Hunter | The Golden Guard (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cardinalrule) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
kaisou2022-02-05 02:38 pm
cardinalrule) wrote in kaisou2022-02-05 02:38 pm
Entry tags:
Intro log
WHO: Hunter and open!
WHERE: The labyrinth, followed by the city.
WHEN: Early February.
WHAT: Hunter arrives and gets his bearings.
WARNINGS: Likely mentions of a toxic familial relationship.
[Hunter has walked through these halls enough times to know when something is off, and here, right now, he knows something is off. The walls, the columns, the floor - they look worn down, old. Not meticulously buffed and cleaned as one would expect of the Emperor's castle. The hall is empty aside from himself, though that isn't surprising at this time of the night. When it's this late the only people around are the night guards, so he disregards that in favour of focusing on his surroundings. He's suspicious, immediately on his guard.
He doesn't come upon the statues until he's a bit further down, but they immediately jump out at him, too. These aren't decor he's seen before, and - well, they're unnerving, because they look like him. Not him-him, Golden Guard-him, and they look far shinier and polished than the rest of the hall. This is weird and wrong and there's many of them stretching down the hall, around the corner, that he can only freeze and stare for several seconds.
This is Kikimora doing some illusion to mess with him, right? Right. It has to be, there's no other reasonable explanation, and clinging to that answer he turns and storms down the hall, the gears in his mind working to come up with some way to get her back. He turns the corner, and then another and another, and those statues aren't ending, and they're making Belos' words bubble up in his mind as he walks.
It would be such a hassle to find a replacement.
He hates that he doesn't have his artificial staff. He hates that he can't bring his palisman out, it's too dangerous.
He's at the end of his rope by the time he finds a doorway and, not bothering to pause and weigh the risks of going through an obviously unknown door. He's feeling far too frayed at this point, and he barrels through it to find himself... somewhere.
A city. A very bizarre-looking city, with wide streets and no sign of any Titan corpse towering overhead. This definitely isn't the Emperor's castle.
Hunter stares, utterly bewildered. Thankfully, it's late enough that there aren't many people around, giving him time to hurriedly get his helmet on. Once he does he turns back to the door, only to find it gone.
Great, wherever 'here' is, apparently he's stuck until he can figure out how to get back. Unless, of course, this is more illusionary work from Kikimora, which he wouldn't put it past her. She hates him enough to ambush him with a trap like this, something that'll try to kill him like that handdragon before. Best to keep his guard up, in that case, and he curls his hands into fists before turning and heading down the sidewalk, very much looking someone who just walked out of a LARPing session.]
WHERE: The labyrinth, followed by the city.
WHEN: Early February.
WHAT: Hunter arrives and gets his bearings.
WARNINGS: Likely mentions of a toxic familial relationship.
[Hunter has walked through these halls enough times to know when something is off, and here, right now, he knows something is off. The walls, the columns, the floor - they look worn down, old. Not meticulously buffed and cleaned as one would expect of the Emperor's castle. The hall is empty aside from himself, though that isn't surprising at this time of the night. When it's this late the only people around are the night guards, so he disregards that in favour of focusing on his surroundings. He's suspicious, immediately on his guard.
He doesn't come upon the statues until he's a bit further down, but they immediately jump out at him, too. These aren't decor he's seen before, and - well, they're unnerving, because they look like him. Not him-him, Golden Guard-him, and they look far shinier and polished than the rest of the hall. This is weird and wrong and there's many of them stretching down the hall, around the corner, that he can only freeze and stare for several seconds.
This is Kikimora doing some illusion to mess with him, right? Right. It has to be, there's no other reasonable explanation, and clinging to that answer he turns and storms down the hall, the gears in his mind working to come up with some way to get her back. He turns the corner, and then another and another, and those statues aren't ending, and they're making Belos' words bubble up in his mind as he walks.
It would be such a hassle to find a replacement.
He hates that he doesn't have his artificial staff. He hates that he can't bring his palisman out, it's too dangerous.
He's at the end of his rope by the time he finds a doorway and, not bothering to pause and weigh the risks of going through an obviously unknown door. He's feeling far too frayed at this point, and he barrels through it to find himself... somewhere.
A city. A very bizarre-looking city, with wide streets and no sign of any Titan corpse towering overhead. This definitely isn't the Emperor's castle.
Hunter stares, utterly bewildered. Thankfully, it's late enough that there aren't many people around, giving him time to hurriedly get his helmet on. Once he does he turns back to the door, only to find it gone.
Great, wherever 'here' is, apparently he's stuck until he can figure out how to get back. Unless, of course, this is more illusionary work from Kikimora, which he wouldn't put it past her. She hates him enough to ambush him with a trap like this, something that'll try to kill him like that handdragon before. Best to keep his guard up, in that case, and he curls his hands into fists before turning and heading down the sidewalk, very much looking someone who just walked out of a LARPing session.]
no subject
...We don't know yet, I'm afraid.
There's been a few others like you, from other, er, realms - that have showed up here. As far as I know, none of them have found a way home yet.
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That can't be right. There's a way between the realms. If I actually am in the human realm, then.... [Then the portal opened somehow, ahead of the Day of Unity. Outside of Belos' wishes.
This is feeling less and less like a trap from Kikimora, even though he wishes it was.
