eachdraidh | 3rd Circuit, Video [UNSEELIE LOCKED]

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3rd Circuit, Video [UNSEELIE LOCKED]

[Loki and Hiro have taken a small room in Diasbaile, mostly barren save for the wooden cabinets that seem to blend into the background. Loki would have done this himself, but there was insistence on Hiro's part of aiding in the delivery of the very, very bad news. The focus is on the two of them, and Loki speaks first.]

Hello.

This is a message of the emergency broadcast system. As you can see, our sirens are down for the moment, but I assure you that the news is none less dire.

[Loki's voice drops to something uncharacteristically serious.]

Ah, yes. So—listen up, Unseelie.

[Hiro's sitting almost a little too close to Loki, face more ashen than anyone in their court has ever seen. It's a reality they have to face and while he'd been hoping Loki would find some more information in his research, they're running out of time.]

Some of you had a vision at the beginning of August. A dream about fire and machines with shards for eyes. I didn't have the vision myself, Loki did…but we can both confirm these are real. These things are being created now and they are coming. Monsters that run on shards and blood. But there are some things you guys don't know yet.

[When Hiro stops, Loki barely glances down before he picks up without missing a beat, as if he's giving him a moment to collect himself. Loki looks perturbed at the recollection of the golems, but not nearly as pale as Hiro.]

Our dear friends the dwarves have crafted mechanical monsters, forged from melted metal and living shards. These mecha-beasts are brought to live with blood magic and runes. Not your basic run-of-the-mill runes, not even my fancy-smancy "stay out of my room" runes, but hundreds of them in intricate designs—sorcery that's very possibly lost to antiquity—all working together to bring them to life.

And if that isn't nightmare material, these large, metal machinations have keen senses when it comes to shardbearers, even those that find means of hiding themselves, if you get my drift.

There are hundreds, even thousands of them, with no exaggeration.

[The longer they stay on camera, the more Hiro finds himself shrinking into his sweater. Loki delivering the brunt of the bad news helps, but dredging up the memories is more than mildly horrifying. There's one key factor though that they've neglected to mention.]

We don't know when they're coming, but judging by the amount of time between the last vision and its turnaround to coming true, it's soon. Really, really soon. We don't know when they're coming and we don't know the full extent of what they can do or why they're being unleashed.

[A pause.] Ideas. We need ideas on how we can combat these things and how to keep everybody safe. Start using your brains and focus on what's really important here.

[The important thing, he thinks, is that this war? It's much, much bigger now than just Seelie vs. Unseelie. It's now about just staying alive.]

I would suggest highly against approaching them… [Loki glances at Hiro.] …As I’m certain we’ll offend them somehow.

[Considering the fact that there are other things…he can agree with that.] …right. Defense ideas then. Lay 'em out. [A beat. And then:] Privately, if you would. Doesn't matter if they're coming for all of us…this is still a war.

[And he sure does know that there are certain devices generated by a certain witch that can see this broadcast. He had agreed that the Seelie should know what's coming. Doesn't mean they should be privy to everything else, too.]

Not exactly how I pictured life in a giant robot series, hm?

[Though that’s meant more for Hiro. They have some questions to answer, and Hiro needs a little bit of a perk up.]

[Hiro at least gives a small grin in response, but says nothing else. Definitely Q&A time.]

[ooc: As a note! Most threads will be answered by Hiro, but he may call on Loki for assistance. Additionally, Hiro is aware Hermione's compasses can see posts on both networks so those with compasses are capable of seeing this post. They just won't be able to see the threads in this post. Have fun guys o/]

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If they don't listen, then I'll make them listen.

They don't have dwarves in the seven kingdoms, do they?

[A pause.] Then again, maybe your Grace gives you a better edge than the rest of us.

Lady Katsa ... [ is that a nice voice? he's scratching the crease between his brow. ]

It's evident that they want us dead and want our shards. If we lose your brilliance to find out what we already know, I daresay that we may be at a bit of a disadvantage.

Surprisingly, the nightmarish metal beasts—if they're as terrifying as you say—are enough to tell even me that. But it doesn't say why they wish us dead, do they? When most of us didn't even choose to come here in the first place?

