we'll need quite a few fake snake tongues

[finalbows]

WHO: Rose (and +)
WHERE: Rose Barn
WHEN: Day 20 + 21


there is an UNNAMED DEVIL AND OR FIEND in this pasture WE GOTTA FIX THAT

also blossom's love life the stageplay planning still going on over here

Comments

[wants_the_phd]

[this Unnamed Devil and or Fiend has been lurking around the Rose Zone. And by that I mean creeping around in the shadows, sniffing around the corners, just giving the barn a thorough top-to-bottom inspection, mostly while nobody's around. Often she leaves and explores somewhere else around Woolietown, but for some reason her feet keep bringing her back here. She doesn't even want to be in the barn. It's giving her hives. But eventually she sucks it up and comes inside because apparently these are the people who are the most likely to be required to tolerate her.]

Where does someone have to go to get a sketchbook around here?

[finalbows]

<sub>[ laying on the godawful, uncomfortable fainting couch, with a bunch of chintzy, overdecorated cherub pillows for support. he is currently reading a book titled MUCH A-DODO ABOUT NOTHING, with the listed author of Lord Avon.



when the fuck did he get there. ]</sub>

Red's. Pick some wildflowers on the way and save yourself a trip back outside.

[wants_the_phd]

Thanks.

[wants_the_phd]

[Leaves]

[pleasantmisery]

You should talk to Red! He's the fox wearing a dead sheep, he's got a shop in town. Red's good for random stuff like sketchbooks and paints and things.

[wants_the_phd]

Oh, thanks! That's good to know.

Knowing I can still get stuff like that is a load off my mind.

[catposting]

Summon a demon and wish for it.

'basic food acquistion' was a preinstalled app

[finalbows]

<sub>[ two things.

one,
angel devil's Tail Out all day today, for some reason.

two,
he actually did a forage. committed a forage? he brought back stuff, anyway, from when he went out in the morning with a little caravan of red sheep, drilling them on lines: "they" (the sheep) collected a few days' worth of cattails, button mushrooms, wild onion stalks, and dandelion greens. it's all made it into the kitchen in two baskets, because angie still forgets the whole 'we have a fridge' thing.



the terrible truth is out. the fop knows some extremely basic foraging facts. that is, the truth is out if you saw him outside leading the field trip to and from the lake... or saw him slinking out of the kitchen after leaving the baskets there. ]</sub>

[strateelgic]

[Several vines spring from the ground in front of Angie like thorny prison bars to block his way as Pond Fiend appears at the other end of the room to look through the contents of his baskets.]

Oh? Aren't you even going to show me what you have?

[pleasantmisery]

[Shadow Fiend is a busy bee as usual but today she has returned with a big ol' basket of various vegetables and herbs and such that she has foraged, and is sorting/cleaning them in the kitchen.]

[finalbows]

_{[ shadow fiend you are so much better at the Don't Starve Together larp than he is. how did you even spot half these ]}

after sugar appears on all the windows in the pasture, day 20

[finalbows]

<sub>[ .....okay so angel devil MAY have broken the glass in one of their windows due to a capital h Hijink featuring Yata. it's fine! it's a barn! they usually don't have windows! he can-- he can't fix it.




he's sweeping it up, it's fine. ]</sub>

COIN TOSS, DAY 21

[finalbows]

Re: COIN TOSS, DAY 21

[strateelgic]

[After his previous fountain visit, Pond Fiend is determined not to get his hopes up for any future ones.

Though he also knows that if he doesn't get a memory this time he's liable to break something.

In goes the coin and he steps back to watch, one hand reflexively over his chest.

It's his first day at Night Raven College. Their first day - his, Azul's, and... his brother's. It shouldn't feel as odd as it does to have the other merman standing beside him in his vision, grinning at the assembled students in their matching ceremonial robes.

