

They may not be violent, but Tetra was raised a pirate. Had to fight for her life so many times on the Great Sea and, as well as she was doing in trying to be a good heir to Zelda and prove that she can rule a country, some habits die hard.

Tetra wants to punch him. Good thing she's holding Zelda's hand.]

Additional motivation doesn't make it right. You always have a choice. You're just choosing to believe that, in a few days, your murders will be justified.

[bloodyashes]

[It's Tetra's turn for a look. Girl, haven't you been in the Tower long enough to know better? Sometimes the Tower doesn't leave you a capacity for any choice at all, much less making the "right" one.]

You really are a kid. Fine. I can't make you believe anything.

[The next comment is quiet, with a faint, sad smile; he catches Zelda's eye, to make sure she knows it's meant for her.]

That's what I've been wanting all along.

[He's sure she remembers their conversation before, and the fact that his mind was influenced doesn't make it less true. Someone to stop him before he goes too far - that's the kind of trust he put in her.

A slight tilt of his head, towards the direction they were heading.]

Get going, then. Good luck.