014 ♛ Action

[pratful]

[ Arthur may be a man, but he was well trained and had been combing the City along with the others, making sure the ghouls were contained, herding them towards the stadium one ghoul at a time. If there was a chance at all that it would work, Arthur would do it. The screams, the decaying faces. It ate at him.

These men, these women, these children were someone's parents, friends, acquaintances.

They didn't deserve this life, this useless existence.

But then it happened.

At last, he ran into one of his own demons. His own greatest fear. Dropping the head of his spear, he stared in shock at the barely recognizable face of his once love, his last crush. ]

Guinevere?

[ It had been... months since he thought of her, pretending that he didn't love her, pretending that her words at the joust still didn't shape his every action. He had fallen in l-- almost fallen in love with someone else in that time. It had been almost a year. Even the most fledgling of emotion shouldn't (couldn't) survive that much time, that much distance.

And now he stared and felt the stone in his stomach blossom into dread and guilt, alike. He knew what he had to do. But it was Guinevere. He couldn't. There was no way he could destroy her. ]

((ooc: general shenanigans herding up the ghouls are more then welcomed! As is catching Arthur with his proverbial pants down confronting Guinevere, his once and future queen.))

Comments

action; pre-Gwen

[anatural]

[SLAM! Korra unleashes a blast of air that sent Mako flying into the wall. He falls to the ground with an audible crunch as his limbs break.

She doesn't give him time to stand.

She raises the shovel high and swings it down on his head. It's grown dull from use -- it takes her five blows to sever his neck and disintegrate him into dust.

And then that's it. That's the end. The last of her friends, gone. She takes the opportunity to collapse, leaning wearily against the wall. She'd killed them all.

It takes her longer than it should to notice Arthur nearby.]

[pratful]

[ he's fighting his own battle and although he's by no means capable of killing the ghouls, he can certainly slow them down. Decapitating his own ghoul, he quickly runs over to Korra, worried. ]

Are you okay? You haven't been injured, have you?

[ He can tell all too well what she'd been up to. He'd seen glimpses of it out of the corner of his own eye as he kept off the other lumbering fools from getting in her way.

But he still worried. It was in his nature to worry. And with a quick glance up and down the street, he attempted to grasp her arm, to help her up. ] Come on. We shouldn't linger here.

[anatural]

[Korra looks up.] Arthur. [She smiles blankly at him.] I'm fine.

[But she stumbles as he helps to pull her up. Her right ankle twinges with pain.]

Ah!

[pratful]

[ he immediately stops and then bends over, brushing his hands over her leg looking for the injury ]

You're not fine. You've obviously been hurt.

[ he just has to figure out exactly where first. ]

[anatural]

[She takes a deep breath and pushes his hand away, forces herself to stand. It's just a little sprain, nothing serious.]

It's nothing.

[pratful]

[ he glares and immediately puts an arm around her arm to steady her ]

And you're going to tell me you can run with that ankle? I find that highly unlikely.

[anatural]

Watch me.

[She takes off ahead of him, ignoring the pain in her ankle much like she's ignoring a much bigger hurt.

Not that she has any idea where she's going.]

[pratful]

[ he runs to catch up, keeping pace with her pace but only for the moment. He hasn't given up on words just yet. ]

You're being an idiot just so you know and you'll do no one any favors by injuring yourself further. At least walk, if you have to insist.

[ and walking will make it much easier for him to haul her over a shoulder in case one of those incriminating ghouls pop out of the woodwork again. ]

[Action]

[destinedtobeunpopular]

[ It's not been the easiest thing to run in-between Charlie and Arthur and every other friend and trying to keep them out of harm's way. But it feels a little like home, almost. Too much to keep track of and no idea how he's going to do it but... still ending up fine.

There's no way he's going to just let Arthur stop because there's someone he recognises, and so he's reaching out to snatch Arthur's arm and pull him back. ]

Arthur! Snap out of it!

[Action]

[pratful]

[ But he can't, not with Guinevere lumbering towards him, face in tatters, hair dirt covered and falling in clumps from her head. ]

I...

Merlin. That's...

[ he can't say her name, won't. That wasn't Guinevere. It was just a monster in her likeness. A pale, despicable imitation. He simply stumbled instead, dazed, confused, but not so far gone he can't swing his sword in swift reaction as a ghoul lunges for Merlin. ]

Watch it, Merlin!

[ He may be shaken, but the hours of practice serve him well. With one swift push, he's cleared the way and lobs off the foolish creature's head. It was the only way to stop them.

For a time. ]

[Action]

[destinedtobeunpopular]

[ --oh.

