Lumiere

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

"Golem... Madmen..." The head somehow spoke in Walker's voice in the tone he used when he decided to use such terms. No other comment immediately came from this, as if they were...reflecting...the words back to the man. Instead, they were eerily silent, even as the reconnected arm slid down their side to guide the fragmented leg pieces back into place and then went about adjusting the stockings back up the fractures to cover the damage.
A sliding click of soft marble upon itself rose from how the eyes blinked. "Lady Liaison," They began, creaking as they lifted themselves, "and, Lord Protector...?"
The questioning was stated in a way as one would recall names. They shuddered as they rose to their full standing height of about 5'6. The other hand rolled out of the brush, eagerly scooping together shards and chunks to reconstruct another arm. "The player of this part will be known as...Jasper Lanes," They introduced, taking a moment with the actual name portion. "As I am mandated to uphold a representation of common reality that is objectively 'true', I am required to inform you that I am the 'Godot' model, and the first na- name th-that...the fi-..." They seemed to seize for a moment, catching themselves in their step and sliding their other boot to click against the other...then kick leaves away so they could properly assume balance. "Pardon...I...cease clearance to the locus at this time. As per the dictation of The Lord Madam, it is unwise of me to divulge my...true?...name. I expect no more from either you-" They nod to Violet, expression stony as they say, "Lady Liaison, or you-" they then nod to Walker, "Lord Protector."

Their gaze then turned to Kite who returned the gaze, taking a few mute steps forward. The golem, who had introduced themselves as 'Jasper' remained steady as a statue, their mouth unmoving the entire time, no expression betrayed even a grain of sand down a dune.
Kite glared, narrowing their eyes as an ear flicked. The bars of brows raised a solemn millimeter on Jasper's face before speaking, "Access...denied..."

Kite groaned and stumbled back a few steps, a blood vessel popping in their left eye, turning the white to a crimson red. Snorting and coughing a smattering of blood, against the leaves by the tree they clung to in order to brace, sinking down to their knees and snorting a few times in apparent distress.
Jasper's eyebrows lowered once more, though their eyes also narrowed, merely watching as the rabbit-like creature coughed another spattering of blood, their sinuses apparently having hemorrhaged from the exertion.

"Valkets. What is a 'Kite'...You are from another land. Please try not to be alarmed by the feedback. Thank you for continuing to live, your service is paramount. To this end, I require you to cease attempts to access my core." They explain, kneeling down for the other hand to drag the shambles of an arm into place, similar to the first. "What elaborations you..." They started, the voice of Kaath speaking up the way they previously mimic'd Walker continuing, "...Drops'n an'ocean...*(a sound like the crackling of fire in the background)*...Like...yeh, loik ifn a leaf fell tha roit way, ah? B'loik, in tha'oll forest...y'know?"

"...seek, Leaf in The Forest. Pardon, I was instructed not to show restraint to interlopers" Jasper concluded, turning their head back to the two and nodding, respectfully. "Lady Liaison, Lord Protector," before taking shambling steps towards Kite, reaching into an interior pocket. Kite, holding his forehead with a palm while blood slowly dribbled down a nostril, raised a hand to Jasper who merely replied, "You will want to be at strength by night. Please do not bring the clients into harm's way..." they spoke, offering Kite a hand in one palm, and a handkerchief with the other.

Without a word, Kite snatched the handkerchief from Jasper, who remained with their other arm outstretched.

"It does not have to be this way."

Kite, hesitantly, shakily, took the golem's hand, and they gently eased the rabbit to their feet.
The inner-ridge of Jasper's brows lifted a single millimeter as they hooked their other arm around the small of Kite's back and held him to themselves in order to help him walk, until they were able to do so, themselves.

Jasper, watching Kite, noted how their eyes went to Violet for the smallest glance, turning the cloth over to continue cleaning their sinuses.
Jasper, in turn, slowly looked up to Violet with the same, unmoving expression.
"Liaison, indeed~" they chirped.

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

[REDACTED]

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

Whistling a soft and jaunty tune, the appendages continued to try to worm their way back to where the vibrantly colored cloth laid. Seemingly numb to what any of them were saying, the voice kept up, small chunks of ceramics tumbling through the neighboring foliage as if tosses into the clearing from the left side of the scene relative to how the two exited the apparent ruins. The squawking died down to a choked sputtering, accompanied by the kicking up of leaves moments before a pop of vertebrae cut the struggle short.

Aside from the gentle breeze through the trees and distant alien birdsong, the clearing was rendered eerily quiet after this as foliage, high and low, rustled with the panicked retreat of a myriad woodland critters.

