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

But I chose you.

[Sorry, Hilda, N was going to be rather insistent about this.]

Your actions and behavior were what drew me to you, and not your friends. Cheren was too wrapped up in his own quest for personal excellence as a trainer, and Bianca found her own path by working with the professor.

[And as much as he disliked looking back at that time in his life, he had defeated Alder. In his mind, during that moment, that meant he wasn't strong enough to call forth the legendary dragon trapped within the Light Stone.]

You did continue forward. That was what proved your inner strength to me.

[He took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.]

Even if you still can't see what you have inside, I can. And so can your team [he gestured to Frillish here, since he was also saying the same thing.] and even Reshiram saw this in you.

[ Hilda could see she clearly wasn't going to convince N to think the same way she did, and a part of her was thankful that he thought so highly of her. Her cheeks burned red as he continued to speak, and her hand moved to squeeze his in return. ]

It's hard, sometimes, to see yourself the way others see you. I still don't understand what was so heroic about something that just seemed like common sense at the time ...

[ She brought his hand to her cheek, leaning against it and closing her eyes, a tiny smile crossing her face. Frillish wanted in on the love, too, and he showed it by chittering a little and nuzzling against Hilda's free cheek. ]

Sometimes the bravest things people do are the things they do without even thinking about it.

[Uhoh are we getting a hug pile on Hilda? Because Swablu wants in on that, too.]

[ dnrkngkrg SWABLU. Well Hilda definitely feels the love. She steps closer to N and lets go of his hand, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Meanwhile, Frillish moves up to nuzzle N in thanks for helping his Trainer. ]

I guess that's true, too ...

[SO MUCH FLUFFY LOVE. Those wings are just so fluffy. And N joins in the hug properly now.]

I think you deserve to recognize yourself as a hero, Hilda. We all see you that way.

[ She holds onto him tightly, Frillish happily floating around and trying even more to get in-between the two trainers for more hugs. Hilda laughed a little and reached a hand out to pet Frillish again, all the while still pressing her cheek against N's chest. ]

[The adorable moment is great and all, but N did have a reason to come over here.

Eventually he does move away, going to pick up the charm and hand it to her.]

[ She looks up at him as he breaks away, confused ... but she understands what's going on as he hands her the charm.

For a moment, she hesitates. She doesn't think she deserves it still, but ... she reaches out and takes it from him anyway. ]

[That gets him to actually smile, kissing her on the cheek.]

[ She smiles a little at the kiss to her cheek, then attaches the charm to her bracelet and leans up to nuzzle him a little and place a chaste kiss to his lips, pulling away with a blush.

Frillish, meanwhile, decided to look at the charms and leave the lovebirds to themselves for however long they needed it.]

[Probably a good idea. This is likely to stay mushy for a while.

Go play somewhere else, kiddies. Your "parents" are pretty wrapped up in themselves right now]

[ Sometimes they need to be wrapped up in themselves. She returns to hugging him, resting her head on his chest, which she just barely came up to.

y u so tall, N. ]

[Genetic experimentation?

Who the hell even knows. Just cuddle with him.]

[ W-Well fine, maybe she will cuddle with him. :T In fact, she might be cuddling with him a bit now!!

Really, though, she kind of both hates and loves that he's so tall. And that he makes such a good cuddlebuddy. Even if they did most of their cuddling in bed at night and rarely out in public, it made her feel comfortable to be in his arms.

It was a weird feeling for someone who hadn't really thought bout romance before falling in love with N.

...

Wait, did she just think the words 'falling in love'?

Well, she and N had been together for a while now ... but did she really know if what she felt for him had gone from more than friends to actual love?

Behold, a confused Hilda. ]

[... confused is not the emotion he was going for here.]

... is something wrong?

[ Urk. He caught on. She might as well find a way to explain ... ]

Ah ...

[ She pulls away and looks away, not sure how to start ... ]

I just ... I thought something. And I ...

[ Did she really love him? She definitely hadn't thought about it, but she couldn't see herself with anybody else, ever ...

She steeled herself, then looked up to him, a determined expression on her face. ]

I think I love you. I just ... I thought the words in my head, and ...

I've never really felt this way for anyone else before ...

[. . .

help

how does i emote

hilda i cant

ohgod and now he's just going to stare dumbfounded and that is not the right response N]

[ And to this reaction, she shifts uncomfortably ...

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but this was definitely ... awkward ~~tirtouga~~ ~~torkoal~~.

And now all she wants to do is hide under a rock or something. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything ... ]

R-Right, so ... I'll just. See you back at the apartment ... H-Hey, Frillish, let's go.

[ And she's just gonna turn and start walking toward the apartment because she has no idea what else to do and she just wants to hide under something. SHE BORE HER SOUL TO YOU, N. But she doesn't blame you, it was kind of sudden. ]

Edited 2014-01-27 07:25 (UTC)

[Ohgod N make your brain reboot faster.

hurry.]

W-wait...

Edited 2014-01-27 07:30 (UTC)

[ She doesn't look back at him just yet, trying to laugh it all off. And doing a bad job of it. She still sounds so nervous ... ]

I-It's okay, really! It was really sudden, I probably shouldn't have said anything ... We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'll just see you later.

[ Frillish is at his trainer's side, and he knows how uncomfortable she is right now. He's trying to nuzzle her to help her feel better even if he doesn't really understand much of what's going on. ]

[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...

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