| Title: And this, is how it ends.
Part 3. Time: Sunday, March 21, 2004 The Thespians: Toby Darling, Lien Nguyen, Moirae (NPC) and Pascal Curio Location: Forest - Muddy Woods |
| +---[ Forest - Muddy Woods ]-------------------------------------------------+ | | | The mud around here never seems to dry up, and furthermore appears to be | | able to suck someone violently down into its depths. The branches of the | | tall black trees wind and twist and seem to grab out whenever they get a | | chance. One might swear that eyes blink and stare from beneath the waves | | of the needled leaves. Spiders crawl all over the black mossy ground and | | the wind whispers death threats across the path. It is nearly completely | | black except for the sunlight or moonlight shining through the leaves of | | the dense, frightening trees; the darkness seems to envelope the wood, | | embracing it into a void of pitch black. | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| This wasn't supposed to happen. They weren't supposed to get lost, and Pascal definitely wasn't supposed to turn into a bird. Poor Toby, poor Orb of Wonderment. He can press the red button again, but it doesn't seem as if the orb is going to comply anymore. The bird screeches violently as it senses both the ravens and the vines come towards it, and it shoots up in the air. Not quick enough, for a vine has managed to ensnare its left talon, and with a violent jerk, the bird formerly known as Pascal comes crashing down to the earth in a large mass of black feathers. |
| Lien emits a sound somewhere between a scream and a squeak, which makes her sound oddly as though there's something caught in her throat, and again claps a hand to her mouth. (She's lucky not to poke herself in the eye with her wand.) The words, "Don't hurt her," come out in a tumble while the child racks her brain for a solution to the conundrum--it has to be the Orb, right? But the Orb isn't working, and Pascal is still a giant bird. |
| Well, the tengu wasn't *trying*, but you try to stop a giant bird from flying away. ~Don't get too close, Lien-san.~ More vines snake about the bird's talons and wings, trying to prevent it from thrashing about and hurting itself further. At least he didn't have to try something more drastic and noticeable, in his opinion. Blah. Stepping forward, the tengu eyes the pinioned bird tentatively. ~I don't think I can change her back. It isn't my kind of magic, you know?~ Eyes flicker to Toby. ~Try your ball thing, maybe. Or is it sick?~ |
| The tengu isn't hurting Pascal? And it's not hurting Toby or Lien? Maybe it's not so bad after all... Maybe the creature is civil after all. Toby drops to the ground landing on his bottom. This is just /too much/ for an 11 year old to take. "I tried the Orb already." he still holds it in his hand, even. "I'll try it again." The boy taps the Orb carefully with his wand and mashes his finger down on the button. The Orb sputters and shakes a bit (Shakes? It's never done that before) and releases a blinding flash of light. |
| The raven continues to struggle wildly against the ties that bind it to the ground, as it rises and falls again under the strength of its bonds. The blinding flash elicits a loud scream from the raven, and the bird falls still, the scream fading away oh-so slowly while the creature sinks to the ground in a slump. Quietly at first, and then louder, a squishing noise comes from the bird, followed by the bone-crunching sounds that were heard in Pascal's transformation into a bird. |
| Those sickening crunching, grinding sounds, those would be a good thing, wouldn't they? Despite the numerous orders to get back, Lien creeps forward a little to try to get a better look at Pascal, chewing on her lower lip nervously. If this goes well... well, the tengu's not emitting as much animosity as he was, and she thinks it's safe to assume that neither of her companions will protest going back to the school all that much. IF this goes will... if... "Is it working?" |
| Mutter, mutter. It had better be, or he's going to have to pull Lien back again. She's so stubborn. Does she *want* him to get in trouble? Meanwhile, keeping one eye on bird-girl, the tengu plots a tentative escape route. |
| Toby grabs Lien by the arm again and quietly reminds her "stay back." He watches in horror as the once bird, once Pascal makes squishing noises on the ground. That /can't/ feel good. Why did he have to come into the forest anyway? "Oh, no." he says quietly to himself. "If she's back to normal I'm DEAD." He is, of course, referring to the fact that Pascal is hex happy and he's been her practice dummy more than once. |
| One would expect more screams of anguish coming from the bird as it made its transformation back into a human being. It sounds rather painful, the sounds of tendons breaking and reforming, the sounds of bones grinding and crunching, but at the same time, no sound is made from the thing on the ground, as the black feathers melt into white and blue respectively (being Pascal's clothes underneath her robes). Not even a twitch can be seen from her body as her arms and her legs shoot out awkwardly out of her body. Her face is deathly pale as the huge black wings are the last to disappear, sucking back into her body. And so she lies there, her green eyes open and glazed, in a pile of black feathers, and scraps of green robe, limbs sprawled in awkward angles. |
| Surely they can't want for her to stay back NOW? Danger's past, right? For the people who aren't Pascal, anyway. As soon as everything goes still, Lien hastens forward to the girl's side. Wincing sympathetically, she kneels down beside the older girl and brushes at the feathers. "Pascal?" Ah, where is the enmity NOW? |