He sees familiar faces in the crowd, and one in particular exhibiting that level of bossiness and self-righteousness he's come to associate with the head of the Heartslabyul dorm. (Not that he'd be the head of it quite yet at this point.) His brother seems to find the red-head amusing, not that Pond Fiend can blame him. Trying to recall this memory himself without the fountain brings only a vague, choppy recollection of the time, which must mean that his brother had played a large part in it.

This is proven correct as Off-Beat starts antagonizing Riddle, leading to quite an interruption in the middle of their sorting ceremony. It's fantastic. The fact that he hasn't been able to recall it until now is a crime against the world.

He grins with his teeth clenched tight and quietly daydreams of knitting his sibling a sweater from pink wool.]

open to cross-team cr; cw murder, gore

[catposting]

[ he waits until dark this time, when there's less disturbance all around. tosses coin. ]

[ a younger Blood Fiend, dressed in lavish clothing, perches on the desk of some sort of control room, legs crossed, waiting. a girl in black uniform approaches. she bows, holding out a USB drive. ]

I did as you asked, Commander.

[ Blood Fiend(?) slides off the desk with a smile, taking the drive. ]

I trust that there were no complications along the way?

No, Commander. That place had decent security, but it was hardly a problem. Honestly, I...

[ she falters. ]

...?

[ it's just a memory, but the air seems to stand still. ]

S-sorry, it's out of line. I shouldn't say anything.

[ Blood Fiend(?) laughs, shaking his head. ]

Now you've got me curious. Surely you don't want to leave me hanging...?

... I-it's just... they're such a primitive lot. Some of those mutts can barely transform. Other races have far higher combat potential, don't they? So I... I guess I don't understand why Lord ■■■■■■■■■ would pay such a price for this kind of scouting mission... N-not that I'm complaining, of course...

[ ■■■■■■■■■ gives her a long, long look. he sets the drive aside. ]

Officer?

[ she stands to attention, visibly trying not to squirm. ]

S-sir, I didn't mean it like—!

That mission was riskier than you think, but you did well. Here, I'll even raise your paycheck.

Y, you will?!

[ he doesn't answer at first. suddenly, her eyes bulge. she clutches her arms to her throat, gagging; he turns away. ]

Take a vacation too, Officer. You've earned it.

[ she explodes. blood and flesh remnants splatter onto the walls and floor, but doesn't reach the computers or ■■■■■■■■■. he doesn't even look.

instead, he picks up the drive and pops the drive into one of the computers. dual screens appear, showing scenes of canine beastkin going about their daily lives within a floating ship. the sounds are muffled to you, the fountain-viewer, though ■■■■■■■■■ can clearly hear what's going on. the scenes play on fast-forward as ■■■■■■■■■ toggles the settings — canine people dining, playing, training, bathing — until a flash of red appears on one of the screens. ■■■■■■■■■ sucks in a breath.

the playback resumes normal speed. there's a redhead — identical to the one in Blood Fiend's previous fountain memory — sitting around a table with a bunch of other canines, exuding an air of authority. ■■■■■■■■■ remains deathly still as the scene plays out (it's just a friendly game of poker, lmao). as the redhead walks out of the door, ■■■■■■■■■ yanks the drive out.

he crushes it in one hand. ]

[ outside the fountain, Blood Fiend's cheeks have lost all color. his posture mirrors ■■■■■■■■■'s; deathly still, tail slack, as if the world around him is no longer there. ]

Open memory to whomstever

[finalbows]

<sub>[ angie gets another, nice peaceful memory of him caring for a very young Zidane again in the vibrant vista of weird monkey body horror world. It's a lifeless place, save for the two Genomes in the scene. Angie's his typical self, save being back to the redhead look; all broad, exaggerated for clarity motion that looked almost more at home on the body of a doll. Zidane acts, for all intents and purposes, like a normal, bored child.

He keeps trying to get Zidane to stand still and bask in the light of the big blue crystal in the center of the room, but the kid keeps fidgeting. Finally, Zidane whines, ]</sub>

I don't like these things. They feel weird.