[ to both hiro and loki: ]

My Grace doesn't make me invincible. But if we can't fight the beasts they're sending at us, then we confront what we can. There'd be no shame in running from these things if it meant we'd survive for a little while, but there would be shame in running from everything if there's something, anything we can do to stop more deaths.

[ KATSA. REALLY.

Loki tries not to put his fingers at the bridge of his nose. those metal monsters were enough to scare him (more in method than design), and he's seen his share of terrible. merging shards with that much blood magic was among the few things that made its mark on him. ]

Run I can do. [ he was never against a well-needed retreat. ] But somehow I think it may be difficult to squeeze a long, long, long standing grudge from them, especially if they had kept it so well-hidden for so long. You may be putting yourself in the line of fire of their small, smelly, bearded, mopey man wrath.

[ She hasn't seen them, so it's difficult to process the feeling of fear just on hearsay. Knowing that something could cause her to lose control of her mind and her power, that would be different. But for now all she's hearing is that it's something powerful that may or may not be fought, and she wants to do something.

She snorts a dry, disbelieving laugh. ]

You've a way with painting a terrifying picture.

If they've a grudge we had nothing to do with it. And if they already know, then they don't care, and something should be done even more urgently. Do you think I'm enjoying this, twiddling my thumbs over Voids and shards and dwarves all in the name of avoiding fire we never asked to face?

[ her volume is rising. quickly. ]

[ no.

he's a creature of change and ruin, of chaos and fire, and running up against a wall of the impossible is an antithesis that he wasn't read to bear. if there was one thing that Loki always had, it was the answer. even if it was terrible, and if it was wrong, it was his, and he had it. here he was at a loss. he hadn't fifty-five thousand years to prepare for what awaited them in the coming months.

he rubs the back of his neck, his brows creasing with frustration. ]

As much as I enjoyed being a fly on the wall of burning stone, watching rows of mechanical monsters being made, ones that I know mean despair and being able to do nothing but run when we were to be discovered.

[ his mouth feels dry. ]

I am a god of Asgard, and I could do nothing to stop this. I had no tricks left, no lies, no nothing.

This helplessness feels like the world will eat us alive, coming in at all sides upon us, swallowing us whole. I ... [ he starts and then stops, and then the crease deepens. ] ... I'm not used to having friends, and ... I understand your need, but proceed with all caution. I'd like to see you again if this world is to end.

Edited (edits a million times la la la la la) 2015-09-05 01:58 (UTC)

It's not.

[ And suddenly something overwhelms her—a swell of emotion that catches in her throat and behind her eyes, because here is something fearsome. A finality, and end, something she doesn't want but threatens to be unchangeable with nothing she can do to escape it. Katsa has felt the bars of a cage before, the trappings of a life and a future, and with this all suddenly pressing in on her again she feels as though she cannot breathe.

Dwarves, she tells herself. Dwarves can die. They can be hurt, unless she's mistaken. Surely there must be something that frightens them and some way she can use that. ]

Even monsters have a weakness. [ She would know that well. ] If they've monsters, we'll use our own monstrousness in response. We'll not die, Loki. I didn't steal my life for myself to let it be taken again, nor the lives of my friends. There'll be no end.

[ an end without choice, without freedom, and the nagging notion at the back of his brain that something is waiting for him: another him, a terrible, evil him, just laying in wait. while he refuses to give in, he's rapidly running out of resources, and their enemies, with hundreds of thousands of years to prepare, seem to be knocking on every doorstep.

he lets out a breath through his nose, dark lashes falling over bright eyes. ]

No one did. We're not fighting just to find ourselves suffering again. The end doesn't mean that I won't claw myself out from beneath the darkness of the Void if I must.

We have little resources. [ he meets her eyes again. ] So we must be decidedly cleverer.

Then what do you suggest?

[ Stressed, impatient. Katsa thinks of Po telling her that they had to outsmart Leck, that it wouldn't be so easy for her simply to kill him. That she had to wait. It hadn't ended so well then (at least at first), and she wonders how it can possibly end now. ]

Maybe we just need to find out what the dwarves want. Stop them, at least for a little while.