Even with the mask he sounds tense.]
I can't be here. I have to go back.
no subject
I'm sorry, if there is a way back to your realm, I don't know it.
[He puts his hand to his chin]
What's the way you know about to get between realms?
no subject
He doesn't think it's a good idea to start telling random people about the portal and the key. That's asking for trouble. But Titan's blood? That's documented, and more importantly... maybe this can be useful to the Emperor, somehow. Look, he's grasping at straws here, but he needs this. It'll keep him stable. If there's any of it here, it might benefit him for other people to know about it and want to seek it out.]
... A specific kind of blood. It's powerful enough that it causes leaks between realms.
no subject
Oh, so you mean that Titan's blood stuff you mentioned earlier.
[Hmmm]
...Yeah, that'll be difficult. There's no titans on Earth. Your best hope is that a spirit realm gate opens up to a place that has a being like that. Though we really can't control just where in the Spirit Realm those gates lead, so I don't know the chances of that happening.
[In other words, get comfy Hunter you might be here awhile]
no subject
Yeah, that.
[He falls quiet as he listens to Jun's explanation. No titans, no Titan blood, no reliable way of getting home. He's trapped here, away from the Boiling Isles, and the Day of Unity. A whole world away from Belos.
His mask tilts downwards as his hands start shaking. There isn't any way around it, no amount of stubbornness and denial will change the reality that he's completely and utterly failed Belos. Sure, he's failed before, but this is a new low for him. This is proving to everyone that he isn't useful, he has no value, he doesn't deserve to even exi -
And there's some very pointed chirping coming from under his cloak. He shifts a little bit, and a bright red cardinal with a scar over one eye flutters out and lands on Jun's shoulder.]
no subject
Jun is not good at comforting upset people. He's just a little too awkward for that. And he stands here now, feeling awkward.
At least until a bird comes out of his cloak. A cardinal? The frick?]
A bird...?
[He doesn't move, so not to scare the bird, but he sure is sideying it going "what"]
no subject
And really, it kind of is. From their conversation it's clear that the Emperor and no Coven Guards are around, so it's safe for him to be out and free and perch on whoever he wants to perch on.
Hunter, however, is completely thrown off by this. There was a very good reason he had his palisman hidden, and him flying around where anyone can see him is just asking for trouble.]
Hey! Get back here!
[At least this is a distraction from the utter devastation he was feeling a moment ago? But he's also lunging at Jun to try and snatch up the bird in his hands.]
no subject
Though oh- guy is lunging. Jun flinches, his arms raising up to shield his face in case that's what he's going for. But looks like he's going for his bird instead]
-- Is that a pet?
no subject
Hunter, having missed completely, huffs in agitation.]
No! No, it's just a bird. An annoying bird that doesn't leave me alone.
[Rascal gives a little chime-like chirp at that. It's the bird version of dealwithit.gif.]
no subject
He's cute. Does he have a name?
no subject
I don't know. I can't understand him. It's all chirps to me.
[Having a bird friend is very exhausting. Hunter doesn't try to grab for the bird again, he knows he's stuck waiting for him to come back on his own.]
This isn't safe. He should know better.
no subject
[He smiles up at the bird]
Too bad August isn't nearby. He's really good with birds, so he might know.
no subject
[It means the bird might be able to blend in a little easier around here. That's a tiny reassurance.]
He is? How do I find him?
[While Rascal might not be a normal bird, talking to someone who is good with birds might help? He isn't sure, but it's worth a try.]
no subject
Hmm...probably the easiest way to do it is through Libra. Do you have a phone with you?
[He'll pull out his own to show Hunter]
no subject
[That's what that thing is called? Hunter nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket. The thing resembled a really clunky scroll to him, though beyond that he hasn't really taken a good look at it. He has no clue what Libra is.
He holds it out for Jun expectantly.]
no subject
Mm, right. So these can be used for communication. There's an app called Libra that'll let you contact other people who are, uh, aware of the strange things going on.
[He'll demonstrate it by opening the app on his phone, explaining the steps as he goes]
-- Anyway, August is one of the people on there, so we can shoot him a message!
no subject
Okay, okay, this is like using a scroll. That thankfully isn't difficult, even though he didn't use one often back home.]
I can handle that.
[He absolutely cannot.]
no subject
Well. At least he figured out typing. That's something!
But to answer the name question that came up]
It's Jun.
no subject
... Thanks.
[He's going to go ahead and type that in.]
no subject
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Eventually he looks back up and - oh. This guy is still here.
He should probably say something. Something that, uh, isn't just puffed up teenage smarm.]
So - thanks for this. Talking to this guy has been useful.
[And being useful is high praise, in Hunter's mind.]
no subject
No problem, I'm glad it helped. [He doesn't know the full conversation, but at least it seemed to help]
What do you plan to do now?
no subject
He takes a few moments of silence to think of something that doesn't sound hopeless. Like he vaguely knows what he's doing.]
... Start making a plan to find a way home.
[It's the best he can do.]
no subject
...In that case, I'd start with talking to Zodiac. I don't think they know the way to your realm, but they've been interested in this whole situation and do have more resources than the rest of us.
[...]
After that, if you need a place to stay or food or anything...let me know, okay? I don't have a lot, but I have a couch at least. And food.
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