WEEK FOUR: EXECUTION

[saturations]

EXECUTION: TRIAL BY COMBAT

Sunday morning starts peacefully enough, until around noon, when alarms start going off on your phones. The dreadful noise is accompanied by a reminder of the execution taking place in the Central Node. You can snooze the alarms at first, but they begin to get a little more insistent. If you're being stubborn, you can probably hold out until exactly 1 PM, when an archway opens right in front of you and pulls you in.

Today the Central Node is eerily quiet and empty. There are a few blankets laid out on the grass for those of you who wish to sit instead of standing the whole time. No refreshments have been provided, but the Residents are already there waiting for you.

As the last person enters the node, an enormous archway suddenly opens. This archway once again leads to an area which is pitch black inside, with white and grey dust falling softly like snow. The chilly air feels even colder than before, and you instinctively know you must not approach it. If you try to push through anyway, something is blocking your way. Smaller tears to the same space open in the air, at the very least. You can see what's happening, even if you can't follow.

Because - once the archway is open, Atsushi and Vin alone will begin to walk through as though drawn. All you can do now is watch and wait.

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Comments

[daggering]

[ especially considering vin is being shot at now!!! i realize i did this to eli last week but also, rude

the hand on his shoulder means emet gets to feel it when he gasps, a short, sharp inhale through his nose, as vin dodges the bullet. he's got faith in vin's skills as a fighter, and her abilities in general, and he knew this was going to end up happening from having been in her shoes before.

those sweet, bitter positives (and the faintest sense of appreciation and warm, there and gone again) get wrapped up in a swoosh of fear as vax half attempts to step forward, knowing he can't and realizing it just a second too late, then exhaling, again, loudly. ]

Fuck. [ fuck. lower: ] Come on, Sneaky. Come on.

[ktiseos]

... you said that she would get it done, did you not.

[just a quiet reminder.

and okay, maybe that arm settles around his shoulders after vax tries and fails to move. he's focused, again, as he watches this truly begin.]

[daggering]

[ his emotions go !


not at the arm but actually at vin. his emotions, topsy turvy, swoop back towards resolve and - well, pride, again, too. warmth. he's trying to project it outwards over the unhappiness, like maybe it'll get to vin. have faith. he has faith. ] 's my girl.

[ dagger dagger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ]

[ktiseos]

[there's an amused little huff, a matching flicker of it in his emotions.]

Evidently so.

[daggering]

[ no more time for joking or warm, though. all bad vibes. he's pushing forward with that faith and holding onto it like a lifeline, eyes now pretty much glued to the arch, still poised like he's about to dart forward even if he can't.

he knows vin can take a hit, too - they are cut from the same cloth in many ways besides daggers - but when the firework goes off, he can't help it, starting to try and lunge forward again. ] Vin!

[ as the emotional vibes dip back into fear and anxiety and frustration, too, that he's fucking stick here. he knows she can do it, he knows she can pull this off, but he doesn't want to stand here and fucking watch her in pain, either, powerless to do anything. the relief is there, shaky, when she lands, but it's small. come on. get up, get up, get up. ]

[ktiseos]

[he's emanating what calm focus he can, as they watch, eyes mostly on vin. she's capable, from what he can tell-- he doesn't think vax is wrong about being able to handle herself in a fight like this.]

[daggering]

[ it's hard to watch vin go through this, and to know maybe better than anyone how she's feeling. not just because he knows her, but because he's been through it, too. the desperation in her voice squeezes hard around his heart, in empathy and ache.

this isn't you.

what a horrible sense of deja vu. the emotions get worse - fear and adrenaline, but misery and pain, too, like a weight. he's almost vibrating when atsushi lands next to her, now. (didn't he do that too? try to avoid hurting percy, until it was too late? desperately trying to hold on, like maybe - like maybe he'd snap out of it?) ]

End it, V. Come on - come on, he's suffering. [ almost a whisper, now, strained, especially when the dagger strikes its target and knocks the gun free. ] You can do it.

[ktiseos]

[... it's a lot, those emotions. the misery in them, the way emet-selch is sure he's recalling his own experience with this. it sparks a little ache in him, too, just to feel it coming from someone else.

there's a brief little glow of orange as he quietly presses something small into one of vax's hands.]

...this will be as it should.

[ok actually with that update he's just. holding that hand, actually, so they both get those calming vibes.]

[daggering]

[ this is very, very well timed.

the phrase gets him to stop, as that horribly monstrous feeling rises up in his chest - he thinks about orthax, at first, head whipping to percy in fear and violent concern, but.

... as the little orange object touches his palm, the waves of calm wash over him, and he lets the words, too. as it should.

he inhales. squeezes emet's hand, and ruby's, hard.

and as he focuses on the scene in front of them, eyes back on vin, he thinks for not the first time how fucked up fate can be, and feels the ache of bone deep, crushing sorrow... and the tiniest, basal hint of relief, as he rolls his shoulders back and exhales.

... it won't last for long, though. not until it's over. not until vin comes out, and not until they're all released, the anxiety coalescing lowly as he smooths his expression into something maybe? resembling impassive. it fails, entirely, but he's at least composed. ]