[ A war on two fronts simply isn't fair. ]

If the dwarves made them, there must be a way to dismantle them. I doubt they'll allow anyone back into their little cave, nor would I recommend it. There's something very scary down there that hasn't reared its ugly head yet.

[ Loki goes from troubled to thoughtful, tipping his head to the side and crossing his arms. ]

Kidnapping has a certain ring to it.

[ She's ready to argue that a cave is nothing to break into, that if there's something scary they ought to be prepared, but she stops.

An interesting notion.

Carefully: ]

It wouldn't be the first time I've committed such a crime. What would you do, kidnap every dwarf?

Strategic kidnapping possibly a few dwarves.

There have to be those that know of it more than others. You can't carry out such a large scale attack without a proper battle plan. Well, that and someone has to make a few of the bigger calls, right?

[ a thoughtful pause. ]

Maybe even those that would control them in some way, shape or form.

How do we know which ones to kidnap?

[ Her question is quick, her eyes suddenly wider and her face more engaged. ]

Have you names? Faces? A way to get in? Even if we simply found their plans, or records of how to control those shard things.

Katsa. [The way he cuts in is insistent and a sign that this needs to stop. There's also a quick swing of a tiny fist into Loki's arm that most likely just feels like a feather-light tap. Dumb gods. It's not so much that he doesn't believe in Katsa's efforts. That's the part that scares him, actually. He knows Katsa would go to whatever lengths possible to get something done and she'd be ruthless and burn everything in her path.

But he also knows the dwarves would burn her first.]

Stop. We can't focus on going to the source directly yet. We don't have time for that and like Loki said, it would need a proper battle plan. We need everybody focused on the bigger problem here and if we go after them now, who knows? They could kill you and release the machines a lot sooner. I'm mad, too. I want to find out what they want and why they're doing this, too, but we can't risk that. Please?

['Please listen to me.'] We can talk about kidnapping them later when they aren't expecting it, but if the monsters knew someone was inside, the dwarves might already be a little more suspicious. Let's not give them another reason to be.

What is the bigger problem, Hiro?

[ She slams a palm down on a hard surface in front of her, outside the view of the camera. ]

Is it the Void? The Seelie? The monsters? You'll not try to talk, you'll not fight—you want everyone to run, but what then? What comes next? We don't have time to hide and wait forever.

And I'm not ready to lose more people if we don't have to! [Yeah. Yeah he sure is yelling and it's not even necessarily Katsa's fault, but he's not sure how much longer he can deal with this conversation when she's not listening.

So instead, like a typical teenager, he just cops an attitude.]

You wanna do it your way? Fine. I didn't say we hide and wait forever but if you wanna do this now? Fine!

Fine!

[ She snaps back, harsh and reflexive, before remembering that she's talking to Hiro, who's years younger than she is. Katsa takes a sharp breath in.

It's the fear in her that's still talking, of course—the fear of being helpless, unable to control the end and the knowledge that if she and everyone else dies here the people she's left behind in the Seven Kingdoms will die as well. And the fear has a loud voice. ]

Then come up with another plan, and soon. Else I'll not ask your permission the next time.

[ ...That's meant to be as sarcastic as it sounds. ]

[He's fairly close to just throwing the locket across the room and stomping away, but it's also his own fear rearing its ugly head. He doesn't say anything for a moment, simply steaming at the way they'd both reacted but being too stubborn to apologize yet.]

We're working on it. [He's tempted to point out there are other factors he and Loki aren't sharing yet, but why show his hand?] You know what you can do for now? Put together scouting teams, use whoever we have available from last time, pool resources. I want a few everywhere we can reach to start mapping out places to evacuate to. Focus on getting the noncombatants somewhere safe to hide, then we can deal with the dwarves. Okay?

[ She fumes with him. She'll knock Hiro's head next time she sees him. She'll knock him and she won't apologize. ]

I suggested moving people; I know what to do. [ and now she's just prickly. ] And I can focus on more than one thing. You do it your way.

[Bring it on.]

If you know what to do? Then do it. [And he's just going to hang up. He'll...probably feel bad later, maybe, but he's too frustrated to even focus on what she might be saying. Sorry Katsa.]

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3rd Circuit, Video [UNSEELIE LOCKED]

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