✯ ragtags } event: ariadne.
memories of the city ran far from quaint in a cold prince’s mind. they were faint, for the time he’d spent within its walls had been short, then blackened from the depths of his mind, torn or thrown away, it did not matter. he had cared not for his time here, remembered far from fairly his dealings with those who called themselves men of science, when such a word oozed with the sort of black magic and depraved intent that he’d once despised. he cared little for the doings of those above the surface of this hell, but certainly for his comings and goings from the place, when such important business was all that should have dominated his mind, when so many opportunities were so close to fresh for the taking upon his native soil.
to find himself locked in yet another labyrinth, taking steps towards another’s discord, he was far from entertained by their prowess. for a man to challenge a dungeon without a magus at his side was utter folly. for a man brought to his knees with the way those bearing the status closest to magi in this city had crippled his powers to take on such a maze was an utter death sentence. did she who’d painted strings and seals upon his arm think herself a god? did she care for the safety of the people her ‘pact’ supposedly led to salvation at the center of this dungeon? and what sort of beast awaited them at its center?
the damp soil beneath his boots was foreign and dirty, it was not the sort of earth that smelled any way of the places he’d once called home, not the vast deserts he’d traveled nor the shore sands of sindria, or the densely-packed wet earth that dusted the floors of the palace gardens he’d once paced so rampantly he could walk them in a blind stupor. this world was not his own, this dungeon not a doorway to the mysterious realm of ‘alma torran’ that his own magi had spoke whispers of existing in the wisdom of the son of solomon.
what waited for him at the end of this passageway was nothing that would help him right the course of his empire, nothing that would make him stronger in his task of rejecting his fate. there were no djinn waiting in those final chambers, no vast mountains of treasure or the identification of the heart of a true king, just mystery, void and dark.
he hated it, just as he hated many things. he afforded a glance at the glyphs tangled around his wrist and grimaced, hearing audibly the growl he’d made in his mind. strange, he noted with a narrowing of cold eyes. he’d offered no musing notes to the world, only the rhythmic pumping of his own breaths and the footsteps taken in time.
be it the rumble of the beast whose eyes suddenly glowed against his in the darkness, or the yowling of the boy who prodded at such a creature with yet another rudimentary wooden pole, neither were sounds he’d wished to witness breaking his silence. a wave of irritation that was not his own stained his heart, but such was quickly staunched by a familiar disdain, and he, realizing now the connection that said ‘pact’ had sewn between them, spun his own archaic weapon to attention, taking both a stance of a warrior and of a noble.
( your tongue is far too harsh for that of a boy! practice your advice and direct that fervor towards felling this beast, lest it rips your tongue from between your teeth before you can think to berate it again! )
attention was not paid to the metal coin hidden in the folds of his robes. no, such a beast could easily be felled with proper swordsmanship alone, and if this boy’s actions matched his words in any way, the product of this collaboration was far from doomed against success. the boy took a moment to bark at the other in their party, and when his attention faltered, hakuryuu stood strong, catching a set of two clawed paws on the shaft of his spear that had once raised in a pounce at the smaller disciple.
hakuryuu’s prediction came true, but he’d no time to care. the simple irritation that coursed through his conscious mind would be felt by the others, surely, but so too would his concentration upon the battle at hand. he moved to throw the beast, to strike at it again with the head of his spear. now was not the time to falter, a king had to be aware both of himself and the soldiers he commanded on the field, it was a value he knew well, and a value he would continue to live even if his goal stretched so far on the horizon in this present.
( be at attention, both of you! )
jianwaii
discxpulus
from one place to the next, sitting inside the inn with a newspaper in hand with a cup of green tea and suddenly thrown into a maze. it’s another sidequest and he’s out of patience .. however, this one he lacks familiar companions and a hoard of youkai nipping at his heels. there’s two he can see and one of them is loud and childishly obnoxious. the other sounds more like a decent soldier. as for him ..? well, he’s not much of a team player, and he leaves whatever monsters or the like they encounter to his two teammates unless prodded to step in when needed. it’s always how he’s worked and just because there’s two new faces, won’t mean he’ll run into the fray. his weapon is useless after all, although the sutra on his shoulders is all he needs.
the priest waits, both of them seemingly zeroing in on a two-headed beast — a dog with ebony fur and yellowing eyes. it’s some type of cerberus — it shouldn’t be too hard to defeat, or so he believes. here for not even five minutes and they’re being attacked. great. hands in his sleeves, sanzo lingers in the back, empty-handed with a bb gun tucked inside his robes. he makes no move to defend himself and leaves the two with the job of handling themselves.
" .. sounds fun. I’ll leave you to it. I don’t have a weapon, " he lies between his teeth, parting his hands from the sleeves to show them he’s completely empty-handed. " I’ll be right here, good luck with that thing, I’m not a dog person. " it’s slowly meandering their way but he gets ready in case of a sudden turn for the worst. once he realizes the pact formed by the glyph and its contents, he’ll surely change his mind ..
violet eyes wander from their strife to the glyphs underneath his sleeves protruding from underneath .. right onto his fingers … it has a crown on it, one similar to his formal wear. he wonders if it’s just there for decoration or if they all have the same one. lifting his vision up to the animal, he drops his hands. it’s a rather large animal, much bigger than any regular dog. .. with wooden ( or bamboo ) weapons, what do they hope to win ..
perhaps the sutra will be useful yet ..
「 ✯ 」—- At least one of them will be useful, the boy with the wooden stick speaks far too much for Dito's liking, to even have the nerve to chastise him on how he speaks, as if that's of any real importance in this situation. How rude could he possibly be? ❝ Well all right you uppity little prick! Talk down on me again and this mutt won't be the only thing I slice in half! ❞ And he means it, he's got no problem slicing down his own teammates if they annoy him enough, the last thing he needs right now is some kid acting all holier than thou, he doesn't need to be reminded of how shitty people can be.
His attention now turns to the gentleman who was trailing behind the other, he's got no weapon nor does he make a move to defend himself against the beast. Great, another unreliable. ❝ This is great! Fantastic, I've got two assholes on my team. A shitty kid and a lazy ass. ❞ This was truly as bad as a situation can get. He's stuck with two losers and there's a dog that wants to kill them, can't get any better than this.
❝ Whatever, just stand back and let me and scarface take care of this. You stand there and look pretty like a pansy. ❞ And with that, he turns his attention back to the cerberus. It wastes no time in charging them, and in retaliation, Dito also wastes no time in making his way to the creature as well. He kicks off his heel and heads straight for the creature, spear ready to pierce it right it's hind leg and out of the corner of his eye he can see the young prince also aiming for a fixed point on the beast, at least he knew how to fight and he even managed to stop the beast from pouncing at Dito, he'd hear no word of thanks though.
With as much strength as he could possibly muster, he aims his spear right for the hind leg of the animal and thank goodness it connects and a howl escapes the creature, it may have been just a wooden spear, but Dito was not to be trifled with when dealing with monsters. He's fought way worse with Zero, he can take this thing.
❝ Helllllooooo! Scarface, I could use a little help over here. Try to aim for the eyes or somethin'. We gotta take this shit out quick if we wanna move along since the asshole back there ain't gonna do us any favors. ❞
beltrial
