 t's very, very cold. It's cold enough that you'll see your breath fog in the air before you, that goosebumps appear on your arms and legs and a chill goes up your spine. You're inside, in a huge palace with sweeping arches and rooms, but it's no real shelter from the cold -- it's just as cold inside as out.
There's a throne room, a kitchen, various rooms and even a dungeon to be explored -- and outside, a frigid, frozen garden, a lake that's naturally frozen over, and miles, and miles of snow as far as the eye can see.
But be careful while you explore. The snowflake soldiers are naturally dangerous, but even more dangerous than that...there's that creeping sensation of numbness going up your arm, a pang through your chest, and the slow, slow freezing from the inside out.
Try not to leave any of your friends behind, okay? Even if they might look a bit too uncannily like some of the statues hanging around for decoration when they're frozen over.
Welcome to Awash's fourteenth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs for this event, but please keep in mind the lack of laptop function during this event when it comes to forum posts!
If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you! |
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Out of the Touken Danshi, he's not the best at that, he'll admit. Then he thoughtfully speaks what comes to mind aloud:
"...Do soldiers made of snow even leave footprints on snow...? In any case, we had best try to find some more of them!"
Let him at them-! Ah, but then- "Would it be better to observe them without attacking? Or, if we do leave one alive, would it return to report to his superior?"
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Which should pose no problem for them here, with how many of these knights they keep running into, but, “But I must confess: I am not very good at stealth.”
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"You as well? I admit, I am better suited to cutting open a path among my enemies than sneaking quietly around them. Well, we shall do our best."
As they move on, Tonbokiri gives Archer's harp a respectfully appraising look. "Your harp is certainly more than it seems. I was completely astounded when you rent holes in the solders just by striking some notes. And now, you say it is useful for tracking as well. Amazing."
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But Tristan only smiles at that admission as they go on and Tristan pulls out his harp, plucking out a tune and following an invisible trail.
I don’t know how exactly this works Fate/ lore is really scant on the details I’m sorry“It is merely magic, my friend. Though I wonder if it might have a mind of its own.” You swords make him think a lot of things, actually. He can’t even look at his own sword the same way these days.
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Details? Got no time for that!"Haha, 'merely' magic? Not at all. Or rather... it might be better to say that what is common in one world is nigh-on a miracle in another. For instance, although we are somewhat alike in nature, perhaps you think my very existence like this to be unusual?" He holds forward his spear for emphasis. He then tilts his head curiously. "Does magic often show signs of having a mind of its own?"
He knows next to nothing of it, please forgive him.
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But still he smiles, because there are men like Tonbokiri who are also in a similar situation, and that strange fellow-feeling might even be considered…
“A miracle, I think, can sometimes be borne of such consequences. But I am no mage, and poetry can only carry me so far.”
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But when Archer says that he is no mage, it makes Tonbokiri fall silent for a moment.
"If I may say then, you have quite the mysterious range of talents. You are no mage, but you use magic. You are a knight, but you are reluctant to use your sword. You have the title of Archer, but do not carry a bow. You are a musician, but your music shoots holes in your foes and tracks their steps." (He looks asleep, but is keenly observant.)
"Are all the knights of your world so broadly talented?"
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“I had been told that I have a fundamental misunderstanding of what archery entails.” As most Servants in his class tend to, but it’s not something most of them can help.
“But you are not wrong. There are many other knights who are greater than I. Perhaps that is why I am content to help others from the rear.”
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Tonbokiri's expression becomes more serious, although kind. He wants to fully reassure Archer with his words.
"The rear is a place of great importance and trust. I am most pleased to have you at my back, Archer-dono."
He feels like he has only seen a fraction of what the man is capable of, but already he is completely at ease with him.
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“Ah, you are the very sort of person who could inspire many, many songs, if not the regard of women everywhere.”
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A blush warming his cheeks, Tonbokiri waves a hand dismissively.
"Not at all, I'm afraid. I am simply who I am because of my masters, so all adulation should go towards them. A-As for women... I would be flattered, but it is perhaps for the best if I do not involve myself too deeply with them."
He will never withhold anything, but he quietly hopes that Archer will not ask for a further explanation about that.