_{[ Angie crosses his arms, looking on the verge of snapping, before... looking around, surreptitiously. They're alone. He gets an idea. ]}

What if I... made it show you something fun, instead?

_{[ Zidane tail curls up like an @ sign, and he practically darts over, a billion questions-- Angie holds up a hand in front of him, a gesture to stop, then moves the same hand to his lips and says... ]}

Shhhhhhh. Or I won't do it.

_{[ Angie turns to one of the big.. triangles with the seal of Terra on it.. and starts messing with it in an arcane way that makes the light coming from the crystal flutter. When he's done, he smiles smugly. ]}

Go and see what you think of that.

_{[ ...Zidane approaches the crystal again, to let its light wash over his skin... and immediately is riveted, by whatever it now shows him.
The memory ends. ]}

Over an hour post-coin toss

[finalbows]

<sub>[ yeah after Blood Fiend dragged him off from the fountain, i'unno about blood fiend but angie never came back until Just Now

and the just now he slinks back as is. sporting his natural red hair and blue eyes (??), and appears to have lost his feathers somehow (????).

guy looks tired. ]</sub>

Re: Over an hour post-coin toss

[wants_the_phd]

[As usual, she's watching him from somewhere. No matter how much she would rather not, she keeps feeling compelled to come back to the Rose Zone for reasons she cannot explain, as if she's tied to it by an invisible rubber band. But she doesn't come inside unless she's reasonably sure nobody's home, so she's probably sheltering in/around some of the many rose brambles that are all around Rose's pasture.]

[Watching. Observing.]

Re: Over an hour post-coin toss

[catposting]

[ went and did an obstacle course before leaving Rose for the last time today





Angie what ]

Re: Over an hour post-coin toss

[strateelgic]

[Agreed on the "Angie what"

Watches for a few moments.]

Did you... dye your hair?

[themanofyourdreams]

[WAKING UP ON DAY 21 TO A COIN UNDER HIS PILLOW?? carrying it out in confusion]

—What the hell happened? I didn't hear about anything weird happening again.

[finalbows]

_{[ you caught him in the kitchen waiting on tea to steep, hi FMD. he looks up. sees him waving the coin around. ]}

Another one of Blossom's little friends regained cognizance and decided to give us something exciting to do, first thing. Precious creature. Flower on its head. This one was named... Fura...? Fuma...? Something like that.

It did so via a dream.

I begin to intuit the local sheep see communing with demonic forces to be a recreational act.

Day 22, morning

[wants_the_phd]

[Linnea is hanging out in the Rose pasture, downwind of the barn, warming up in the morning light. She is sketching some very detailed studies of wildflowers in a notebook.]

Re: Day 22, morning

[catposting]

[ lands on the roof out of nowhere. waves at her. ]

'Morning.

[ <--- clearly did not sleep in the barn ]

Re: Day 22, morning

[finalbows]

<sub>[ the last horse out of the gate today, actually, and only because two of the specific red sheep he usually takes out on promenade came to just stand and. stare. at him. while he was sitting on the couch working on his notes. he's taken to using loose paper for anything that isn't ESSENTIAL because he doesn't want to fill this one up and start over on a new one while he's in the condition he's in... ugh. just, like, living is way more complicated than he remembered it being. the lack of complexity to daily life in the Forever War has done ruinous things to his mundane information management skills.

anyway. he's out and about now. ]</sub>

Alright, alright. Where's the rest of you. We shall do three marching laps about the barn, and then I am going back to work.

<sub>[ ...the rest of his sheep actors fall into file, and he half-heartedly starts leading and quizzing them on "lines" (things like "bleat and run whenever the Lord of the Mist appears") and plot details once again, barely watching as he's walking. and that's how Linnea will see him, first: doing another goddamn sheep parade.


He notices her on the second lap. thinks about saying something. hesitates. resolves not to, just yet, and continues on as if he hasn't noticed. ]</sub>