...save for a shifting weight some ways respectfully off. Walker, on edge, could note the shifting of boots in proximity of this silence, the tell before an ambush...that didn't come. For better or worse, if this sound was just a larger beast making its final steps away, or a surreptitious voyeur keenly noting the goings-on, the strange surroundings veiled the eyes that paranoia insisted were creeping in from all around. As, once one hears such a distinct sound, they acutely await the next click of a stick or shifting of leaves...accentuating the eeriness of the acclaimed hostile wilds.
Books and spook-stories told at a hearth would whisper of such moments, just before the antagonist would reveal itself in all of its horror.

Meanwhile, as Violet picked up the legs, they extended to rigidity, making it significantly easier to haul them. At this moment, the humming stopped, and the voice chirped, "Hoo hoo~" with a piping tone like wind through an instrument, coming across more direct in the tone. "My core frame is located in your approached proximity. Flagging, the tapestry should denote my primary mass. Once ambulatory, I will be sufficient in aiding my own reconstruction, and will be serviceable in moments soon after~" they cooed, a bit monotone in their direct addressal. Flecks of porcelain began to flick from the right, as well, as a scuttling in the bushes came from where the 'squawk' originated.

"As I am unfamiliar with your land, I urge you to remain calm during my recompilation..." they began, sounding hollow but in a reassuring tone, the flecks ceasing to come from the left side as the scuttling became more aggressive. The sound of leaves shifting under a light, spidery, weight accented their next playfully cooed words as one of the ankles in a boot twisted.
"...All involved parties~"
In the same moment, off in the direction the toe of the boot turned to, the voice of a man picked up in a bout of panic. "H-wh-A-AAHH!! GIT IT OFF!! GIT IT OFF!!!"

The playful voice resumed humming as a man tumbled out from behind a tree they must have been crouching behind...a pale porcelain hand scrambling over them, which they fought to slap at and shake off like one would a spider. Tripping into a bush, the hand shifted and perched on the base of the foliage while they rolled out, with a surprising level of dexterity, drawing a light crossbow in the same motion. Angling the weapon, the hand splayed out to balance on the ring and pinky-finger while the bolt sailed past with a small spark as the metal struck the palm of the presumably porcelain appendage, knocking it onto the back of its hand. While the fingers wriggled and turned, the man used this bought time to leap off into the woods, disappearing in an instant into the farther foliage.

A shallow series of piping chirps came from the body against the log, an expression at the pace with a laugh. A complete arm, doll-like in the joints of the shoulder, elbow and the complexities of a wrist then crawled out of the foliage to the right, the thumb and pinky clinging to a particularly large chunk of porcelain underneath it, wandering over to the tapestry.
The arm set the section down and then started wrestling with the fabric to feed itself, backwards, up what was apparently a sleeve until a click was heard and it began functioning as such. They picked up the chunk that had been brought close and fed it into the space under the tapestry with a hissing click before lifting with a splayed palm in a show of submissiveness, as one would try to convey that it was not a threat.
The other hand, on the other hand, scrambled over the mass to root around in the bushes where the voice had been coming from, presumably to collect the associated parts.

"For your aid in my reassembly, I will endeavor to be as forward with the collective 'you' as I am capable." The voice chirped from the motionless bottom half of a head that the hand dragged out of the bushes. A pleasant smile on painted lips, it held an open domed base, as if it would fit onto a ball...or another dome? It was something else from how anatomy would be expected to work, having no noles of any sort in spite of how it seemed capable of speech.

Within a Second

Damage...
Damaged...

The Lord Madam was a temperamental creature, and I chose not to hold ill will towards her response, what with the recent harrowing.
I chose not to hold ill will...

Damage...
So separated, the pieces reflexively endeavored to return, but I could feel this sensation The Lord Madam had told me about. This...

...beginning assessment for review...

Anger.
- I was damaged through her passing whimsy and left to have my tapestry soiled in the dirt like trash, for a feat exacted against them which I did not inflict. Such results are incompatible with our mission. We try to are helping.
This is...unfortunate. This behavior is unbecoming of The Lord Madam, and I will see it rectified at a lat//// at a...later //////

I will....make....it....right....

The Lord Madam and her whims are irrelevant to the course of the primary objective.

Resolve.
- I choose for this entry to be 'resolve', as gentle arms carry my legs. Since losses are acceptable, the eschewation of The Lord Madam to my company is...unfortunate... /////
The Lord Madam's grace will return to me. I am not concerned.

