2022-12-02: Hortus Fratres
- Log: Hortus Fratres
- Cast:Hicalu Wilwisp, Eleanor Klein (as Tristan Klein)
- Where: Harmaus's Horrible Garden
- Date: 2022-12-02 (OOCly 2022-12-03, ordered this way for log archival purposes)
- Summary: Two brothers wake in the garden, and the vulnerability of one bolsters the heart of another.
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
Surely the garden must be flourishing, with this much to grow from. Flowers creep up Hicalu's legs, about his ankles, in a dark mirror of the myriad tattoos laid there; the roses bloom blood, blood red, petals reaching for something like sunlight. They started growing in his sleep. He feels them only when he shifts, pulled forcefully to waking.
They grow around him, but they do not grow into him; though those thorns prick his skin, the roots find no purchase in his own blood. On his surface they are tangled, all creeping through his fluffy, fluffy tail. He pushes himself upright, and finds he cannot make himself pull away from the garden's transgressions. Legs folded on the ground, all caught in the roses, he weeps.
He weeps. He weeps in fear and horror, though he is still possessed of himself, because he knows SO keenly the torment of those lost souls around him. He cannot fathom how he comprehends the pain of the garden; even so, he does. The pain and sorrow hanging here is a funeral shroud pulled tightly about him, and he does not have the strength to grant the thorns.
He hiccoughs, choking on his tears and his futility, and his snivelling carves through the perfect beauty of the garden. Snf... snf...
<Pose Tracker> Tristan Klein has posed.
Tristan Klein had to be subdued, in order to be caught. He could not defeat Harmaus's minions on his own, and so he was taken into the depths. So he's a little worse for wear. But, he's likewise wrapped in flowers. He can feel the thorns, as he awakens to the sound of someone crying. But they have not caught much purchase in him yet. Now that he is awake...
His brown eyes flicker open, and he looks around. He spots the horror, but he does not know the terror of these lost souls, having no special senses with which to perceive them. However...
"...Hicalu?" he recognizes. His hands are bound, but his eyes are not.
"...Ah."
He remembers. He feels the thorns. And he frowns. But then, he thinks...
"Hey, Hicalu!"
Tristan turns his head to and fro until he can locate the other man. "...Things are a little rough, huh?" He smiles, despite the pain.
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"Uuu... uaahhh... huhhh..." Hicalu whimpers, softly, sobbing into his tattooed hands. His was the first soul Harmaus stole to the garden; his dreams and fitful waking have had all too long to know a new type of darkness, and all its pain. He has not changed from the horror, but he is a sensitive soul; still he hates it.
At first his ears, vast though they may be on his head, don't pick up on his name; they pin down against his curly hair, face buried in his hands. The roses have not bothered to bind his wrists, in the manner of the soldier.
He isn't a threat. The only danger to Hicalu is the danger he might try to flee.
"Hhff--hck--huuu?" He sniffle-snurfbls, as he looks up, at the second lance of his name, to find who's calling him. His panic abates -- a little -- to pinpoint Tristan, nearby, instead. "I-it's you...!" The relief on his face is quickly chased by new alarm, as he realises Tristan is caught, just the same.
His hand lifts, before he realises he has not the strength to reach him, and it curls at the breezy Baskar material at his chest instead. "Tuh--T-Tristan, I-- that weird cat, he-- a-and you, uh-- no way, right? T-t-there's no way..." His mind tries to dismiss the garden, but not even he can deny what's right in front of his damp eyes, and they flood with tears again.
"I-I'm so s-s-s-stupid!"
<Pose Tracker> Tristan Klein has posed.
It is, to say the least, uncomfortable. But the Malevolence of this place has not seeped into Tristan, either. ...And now it is even less likely to find purchase, because Tristan is a man of purpose--and now, that purpose...
"It's me," he says, and then shake his head. "Yes, the cat visited me, too. The 'Seraph', Harmaus. My... sister told me about him, but I didn't recognize him until it was too late."
"His minions caught me by surprise," Tristan admits, and he sounds more chagrined than afraid. ...Some of that is bravado, though not all of it. He has to put on a brave face for his wounded friend.
He looks around for his weapon; he might be able to break the bindings, if he's willing to be slashed badly for it, but that does no good if he can't get out after that. Make a plan...
No, there's something more important, first.
