thebastion | The Festival Continues [Day 144]

The Festival Continues [Day 144]

Who: Everyone
Open: Open
When: Day 144
Where: all over the Bastion
What: Day 2 of the festival ~~because that other post filled up fast~~
Format: any
Warnings: none

Day 2 - Day of Hope and Bravery

Once again, at midnight, another torch arrives - this time with a horse along with the gear and bullshead. As before, they are list by Zulf. Some of the other decorations fade out, to be replaced by Yudrig or Lemaign-specific decorations like horseshoes, saddles, hammers and plants made of colored metal. This will continue to happen throughout the festival, with new decorations overshadowing old ones, but the old ones still remaining here and there.

During the previous day, conversations with a any of the NPCs (or the recently arrived Uras) will bring up the topic of the second day of the festival. Should you care to listen, you'll learn that they use the very early morning of this day to make wishes, wishes that you must think in to a horseshoe that will be left on the side of your home that faces where the "sun" would be rising (the closest approximation to "east").

Speaking of horses! There seems to be a pen with stallions! Unlike Pyth, one must ride one of these stallions and try to stay on it as long as they can while it bucks and jumps about wildly. Good luck to whoever can manage this, it is not an easy task at all! Only one person can win Yudrig's favor, because at the end of the day the stallions will all take off back to... wherever they came from. The person that manages to stay the longest, though, will win a lovely pair of Yudrig boots, and will gain a single very fast horse for the Bastion to keep.

Along with the horses, there will also be races! Three legged races, races while balancing odd objects on spoons, so many races! Most of these are for the kids to make up for the lack of kid-focused things from the day before, but adults are encouraged to help and participate.

Incidentally, respect is also given to those considered soldiers. Be it by their own mental thinking ("I am a soldier for justice/I am a protector, etc") or by their actual title (this includes exorcists, exorcists in training, rebel leaders, etc) but they will be honored on this day for their bravery, comittment and efforts. The same goes for masons. There will be a table set up with charms for the bracelets, specifically hammer shaped ones - everyone is welcome to take one, but anyone who isn't of this persausion may find them too heavy to wear. The charm can be removed, though, but remember to keep the bracelet!

With that in mind, about midday the center of the Bastion will be cleared and people will be asked if they would like to participate in a game of "Defend Lemaign". It's basically Capture the Flag, but with a singular goal in mind - only one team has a "flag" (actually a small hammer statue) and that team must defend it from the other team. Teams can be any size, but once that statue is grabbed and brought to the other side, OR the timer runs out with Lemaign still within his "temple" the game is over. This will continue throughout the afternoon.

When evening falls again, the second torch for the day will appear to be lit, this one decorated with hammers as well as the standard gear and bull. The day begins to wind down, though there are once again other things to do - this time an entire area dedicated to various sizes of building blocks ranging from small to huge. Go nuts, build what you want, show off your creations! And keep them, they will come in handy later! This is not just for kids, even if it seems like it.

There's also jousting taking place. Nothing as dangerous as true jousting - just wooden horses on tracks that have to be manually pushed along (so be sure to take a willing friend with yout) and padded poles that strike padded armor. Winners will find more charms for those bracelets that were given out as their prize, and five shards per win.

Also, something to keep in mind: Since the day is focused around bravery quite a bit, anyone who shows off a particularly awesome show of bravery (be it personal like asking someone out that you like, facing a mild fear and not running away from it, or something even more spectacular) you will inexplicably find your entire room decorated with horseshoes. Horseshoes everywhere. Why? Yudrig, that's why.

And anyone who visits Lemagin's shrine, for whatever reason, will find themselves inexplicably hit with a wave of optimism. Just for the day, though.

This night winds down much the same as before, and again the children are encouraged to sleep outside while lulled to sleep by tales of Yudrig and Lemagin's adventures.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He hesitates pretty visibly, knowing that he's not handling this well. It's just shock really. He's always cared about Hilda, and that's grown in to something more, something bigger than his lack of proper emotional range has allowed him to fully understand.

But on the reverse of that he's never really been certain if anyone could ever truly love him. The words that Ghetsis had said to him had left a far deeper scar than he ever truly let on.

Slowly, he reached for Hilda's hand, taking it with a slight shake in his own.]

I want to talk about it. I just... don't know what to say. Or... how to tell you...

[Why couldn't this have been an equation everything was so much better with numbers why did he have to be so awkward with people]

I never thought you'd say something like that. To me.