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“Come now, there is no need to be so modest, my friend. Even tools such as we can use a bit of polish here and there.”
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But Archer's choice of words there sure as heck did.
It brings his memory crashing directly into the conversation he had with Maya-dono at the fireside during camp. His stride breaks and he looks at Archer with a wide-eyed expression of surprise, his blush reaching right to his ears this time.
"How did--?!" No, wait, 'how do you know that' isn't the right thing to say. It's unlikely that Maya or Lupin spoke of it to someone else. ... Isn't it?
"Th-that is--" his expression becomes more serious, although his face is still burning, "such a term that is used for an object cannot be used for a man."
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But, as Tonbokiri has himself observed, Tristan is not a man to miss out on the little details. “And you are man enough. There is no harm in enjoying yourself like one.”
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He is still astounded, and speechless for a moment. How even are they having this conversation...? It's not like he's going to hide from it, but it's an entirely unexpected topic, especially given that they haven't known each other for all that long.
"Yes... You are correct. I am entirely a man. However... I suppose I have not given much thought to that kind of 'enjoyment', since all of my comrades are men."
Have been men, up until now, being in Chroma.
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“Forgive me, my friend. I merely tease.” And it’s clear enough that Tonbokiri’s uncomfortable with the subject, so he’ll let it slide. Not everyone is really into that sort of thing, least of all when they have more pressing business to attend to. The trail seems to bring them further and further away from the supposed center of the palace, and it is beginning to worry him.
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"Thank you for saying so. I don't mind that topic, however I admit to being surprised by you bringing it up so easily. Perhaps it would be better suited to a time when we have a bottle of warm sake between us."
He's not forgotten his promise, but the right opportunity will take a while.
As for the path, he's following Archer's lead easily, unconcerned with exactly where it will lead them, but rather with how many enemies will be there.
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“But you have the right of it, in that we’ve little time to waste on such matters at the moment. Our quarry appears to be quite the wanderer.”
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Yet, looking towards the grand entrance of the palace, he sees no grouping of guards. There might be one or two on the other side of the open door, guarding it as would be proper, but certainly nothing worthy of an 'origin' of these snow soldiers.
"That said, the front entrance is no barracks. Could it be we simply tracked one back to its post?"
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But not enough to field a standing army, from the looks of things. And certainly not enough that they’d be serious threats to most people within the palace. Still, his frown grows deeper, his eyes cracking open to stare out into the snowy wilderness beyond the open doorway.
“Unless these soldiers did not originate from this palace at all.”
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"Not from here? ... Then what reason would they have to defend this castle? An allegiance? Is there another castle out there? But it is nothing but ice and snow as far as the eye can see, and the soldiers were here when we were."
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And there’s no mage to make sense of it all. This is incredibly vexing.
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"It does, however no information is in vain. Thank you for trying to track them, Archer-dono. Perhaps we can still try tracking one by sight..."
Turning to go back by the way they came, he finds that several snow soldiers have noticed them and, in their aggressive manner, are headed straight for them. Hefting his spear, he grins.
"Ah. Good timing. One of those would do."
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But all the same, he can’t help a little chuckle. “Then let us see which of us can snare a snowman first.”
He’ll even put his harp away for fairness’ sake and draw his sword.
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Oh, it’s on.
All they need is one or two to follow, right? Tonbokiri sprints forward, spear meeting the forerunner snow knight’s icy sword with a strange sound. As with all the ones before, it take him just a short time to force an opening and he cuts the first down into a heap of snow while a second knight slashes at him. One thing that makes these fights difficult is simply how recklessly aggressive the knights are. Tonbokiri flows from offense to defense then abruptly lunges out again to cut off the arms of the second knight. Its arms and weapon fall to the ground uselessly.
Taking a beat to assess the situation around him, Tonbokiri notices that the commotion has attracted the attention of the gate guards.
“I’ll get the ones behind us,” he calls out to Archer as he sprints away from the melee, confident that the man will have it well in hand.
So, unnoticed by him, the soldier whose arms he’d cut off kneels by the heap of snow that was its fallen comrade, and from that snow starts magically reforming its arms…
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