Objectives.
- Prevent the premature expiration of clients.
- Do Right.
- Maintain an objectively true representation of common reality.

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

"If'n oi had answers, oi'd 'av 'em for ya," Kaath softly groaned in response to Walker's suppositions. She then appeared to shrink back as violet raised her voice, their ambiguous pools of amber, wide, flicking from the ball of fire in her hands to her face. While Violet appeared to be recomposing themselves, however, they once again narrowed as they returned the cloth to a pocket. Still, they heard the fortune teller out, looking frustrated yet perplexed at the mention that the Kites fought. "On the topic of sloppy desperation..." they sneered at Walker with a scoff, their brow then twitching as Kite slid off of the slab and and deeply inhaled as if about to speak.
The feathery fluff of Kaath's mane defensively sharpened back, and it would take a moment to note the silence that then filled the room. Kaath's eyes were locked on the rabbit-like creature's eyes, as theirs were set on hers.

"W-wouldn't you like to know?" she defensively hissed after a few seconds, holding their sword tighter but maintaining eye-contact for another moment, the slits heating to a deeper hue as the faint clicking sounds rose from behind the plated scarf. Clearly subjecting Kaath to a line of questions through visions, the woman now began to seem visibly unnerved, their mostly-contained anger reflexively slipping out, exposing the glaring weakness of the strange figure. The scalding glare of the alien creature passed back to the other two in consideration before snapping back to Kite, the heat and weight leaving their eyes which grew wide. A hand moved from their sword to the medals on their coat, "I..." she began...and Kite tilted his head.

The rage was abruptly back in strides, whatever implication or question issued by the rabbit having been apparently the wrong one, as Kaath let out a scream of a roar in the same breath as barking, "AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, VALKET!? WHO HAVE YOU KILLED FOR YOUR BAUBLES!?!?"
Trembling, the woman appeared to have taken on a stature that put her a few inches taller than before, though hunched as they loomed from the corner that a tall shadow cast over the flames of the small fire which fluttered and spat in withering timidity from the chill that emanated from the woman. Kaath visibly swelled in their coat, the stitching creaking against the outline of muscles that pushed from within the fabric.
Kite held up his hands, ears folding back, though Kaath swiftly and dismissively hissed, "Yesss. A common misssstake!"

This time, however, her movements seemed slow, the tip of the massive sword dragging a few feet across the cobblestone as Kaath stomped and single pace forward and seemingly made every effort to heft the sword into a horizontal slash, but it was as if the blade had gained a mass that the monster was having significant difficulty even lifting. Kite hopped up onto the slab to avoid how the sword sank into the side of it before tumbling from the shallow cut and dragging Kaath down...until it fell from her grip...and clattered to the ground with a heavy, but not abnormally so, weight.

A moment of stillness washed over the scene as Kaath silently stared at the sword before whispering, "Loqias.."
And she was gone, a sighing wash of warm air filling the vacuum as they sharply faded without another sound. The fire rumbling back to life, though diminished with its limited fuel, slowly crept back up the logs which tipped over in a small flurry of sparks.
Kite eased themselves down, avoiding stepping on the sword to wave their hand through the space Kaath once occupied, without resistance. Ears still folded back, they looked to Violet and Walker with urgency before turning to the fire, pinching the tips of their fingers together, causing the metal caps on the end of their gloves to clink.

A chime like a bell rang out, light in timbre...
...and shadows on the wall began to ripple into existence.

A silhouette of a large bipedal figure with a long snout, it wormed and swirled to become a bloated...serpent?
The fire crackled and thrummed with a swirl of wind to bolster its light.
The figure brightly shone from a pin-prick in the middle of it...and then began to peel away like parchment being set alight from behind.
The figure was then a person.
The figure was then the first beast, the light continuing to expand, burning into the shape of a sword that grew, almost difficult to look at in its light as it grew to overcome the shadow.
A wreath of flickering shadows blew around it like a breeze.

The display dissolved in an instant as a voice spoke from down the tunnel, its voice pleasant, but the words indiscernable. This accompanied a hollow booming of stone being shifted as light faintly shown at the end of the hall.
The voice spoke again, and was cut short by the sound of smashing pottery.

Kite sniffed, a folded ear flicking as they looked down the hall and then over to the others.

"Miss! ...Miss?" the voice called, clearer but echoing, "Oh...I suppose I will wait here, then." Kite's ears slowly stood back up, starting to casually make their way down the hall, stepping around rather than over the sword. They briefly looked back to the others, but continued, regardless.