[ She stopped as he took her hand, frozen for a few moments as he said his piece. Hilda was trembling at this point herself, all of the overwhelming, pent up emotion she had at the moment becoming almost too much for her to handle. Her fingers slowly curled around his, but she continued to look away from him.

It wasn't that she didn't want to look at him ... she just felt like she could start crying. Hilda didn't want N to see her cry. She didn't want him to think he'd caused it.

He hadn't. She had. ]

Why ... W-Why wouldn't I?

[ Her voice is quiet, and shaking as much as she was. This shouldn't have been so hard. ]

We've been through a lot ... but through all of that, I've gotten to know you, and who you really are ... I love all of that.

[ Yes, she was sure of it now. There was no longer an 'I think' before the words. She'd never felt this way for anyone before him. It sounded silly to her, even now, because she had never thought about anything like this before she fell for N, but she had fallen for him anyway.

Maybe ... Maybe that was why she had cried so much, when he left her after everything that had happened, with only a few words and a huge hole in the wall of his castle. Maybe there was a part of her that had known back then.

... No, that was impossible. She knew nothing back then, and neither did he. But then, there was also the overwhelming desire to find him, too. That strong desire had pushed her into leaving all of the glory of being the Champion of Unova in order to search the world to find him. She'd needed to know he was okay, at the very least, even if he had never wanted to see her again after that.

She closed her eyes, her head dropping a little. ]

I know, it's sudden, and ... it surprised me, too, when I realized that was what I felt. I don't expect you to say it back to me. I just want you to be happy, N, no matter what.

Edited 2014-01-27 08:02 (UTC)

If you know all that... about me, then you know I still don't do well with emotions. With feelings. With... with things I can't quantify in numbers and equations.

[His chest felt tight, like it had during that final encounter with her before Ghetsis had intervened. But it wasn't sickening, like that fear of loss and failure that had tinged every one of his actions for so long - it was... nice. He couldn't find another word for it, it was just nice.

But behind it, he still held fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of his own emotions that he still couldn't understand.

Fear of failing her.]

Do you remember what my father said to me... ? That day in the tower, when I lost to you...

[ She nodded in response to what he had said at first ... and what he had asked her about what Ghetsis had said. She knew he wasn't good with emotions. That's why, once she had really wrapped her head around what was going on, she hadn't expected him to say anything. That's why she was prepared to drop the entire thing and just continue on with him as if she had never said anything. The last thing Hilda would ever want to do is make him unhappy, or confused him more than he already was. ]

I remember.

[ Hilda finally looked at him, tears brimming in her eyes and starting to roll down her cheeks. Her hand held his a little tighter.

Damn it. She didn't want to cry in front of him ... ]

I want to tell you not to believe a word he says, but ... I know something like that is easier said than done.

[ And it's not like she had never taken anything to heart before ... when one of the sages had told her how she had ruined N's dream, she felt worse guilt than she had ever felt in her life. It still ate at her even now, even if N reassured her that she hadn't ruined anything but his father's twisted plans ... plans that he had tried to pass off as N's own ideals. ]

I don't want to believe him. Ever. I know what he was, who he really was. Everything logical within me tells me to leave that behind and move on. But I still hear his voice in my sleep, I still... feel his eyes bearing in to me as he tells me over and over again what a failure I am!

[Her tears don't surprise him, but they also don't help him either. He feels that rare welling of intense emotions within his gut, rising in to his chest.]

Hilda, he made me believe in one sentence that no one could ever love me. You've said something I thought I would never hear, and yet all I can think of... all I can even see is all the ways I could possibly fail you, from now until the end of our lives...

I know ... it's not that easy to shake something off once it's been said to you.

[ She has experience with that, too.

Part of her wants to do the stereotypical dramatics of this sort of talk, to tell him all of the sweet delusions that they find out later is absolutely not their relationship ... but she was too smart for that. As much as she wanted to do the sappy, optimistic, high-hoped spiel about how everything would be perfect, she knew better, and she knew it would do neither of them any good to say such things.

So instead, she said this. ]

I want, so badly, to tell you that you'll never fail me. That we'll have a perfect romance, and that we won't fight, and that absolutely nothing will go wrong, ever.

We're both human, though. We're going to have a lot of failure in life, and it's just something we have to accept and learn from when it does happen. N, there might be times where you fail me, and there might be times where I fail you, too.

I know that you're trying your best, though, so if it happens ... I'll probably understand and forgive it, even if I'm upset.

[ Honey, you nearly did something pretty terrible back in Unova and she saw enough good in you to believe that you were a good person beneath all of that. There isn't a lot that's going to scare her off.