| The roots and vines relax, releasing the girl's form entirely. The tengu himself hesitates now that there is no apparent danger -- aside from the fact that the girl formerly known as Giant Bird from Heck is looking rather pale and peaked. Well . . . maybe they will need him. Knowing their way back to the school and all that. When did he get turned into a beast of service? Sigh. No fun at all. Squatting, the tengu settles into an undignified sulk, letting the two humans tend to their own kind. |
| Toby Darling gives up on hanging back too. He runs over to Pascal just as she finishes squishing. "Pascal! Are you okay! Please don't be dead!" He prods her a little bit in the side. "Pascal? Come on, wake up. Come on." Wait a second, given this girls reputation she's likely to hex the crap out of him the instant she wakes up... yet he's making sure she's okay? Toby is /way/ too nice of a guy, maybe Pascal's right about that. |
| If Pascal could only hear Toby and Lien, maybe her heart would be softened. If Pascal only had a heart, maybe her heart would be softened. The girl lies motionless, with a vacant stare in her eyes as she just gazes up at the skies, unblinking, still pale and cold. One could attribute it to the bright flash from the orb (where is that thing, anyway?) or they could attribute it to the pain that she must have felt during her first transformation. She lies there, and minutes pass until her spine curls upwards and she turns to the side, coughing so hard that her entire body spasms. |
| This is almost as fun as the Valentine's Feast was! Snuffling, Lien swipes at her nose with the back of her sleeve and looks up at the tengu. "Um..." Swallow. This is a little awkward. Half-hearted attempt at a smile. "Thanks..." But, that's not the awkward part. The awkward part is that she'll be surprised if Pascal is up to the walk back to the school, even if they DID know the way. "Look..." |
| The tengu blinks at her, then sighs. ~You want me to carry her back?~ At least that's what he feels like she's insinuating. Or maybe he's just naturally suspicious, who knows? |
| "Well, we don't know where the school is from here." Toby is apprehensive speaking to the creature. He's still trying to figure out why they're all not dead. |
| "No," a rasp comes from Pascal, having finally found her voice. She's now curled into the fetal position, and is gasping heavily, clutching wildly at fistfuls of feathers and bits of robe. Her face is contorted in pain, and she manages to push herself into a slightly more sitting position, pushing away from Lien and Toby. "Don't. Touch. Me." She may be able to speak, but her eyes are darting around wildly as she first looks at the tengu, then at Lien and Toby. |
| Should they be relieved? At least she's talking.... "Pascal..." She can't remember, but that's probably the first time she's ever addressed the other girl by her name. "We hafta get back to the school... you're hurt, and..." Wait. Remember, Pascal doesn't tolerate wishy-washyness. Lien forces her voice to get a little firmer. "You're not in any condition to walk that far, so..." The tengu technically didn't even say that he WOULD carry Pascal back to the school. Lien looks up at him helplessly. |
| ~Nani. You'd rather have me leave and be attacked by animals who *would* plan to eat you?~ The tengu's mental voice is completely flat. ~I know where the school is. Lien-san and Lost Boy do not, nor can they carry you without hurting you. I can. Baka desu ne.~ Evolving into scornful, the tengu shrugs. ~Demo do as you please. Don't trust me, even though I helped you. As you like, I go.~ And he turns to do just that. |
| "Pascal, shut up. You can't walk. Don't be stupid." Toby suprises even himself. He turns to the tengu: "No! Please. Don't go." He looks up at him, eyes wide, almost begging. "If you don't help us we'll... get ourselves killed. We were lucky we met you out here and not a hellhound. Please." |
| This whole ordeal has definitely taken its toll on Pascal. She bites on her lip as the tengu turns away, and bites on it so hard that she accidentally draws blood. She takes a deep breath, and looks at the helpless expressions on Lien and Toby's face, but disregards what they say to her. "No." A pause, and she shudders, then looks at the tengu. "No. I am... s-sorry. Please, help them." An... apology? |
| Lien's expression goes through a rapid shift of expressions, like it's one of those ViewFinder toys you used to have and you pushed the lever to change the slide. Panic at the thought that the tengu might leave them stranded out here, something completely unreadable when Toby admits they could be killed, and finally relief as Pascal gives in... and some disbelief at hearing her apologize. A bit of hope, too, as she yet again turns her head to look at the tengu. |
| The tengu apparently takes it as such, for he pauses, nodding shortly, then turns and pads back toward Pascal silently, crouching downward so that she can get onto his back easily. Not exactly like he *wants* to be a carrier pigeon, as it were, but what other choice is there? He didn't exactly mean for them to die out here; he just wanted some fun. No need to embarrass Pascal with verbal acknowledgement of her words; she seems like the sort of person that wouldn't want that. Stubborn kind. |
| "Thank you. We owe you one." Or two, or three. Toby can't really say anything but "thank you" as he and Lien follow the tengu back toward the school. Toby mutters something softly in Lien's ear that sounds remarkably like "I'm sorry, Lien. You were right." But he doesn't really want Pascal to hear such wimpy talk. |
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