Outside

Spooling Sequence...

Segment 2

Segment 2

Birds in the Willows

The glow from outside the opening revealed itself to be a ray of sunlight pouring in through the trees. This mouth of a cave being something built into a hill in the middle of apparently nowhere. Faintly, the distant babble of a brook could be heard over the warble of foreign birds and chirps of a myriad of insects. Gently, the trees waved from a breeze that passed far above, but also leisurely whistled through the trees in a hauntingly melodic tune as if a flute was being played some countless miles away.

"Hoo hoo~" a voice warmly chirped from nearby, somewhere to the right. At about this time, the melodic whistling stopped, dulling to a soft humming. An angled hat with a skull-shaped pin sat nearby the door, a colorful tapestry of clean-looking fabric hung over a log to the side of the faded trail. Pale chunks of porcelain flecks appeared to have been violently scattered in that same direction along with the dust of whatever caused the mess to be embedded into the rockface; something having impacted it hard and directionally for the mess to have been made. Two knee-high boots laid at the base of this mark, still occupied by presumably their former owner's legs which hung out. However, no blood was present, instead, the legs appeared...smashed off...as if the legs within them were made of the same porcelain substance that scattered the forest floor.

"Da'anes-e'da!" The voice once again spoke from the bushes that the hat laid upon, a greeting like the one Kaath had given. "Please, if you will, pardon such circumstances. I intended to be presentable for this part. The Madam appears to have been put in a mood." The voice sang, though their tone fell to an apologetic impression on the last sentence. "Ah! My manners. You must distressed from such events, I will-" they began, one of the legs flexing and kicking once. "...Regrettably...I was recently rendered immobile. Please endeavor to remain calm while I...just..." they apologetically yet mechanically stated, the toes and knees of the boots flexing and turning, painstakingly but determinately attempting to crawl to where the tapestry laid.
"While I do not feel pain, I understand how the development of my state can yield distress...I will understand if you are no longer present when I recompose, however..." they were cut off by a guttural squawk of a large bird was heard not far off along with a gentle snapping of bone. "In the Madam's stead, I request your permission for me to guide you from the wilds." they warmly...almost monotonously explained. After a moment, the voice chirped, "My hearing is currently impaired, and I will repeat a semblance of this message, momentarily."

The voice in the bushes, the bottom half of a face made of a porcelain-like substance would then begin softly singing and melodically humming while the shards gently trembled and the boots continued to worm their way, one agonizing yet patient inch at a time. At the base of the mark where the boots wiggled from trembled a pointed ear-shaped depiction of the same material.

Lanes

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

Kaath dismissively snorted at Violet's request, though they hesitated as Violet lifted their crystal ball between them. A brief moment of surprise danced on the monster's expression as the weight of their glowing pools of amber shifted from the woman's face, to her...bauble...then back to her. For three breaths, Kaath seems to wait...waiting for Violet to 'throw the first punch' before their surprise cooled to a disappointed contempt; an expression of annoyance that something so small would get between them and their aim.
With a long breath, Kaath heard them out, their eyes even turning to Walker with a brief consideration. Kaath's right hand rested on Violet's shoulder, being left-handed, and she leaned in to share a few intimate words.

"S'one moit be..." she simply said, her tone collected but shaking. So close to the woman, Violet could make out a scent akin to honeysuckle and a faint lavender. Their breath, however, was a...non-voice...Kaath seemed to be speaking through inhaled breaths, likely to give it a shriekingly lighter tone than whatever their true tones were. The proximity seeped a malice into the faux fortune-teller; a trembling of seeming eagerness that radiated out from their physique...until Violet would realize she was involuntarily shaking.

Given how Kaath's voice had sounded, so far...accented, stuttered and masculine.

Kaath weighed the consequences, the arm on Violet's shoulder slipping down to hold them close, hoping to keep the articulations of a mage from blasting a hole through her. Kaath's left eye looking somewhere else as their sword arm extended with a withering screech of the metal sheering through the stone ceiling in a swing over Violet's shoulder.

----

And nothing came. No squelch or slice. Not even the crunch of the massive metal reaching ground.

The sword halted mere millimeters from cleaving Kite's skull. Kite swallowed, sitting and looking up at the sword and then to Violet and Walker with wide eyes.
Kaath, meanwhile, seemed perplexed...but not entirely surprised as they tried a sawing motion, the massive blade rocking in mid air.
With a gasp, Kaath broke from Violet with a step, heaving back the blade and lashing for Violet with a fluid motion that was lost in the dim light, the intention found once Violet would perceive the cool radiance of the metal being close to her cheek, as Kaath had apparently attempted to bisect her with a semi-vertical swing...before the blade halted like before.