But this is more about you, isn't it? This is more about how you would feel if you failed her, right?

It's okay. She's scared of that, too. ]

Whatever happens, I feel like we're strong enough together to work through it.

[ She squeezed his hand a little. ]

It probably sounds like a load of crap right now, doesn't it?

I really do believe we have that kind of strength, though.

[Well.

That shuts him up.

Which she probably wasn't intending but if there is any way to silence the voices of doubt in N's head it's to be so fucking logical he can't argue. Everything she says is completely true, he knows it, and he can't dispute it.

And that's what he needed to hear.

He pulls her close until he can take her other hand in his, letting out an almost relieved sounding breath.]

It doesn't.

And I'm glad you told me. Given enough time... I'll be able to make my mouth say the words my heart already knows is true.

[ That gets her to smile, though tears are still rolling down her cheeks. She squeezes his hands as best as she can again, moving in a little closer and standing on her tippy toes to try and kiss his cheek. ]

Take your time. I just want you to know that I do love you.

[ Hilda pulls back a bit, her smile growing wider. ]

I'll keep telling you that, too, until you don't hear your father's voice anymore!

[ She knew that likely wasn't going to happen. Ghetsis was such a big influence on him for most of his life, and it would take a long time for his voice to go away, or even to decrease in volume. The sentiment is nice, though, and she hoped N appreciated it.

Frillish floated closer to them, happily squeaking.

You make Trainer very happy, He said to N.

When you and Grampa Zekrom left, she cried a lot. But she's all better now because she's with you! I'm happy too, because Trainer is so happy!

And to emphasize his happiness, he gave N a small nuzzle. ]

[N's cheeks went warm at those comments, and he stumbled verbally a little more before finally just pulling Hilda in to a hug again.]

I may not always say the right thing, but I will try very hard to not make you cry anymore. And even if I do, it won't be because I'm leaving.

I want to make you happy as much as I possibly can.

[ The hug was definitely a welcome happening, but when he started talking about not making her cry, at first she thought he meant in general. But then ... wait. How did he know that she cried when he lef--

Frillish.

She turned her head to pout at Frillish. ]

You told him, didn't you.

[ Frillish only chittered happily and nuzzled his trainer in return. Hilda couldn't stay mad at the little guy. She sighed and pulled a little closer to him. ]

You already make me happy, N ...

[He couldn't help but laugh at that interaction.]

You know he can't keep his mouth shut when it comes to that. Just be grateful you can't hear him.

[Really, Frillish. You chatterbox.]

I want to make sure it stays that way.

Sometimes I wish I could, if only so I could stop him before he says something embarrassing ...

[ Siiiiiigh. Frillish meant well, though. He was just very young and his brain to mouth filter was kind of ... nonexistent still. ]

I know you'll do your best to make sure of that, though.

[ She smiled, hugging him a bit tighter, finally able to relax against him now that they'd worked things out. ]

You would be taking all the fun out of it for him.

[Though maybe that's not such a bad thing.]

Do you feel better... ?

Probably.

[ To be fair, even if she could understand Pokemon on the level N did, she'd feel bad filtering Frillish sometimes. But it'd be nice if he didn't blab out all the things she wanted to hold in. ]

A little embarrassed that something I didn't want you to know about got out, but ... yeah, otherwise I'm feeling better. How about you?

I will be fine. It seemed like a talk we needed to have anyway.

[ She nods. ]

At some point or another, yeah ...

[ Hilda pulls away a little, but keeps a hold on his hand. ]

We should go enjoy the festival together.

... oh. Yeah. We should.

[That's a thing happening isn't it?]

... Or we could go back to the apartment and cuddle for a bit?

[ And maybe make out a bit? Or something, it's an option. ]

... is it bad that I... like that idea better?

It's not bad at all. I like the idea, too.

[ MAKEOUTS. ]

Okay.

[Tiny smile]

Let's ditch then.

[ She tugs at his hand, leading him in the direction of the apartment. Frillish squeaked a bit and followed after them quickly. ]

Ah... Frillish, you should go enjoy the rest of the festival.

[Hint. Hint.]

Huh? Why shouldn't he-- oh.

[ w-well, this'll be fun. there's a huge smile on her face. ]

R-Right! Frillish, go enjoy yourself! We'll just be back at the apartment!

[ Frillish stared. ]

Why can't I come back with you guys?

[Now you've got it.]

We would like some time alone, Frillish. Why don't you see if Zoroark would like your company?

The Festival Continues [Day 144]

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