Merlin takes a few deep breaths, and shakes his head as he glances at Gwen. The ghoul of her. It makes him feel oddly sick, and he rubs his hand over his face. He can't lose his focus like that. ]

It's not.

[ And as he says that, he's reaching for Arthur's arm again. They need to get away from it. ]

[Action]

[pratful]

[ he stumbled again, twisting to look back at Guinevere, not resisting the tug of his arm as Merlin begins to lead him away.

But, then he heard it. That once sweet voice flexing vocal chords long made stiff by the rigor mortis of death ]

Traitor...

[ and he stumbled again, because, honestly, how could she know? It couldn't be because of... ]

Merlin.

[ his voice cracks out, stern, sharp and just a tiny edge of desperation laced within ] We can't leave her like that. [ he can't let her find out ]

[Action]

[destinedtobeunpopular]

Arthur.

[ He takes a breath, deep and trying to be calm, and moves his hand to Arthur's shoulder. Okay. No, he supposes they can't. ]

Anything she says like this isn't really her. Gwen's kind and understanding, you know that. Don't listen to her. We'll get her to the stadium, but you can't listen to her like this.

[ And he shakes Arthur's shoulder for good measure. ]

[Action]

[pratful]

[ he nods, solemn and showing a glimpse of the king he might someday have been beneath all the fear, the guilt. ]

I know, but it doesn't make it any less true.

[ he took a deep breath and then nodded, motioning for Merlin to keep leading the way. If anyone was going to deal with Guinevere, it was going to be him. It was the least he could do. ] The stadium. Do you really think it's going to work?

[Action]

[destinedtobeunpopular]

[ True, he says, and Merlin shakes his head at that but. Right now, it's not the top priority. He'll deal with it later. ]

It's gotten every other ghoul out of the way. It'll be fine.

[Action]

[pratful]

[ there's always a later, isn't there? A constant string of later that never seems to end. Merlin should really do something about that. ]

Until they start to turn on each other. These deities had better deliver.

[ because the alternative just wasn't acceptable. Not with Guinevere now involved. He'd just as soon kill her himself that make her suffer. Despite the giant lump lodged in his throat and the stone weighing in his stomach, he would. ]

[Action]

[destinedtobeunpopular]

[ Well there are a lot of things happening right now, don' blame him! ]

Right... I don't know what happens to them.

[ But he'll still tug Arthur in the stadium's direction as they're talking. It's best to keep moving. ]

What do you want to do, then?

Action

[livingmyths]

Arthur?

[It's a tiny little voice from someone peeking around the corner.]

They found me. I ran all the way here, but I think they're coming.

Action

[pratful]

[ his reaction is immediate and with one last glance over his shoulder at Guinevere, he's sprinting towards Rain. ]]

We should get you inside then, somewhere. Anywhere. We can barricade the door.

Re: Action

[livingmyths]

[She's a little shell-shocked and can't help staring at the ghoul behind Arthur.]

There's one there, too!

[But he's running toward her and his words are starting to register.]

I, I... I came from the Library 'cause I got scared, but they're everywhere, Arthur. I don't know where to go!

Action

[pratful]

[ he freezes and then keeps on moving, grabbing Rain's hand and tugging ]

Don't pay any attention to her. We'll... You can come back to the mansion, or we'll find you an apartment. They won't be able to get you there.

[ Charlie and Merlin have been doing their best to reinforce the house. He has every confidence that the mansion is a safe haven. And if not, it's got some of the best people defending it. ]

Re: Action

[livingmyths]

[Rain held on tightly to his hand and ran with him, looking over her shoulder as they went.]

I trust you. I know I'll be safe with you.

[She had a pure innocent trust in him - complete confidence in his ability to do anything he wanted.]

Action

[pratful]

You really shouldn't say that. I've failed that trust before. [ it was only by the good grace of Merlin that he was able to seek out another chance, to redeem himself before the kingdom fell to ruin after the unicorn had died. So many people had suffered... ]

Re: Action

[livingmyths]

[She stopped, looking up at him in startled manner.]

You never did! Not with me.

[Yes, they should be running, but this was Rain and she needed to see what was going on.]

Action

[pratful]

[ and that was because they were how lucky? How safe here in the City? Oh sure, there were curses, but that was an understood trust, an anomaly. For where and when it mattered... ]

Then you're one of the lucky few. I am afraid to say there is always a first time. [ he turned another corner, trying to add confusion and misdirection where flat out running couldn't prevail. He could only hope Guinevere lacked her usual grace in her pursuit of them. ]