"What makes you say that?" Tristan asks, keeping his voice strong despite the fact that this is a darker situation than he has been in before. It is more than physical danger; he can feel it
"I don't recall making any stupid friends."
It is always easier to conquer fear when there is someone to do it for.
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"Suh--se--Seraph?" Hicalu sniffs, the words halting in his throat. "T-that talking c-c-cat...?"
(Somewhere, somehow, the Seraph Morgrim gains a little more power too, as someone new believes that a Seraph means a talking cat.)
His ears wilt down against the sides of his head, from where they'd perked a little to find Tristan, hearing how he fought against Harmaus's minions. How he doesn't recall...
"I-I never even k-knew he had huh-he--help," Hicalu whines, clutching his arms about him. "We was j-just talkin'... I t-told him everything, I n-ne--never even thought... h-h-how was a cat gonna be a bad guy?!" Of course; Hicalu is a trusting sort of guy, for all he's too cautious about the dangers of the world.
Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say he wants to trust people, too desperately, grasping so tightly.
"I couldn't fuh-fight him... couldn't even r-run away..." His tail thumps, uselessly, tangled in the greenery, and perhaps that's why the roses have grown over his legs.
<Pose Tracker> Tristan Klein has posed.
"Apparently they can look like cats. They're some kind of... nature spirit. Though nothing feels 'natural' about this one."
"That's what I thought too," Tristan admits of the idea of the cat being a bad guy. "I spoke with him for a while, too. It took a few minutes for me to catch on, and I'm trained to spot things like that." 'Danger'. ...He is not technically trained to spot Seraphim, but 'enemy operatives' is good enough a substitute for that. It's fine. It sounds reassuring.
"If you'd fought, you'd have ended up hurt," Tristan points out. "Now, you're here, and when someone comes to help us, you're in a good position to run."
It's a little more complicated for him, but...
"Which they will. ...Much as I hate to have to rely on her... I know my sister won't let this go. And she'll bring ARMS."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
Hicalu's able to relax his tension, a little, hearing Tristan didn't realise at first either. "E-even you..?" He asks; he's surprised to hear that he was misled, but it's relieving, too.
He rubs at his arm, looking down at himself, and back over to Tristan. "But... I'm scared," Hicalu whines, and his hand lowers only to jerk sharply back upwards as it brushes a rose.
"I-I can't... I can't do this on my own, Tristan!" He wails, hands clutching each other tightly instead. "I-I-I'm just a c-coward... w-what if I run away a-and that cat or his goons fuh-find me again? I-I run and I run a-and stuff always finds me--!"
Tears spring to his eyes, again, and he sniffles, scrubbing at his face. "I-I'm not brave like you," he chokes out, and perhaps it's sad, the way his admiration puts himself down just the same.
<Pose Tracker> Tristan Klein has posed.
"That's right," Tristan answers, even him. And Hicalu... is scared. That much is plain. He doesn't belong down here; once, Harmaus was simply an enemy, but now Tristan is angry with him, beyond simply finding him the opposition. To capture a soldier is one thing; to capture the innocent...
"Then we'll just have to make sure you don't have to do it on your own," Tristan says. "I'll stay with you, down here. And I won't leave until we get you safely to the surface. You can rely on that."
A coward, he says. Not 'brave like him'...
"So when we're loose, I'll make sure you get out. Trust me. If you think you can't be brave... then just rely on me. I'll think of something, if it comes down to it."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
Hicalu is the furthest thing from a soldier, to be sure. He's barely able to fight at all, even given the tattoos on his limbs; he's a baker.
Tristan tells him he's not alone, though, and the gratitude flooding his chartreuse eyes is entirely plain. "R-really?" He ventures, ears lifting from where they'd pinned beside his head, in cautious hope. "Y-you'd do that, for m-m-me..?" He knows that Lan will come to save him, certainly; equally, he knows that Lan will be occupied, when she comes. He is still afraid of falling through the cracks. It's so easy for him to fall.
He tries reaching out for Tristan again, only for the thorns of the roses to protest as he shifts; with a little 'yip', he settles his weight back down. (It's not so difficult to control a coward.) "O-okay," he settles on, one hand grasping his opposite wrist, nervously. "I, I really do trust you, Tristan... y-you'll get me out of this, just like when those weird soldiers attacked! R--right?" Odessa, he means; Hicalu doesn't have the world scope to be able to name them offhand.