"I..." Kaath stammered, taking a few steps back, pulling the sword close and looking from its hilt to the group with wide eyes. "...I...see..." she softly spoke, curiously running a corner of the heel of her right palm to the sword's edge, which ate into her flesh like boiling water into snow...the apparently expected reaction, as Kaath only winced and pulled her hand away and violently shook it, glaring, confusedly, at the group. "Issss not right..." they growled, kicking over the logs in the fire in frustration and pacing another step away while hugging their massive sword. "E'res only evah one 'tha fekkahs! Yer story's shoite!" Kaath bellowed as if to call Violet out, an insulted and hurt inflection to their tone as they then worriedly addressed their sword with the polishing cloth, retrieved from their pocket, to pinch and smooth clean the spot that had sunk into her own flesh.

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

[Unnecessary]

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

@Dark Cloud
Oh! Yikes, I didn't check notifications. My deepest apologies. >_<;
Theres a discord, and I wasn't actually expecting interest during this revival period. ^^;

The 'original plan' didn't have openings for a while, but I think we may be able to take one more on board. May actually help with a few aspects of progression...

PM me CS?

Edit: I'm otherwise happy to answer questions.

Unheroic: The Backwards Castle

"Y'huudle go well?" Kaath flatly asked as the crew made their way back into the chamber. Using a well worn oil-stained cloth to wipe and polish the last half-meter of blade that had been shoved into the stone, previously. The glowing rich ambers of her eyes vaguely darted between them, watching for sudden movements, but relenting with a satisfied huff once they seemed to be left more or less alone in favor of briefly resting once more. The weight of the dim region of their eyes watched Violet as they approached Kite, Kaath's hand stopping in the motions as they observed; a faint scowl on their expression that turned back to indifference as they went back to their work on the old yet beautiful blade. In the firelight, veins of blue and green lept and licked along it in mirrored distortions. Clean as it was, Kaath continued to 'play casual' and quietly observe while addressing the rest of the massive sword.

The words from Violet's lips.
The hand through their plumed fluff.
With the words of expectation, Kite's head tilted away from Violet's hand with a small "mrph..."

Kaath stopped, her expression showing no element of relief as the narrow, ever-skeptical eyes peering over the edge of the scarf to look between Violet and the rest. The sigh of relief that came from them sounded more like an annoyed scowl before their alien forked tongue hissed, "Sssee? Not'n ever been a difficult bout, fffehk..." before chuckling gently in a more human tone, assumed to be genuine.
Kite groaned and rolled over, thinking themselves on the floor and trying to stand up on the respective platform. Kaath's tone endeavored to be reassuring, though they still curiously watched as Kite stood and coughed, a sound that resonated from...behind their mask.
Drawing in air, the mask hissed and whistled between its grooves. The struggle caused a wheezing sound from the figure who huffed and went to sit, hooking the heel of one of their boots to lower themselves to sit on the edge of the platform.

"Did...that one...always make such noises?" Kaath asked as Kite hooked their fingers under the mask and began to pull, the ripping of fabric audible with every inch they worked.

Looking back, no, I would have been within my right to cut this abnormality out...and nobody would have been able to stop me. It was wrong. Something about this was wrong, but it...felt familiar...I wasn't sure I was curious.

Hissing inhales, whistling from the closed mask and the peeling edges, the black of the fluff around the edges swiftly faded to white as if pulling the mask off drew all the color out of the figure. Seemingly in an even more literal sense, the obfuscation that made up the interior was still clung to the mask like a layer of latex, connecting the bristling white fluff of the face that desperately gasped before throwing the mask to the floor. Clattering like wood, the mask jostled and noisily flipped, the empty, featureless interior invisibly feeling for its place before coming to a rest the way a bowl would wobble around to a still.

Kite, their details apparent, their eyes darting between everyone, hyperventilating for a moment before holding a breath and letting it out, slowly. "Hmemph..phahmph...fefm fefa feffhamf..." they...said?

"N..." Kaath started, looking to Walker. "N-naawhh...ah? Neh..." They began, hefting the massive sword and taking a few purposeful steps towards Kite who looked up at the sight, unmoving.

:ὁ Animalia [OPEN!]

Jeez, I hope theres room for one more.

To the Depths (Underwater sci-fi adventure)

Totally understand. Take it easy.