forum "Loud Thieves, Clumsy Princesses, Kleptomaniac Witches and Pyromaniacal Knights"

Started April 25, 2023 by @lord-of-the-carnival group

tune

Asani was hiding behind the eldritch horror now, and aibhe was still eating popcorn.

Salmook looked around the clearing, whimpering quietly. He inched closer to Naveil despite the painful grip on his arm.
"What's going on?" He asked, but Naveil scoffed at him. That meant "shut up."
He looked… angry, for whatever reason, glaring around at the others in the clearing like he knew them.

Killué looks startled.

"I- I was only trying to be kind. . ." they whisper. They leap out of the tree and proceed to start ignoring Caladium for now, looking at the group on the ground.

Harper quickly looks over when something jumps out of a tree. Oh, what the hell? What the hell is that thing? I liked this day much better when I was trying to kill dark flowers. At least they don’t look too threatening. “Well, hello there-“

Caladium glances at Harper for a moment, then turns their attention back to staring down Resh and Juni. They jump from the tree soon after Killué, and flare out their wings, trying to look threatening despite how short they are. They narrow their eyes at Resh, then look at Harper. “And who the hell are you?”

Resh stands up and moves in front of Juni, looking around at everyone warily. Too many people. Can’t trust any of them- He looks extremely tense.

(also remember: Killué is not wearing clothes lmao- but it's fine since they have no genitalia!)

Killué smiles at everyone.

"Hi! I'm Killué! (they pronounce it KEEL-oo-EH) I'm here to help any way I can!"

Harper acknowledges Killué’s introduction with a nod, and turns their attention to Caladium. “My name is Harper. I’m a Dark Dragon, if that means anything to anyone here. Who are you, now?” Despite her choice of words, her voice is not unkind. Trying not to seem too much of a threat, despite the spear she’s holding and general look.

Naveil grunted, shoving Salmook away. The kid stumbled off and landed in a bush, and Naveil gave him a "stay" gesture. There were a few new faces in the clearing, namely two more Caladiums, some winged-thing, and a creature that looked as though the entire forest had vomited on it. He eyed up these new threats carefully.

Caladium straightens their posture. “I’m Caladium Hydrus.” They tilt their head. “And… ‘Dark Dragon?’ you look nothing like one.” They look confused.

Resh narrows his eyes at Naveil. Well, that didn’t seem very nice. He gently grabs Juni’s hand, and walks with her toward where Salmook had been pushed.

Harper looks down at Caladium. “A lovely name. As for the confusion on Dark Dragons… I can only assume we have very different ideas of what those are.” She looks around again, watching everyone’s movements for a moment. “Does anyone have any idea of where we are?”

Salmook laid the bush in a daze. What was happening? Where were they?
He sat up, half-expecting Naveil to be standing there with a hand out towards him… But instead, he saw two of the strangers approaching.
He made a squeaky noise and backed into the bush. What did they want?! He looked over to where Naveil had been and-
He was gone?!
This was bad, bad, bad. He didn't know what to do- all he had on him were a few shellfruit vines.
He shivered in the bush, covering his face. He didn't want to look.

Resh approaches Salmook and crouches down, staying a respectful distance away. He lowers his hood, trying to appear less menacing. “Hey, little one…” His voice is gentle, which is strange coming from a man like him. “Are you okay? I saw someone shove you into this bush.”

Naveil glared down at where he'd left Salmook not even 5 minutes ago. Can't stay out of trouble to save his life, can he?
He gave a frustrated grumble, but he made to move to help. Instead, he climbed further up the tree.
He'd reach the canopy and get a view of the surrounding area – that was the plan, at least. Salmook came second.

Salmook wanted to scream, but he couldn't. His throat locked. He couldn't speak. What would Naveil do? He'd help, wouldn't he?
Why wasn't he helping now?
He barely unstood what the stranger had said to him. He didn't like it here. He wanted to go home.
He shook his head to whatever they had just asked, hoping it would get them to leave him alone.

Killué walks quietly over to Salmook, looking concerned.

"Hey, are you okay?" they ask quietly, their voice soothing and concerned. They were closer than Resh was, but weren't too troubled by this.

Resh looks worried, but says nothing. I’m scaring the kid. Of course I am, I scare kids all the time back home. He looks down, and he seems guilty.