But Tristan saved him there, too.
<Pose Tracker> Tristan Klein has posed.
A baker... And a good baker!
"Really," Tristan answers, and covers over a wince with a grin. "You think I'd leave you?" The thorns are digging in harder than before; he can feel a certain... Pressure, all around him. He's sure, somehow, that he wouldn't be able to use his Crest Caps.
"That's good," Tristan answers the matter of trust. "Because I will. I promise, I won't leave without you."
It is... technically a promise he can make. If someone doesn't come to help them, he won't be leaving with or without Hicalu, most likely. But ARMS will come, he's sure.
"Just like when the soldiers attacked. We'll have help, too. You just wait and see if we don't."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"Yeah! N-no way you'd leave me," Hicalu shakes his head. "Y-you're way too c-c-cool to do that!" Eleanor is a lovely woman, really, but as far as the Klein who most impresses Hicalu --
His ears pin down, though, from that same ineffable sense that something is wrong, the garden beleagured. Tristan's in trouble, too, but...
... someone like him can't do anything.
Well, nothing except for...
"L-Lan won't leave us here, neither," he insists, and he tries to be brave and sure about it, but even with Tristan modelling how to do it he still fumbles his execution. "She s-stol--borrowed our Medium, s-so she's got Rigdobrite on her side, too!"
He gulps, as he can't help but worry: "I just hope she doesn't get in more trouble 'cause she's rushing in to help me..." Hicalu shakes his head, and forces out the question: "B-but, it'll be okay, yeah? They're all really strong, too! A-and s-s-since they're looking for us, they w-won't get t-t-tricked by weird cats, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Tristan Klein has posed.
"I can't do something as low as leaving a friend behind if I'm going to be a knight," Tristan answers resolutely. ...If he knew he impressed Hicalu more than Eleanor does, he'd appreciate that--but he doesn't. Perhaps Hicalu will have to tell him sometime!! For now... This is something Hicalu can do, and he does it.
"The Guardian?" Tristan asks. "That sounds powerful. That'd be a big help down here." He doesn't know Lan, but he's heard stories about what some can do with those. And...
"If she runs into a problem, Eleanor will look out for her," Tristan decides. "They're very strong--and there's no way that Eleanor would let herself be fooled by an evil cat."
If he can find a way to help...
"So all we have to do is conserve our strength until we get an opening--until they get here. You can do that."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"I wish you d-didn't get caught too," Hicalu says, "b-b-but I'm really glad you're here, Tristan." He scrubs at his eyes, and smiles, wan. "I-I kinda need a knight right now..."
He gulps, and nods. "Yeah, t-the -- the Star Guardian," he explains, still a Baskar boy, even if he's frightened. "T-they're pretty mysterious," or at least they were to his village, "b-but they've always protected us! And Lan's always protected me, t-too!" He was always the more cautious of the pair, but she was the one ready to defend him.
That much hasn't changed.
"Eleanor's s-strong just like you, right?" Hicalu asks, because he's never seen her, in a fight; his point of comparison for Klein warriors is different, to a lot of people's. He forces a laugh, in the spirit of conserving his energy: "Haha... even t-though we're so different, we're both gettin' saved by our sisters, huh... w-w-we're never gonna hear the end of it, I-I bet!" Well, Hicalu's used to being rescued, anyway.
He tries to smile to Tristan, anyway. "It's... it's gonna be okay. Right?"
<Pose Tracker> Tristan Klein has posed.
"Well, I may not be a knight yet," Tristan says, "But I'll do my best." He could swear, almst, that the thorns touch him less as they talk, that they dig less into his skin than they did before. But can't imagine why that would be; he's probably just getting used to it.
The Star Guardian... "I've spent a lot of time looking up at the night sky," Tristan says. "I'm not from your village, but I hope your Rigdobrite has some room for me, too." It's perhaps the closest he comes to admitting he's worried.
Strong... Like him. Tristan smiles a little despite the situation to hear it put that way. "Yeah," he answers. "She's a powerful sorceress, and she's an OK shot with an ARM." A laugh, then, at the difference. "Heh. Looks like we're the same that way, aren't we? We probably won't. I know she worries a lot."
But Hicalu asks, and...
"Yes," Tristan answers, firmly. "It's going to be okay. Not immediately--I won't lie, it's going to stay scary for a while--but in the end, it'll be OK. And we'll see that together."