eachdraidh | sixth shot ☢ VIDEO both courts!

[It begins with a blurry image. Kieren's locket goes flying through the air, landing on marbel with a hard sort of clunk. It lands on its side, the image horizontal. For a moment, it's a little unclear why Kieren's tossed his locket, but Kieren's boot is visible, and then, there's a voice that is distinctively not his. It's the same sort of accent, though. Rough in ways that Kieren's voice is not, it's taunting and decisively nasty.

Another boot appears, this one military standard. ]

-- Lookit you.

[The sneer is audible. A knee appears, army camouflage covered and then a hand reaches out for the locket. A face appears, the mouth down turned into a smile. There's a bearded, mousy brown haired lad who glances back then at Kieren. He turns the locket towards him and shakes his head. ]

You must feel right at home here, eh? Real relaxed with all the ghouls.

[Kieren's hair is disheveled, his clothes rumpled. He looks angry; just angry enough to hide the small panic in his eyes. Gary is not supposed to be here. He's supposed to be at home, shunned and out of Kieren's life as much as possible. ] You're not here. You're not --

Shut up, will you? Your new mates can see this right? They all like you then, dead head? They know you tried to eat your old man?

[There is blind panic on Kieren's face before it's replaced with stone cold fury. ] Shut up, what the fuck -- don't you dare talk about my --

[Gary gives the locket an unimpressed look. ] Take that as a no then. This walking rotter made himself go rabid, tried to take a nice big chunk out of his own --

[The locket shakes, and Kieren grabs it in one hand. He gives Gary an almighty punch to the face and the illusion vanishes. In it's place is a ravenous beast and Kieren knows now that you can't reason with the dogs. They're not like him, not at all. He turns on his heel and runs and the locket closes over in his hand. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm fine. It was just one of the dogs, he wasn't really --

[here. He's a little out of breath and he's locked himself in the library. ]

I'm in the library.

[Those dogs, they just seemed like a pain when he first came across them, but little by little, he's seeing they're a lot worse on the sheer fact that they like to get personal.]

Good, you're okay. [At least he was alive—well, as alive as Kieren can be.] Is it still around? Can you avoid it?

[It takes a few minutes to reply; there's a howl outside the door and Kieren busies himself by going as deep into the library as possible. He feels a little ill; he's either going to be eaten or -- he has to put an end to this, himself? ]

It's outside. How -- how have people been getting rid of them?

[Jack keeps listening in to make sure Kieren's still there, rushing to fly towards Caer Scima as fast as he can.]

Holy magic—or at least that's what someone told me. It's a lot harder otherwise, but it's still possible to knock them out. I've managed to get a few. So unless you've got some secret staff of holy water or whatever on you, keep your distance until I can get you out of there.

Brilliant.

[Holy water. There's an audible howl and a loud thump. Kieren winces.]

Right -- alright. Hiding it is then. I mean, I could try to find a bible. That might work if I bash it on the head.

Heh. Probably not effective in the way we hope, but bashing's still an option.

[Library. Library. He's been there once, hopefully he can remember where that is.]

Keep talking to me, bud. I'm getting there. Can you climb? Getting on the shelves might be an idea.

I can give it a crack. No guarantees - have you seen me run? My legs are a bit stiff, these days.

[He is all too aware of his waddle, okay. He glances at the shelf in front of him and takes a deep breath. He gets to his feet and starts knocking books down, making space for his feet. His locket goes around his neck, still open.]

Right then. If you here a loud crash, I've probably just decked in a spectacular fashion.

Oh, come on, kid. Believe in yourself a bit.

[Though the shelves were a bit high if he remembers, mainly having an easy time because he could fly up to them, but he at least had confidence in their safety.]

Didn't you ever rock climb or anything?

I thought about it, once. But that was before rigor mortis set in and I rose out of my grave, Jack.

[BUT he takes a deep breath and lifts a leg to climb the first shelf. It take a moment; he can't feel anything, but there's a resistance to lift his leg too far. He grits his teeth and pushes it. ]

Right. Just like easing out a stretched muscle.

Valid point.

[He can hear the bit of strain in his voice and suddenly feels a bit guilty for making the suggestion. Within the castle, he rounds a corner as he thinks he's sure he's getting closer to his destination.]

Hanging in there? [Oh, that was a bad one.] Is it still out there? Hear anything?

Hanging, yes. Literally.

[The doors, he thinks, won't last much longer. He manages another two shelves. ]

It's still outside. You -- are you going to get by it alright?

Get by it? [Sure, that was an option too.]

It takes a while to get them with the ice, but I could probably manage to knock it out of the way long enough to get you. You're still pretty light, right?

[-- distracted: ]

What? I think so. I haven't weighed myself since two-thousand and eight.

Good. It might make the plan a little difficult if you gained some pounds.

[He approaches closer to the library and keeping himself out of sight, he sees it— that viscous beast he's seen too many times this week, lingering at the door.]

Alright, bud, just get yourself prepared. You'll be out of there in a minute.

I have some good news -- I can't gain any weight.

[But, wait -- ]

Oh Christ, we're flying, aren't we. Okay.

Hope you don't get airsick.

[It's the last thing he says for some time as there's a sudden rush and the sounds of blasts growing louder, ice bolts released from his staff in an attempt to get the dog away from the door. He has the advantage of the air, but he probably won't be able to fully defeat it in here.

Managing enough ice to form a temporary wall barrier around it, he rushes fast into the library, on an immediate search.]

Kieren—!

sixth shot ☢ VIDEO both courts!

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

voice.

Re: voice.

voice.

voice.

voice → action.