Bittersweet Candy Bowl

Sunday can’t believe that the vampire didn’t know. And yet… She seemed to have genuine fear in her voice. “You… You’ve infected him… He’s slowly turning into a vampire!” Panic filled her eyes as she turned her attention back to the semi-conscious Makar, desperate to try and feel just how far the vampiric poison had spread through his system. She wasn’t that well versed in vampiric lore, but she knew enough to know that the virus would spread through his system until it finally killed him, and reanimated his body and mind as one of the living dead. A Vampire.

“It’s still in early stages… He was infected no earlier than last night…” It struck her. “Last night when you kissed him…” She turned again to Lieselotte. “Please… Please tell me this is a mistake… That you weren’t trying to force this upon him…” Her eyes begged for the answer she sought, but pierced deep enough that she would know a lie if the lady told one.

She falls back, stunned at the diagnosis of Makar’s infection. She pales staring at the Lord, then to the Princess. Her voice is shaky as she responds to the princess.

No…No, I’d never infect him against his will…I…I asked him but I did not infect him, not knowingly. I’d never curse him to that unless he gave consent. What have I done?

She drags herself right next to Makar and looks down at the him, tears beginning to form.

He’ll never forgive me…

“Yes he will” The Hedgehog said bluntly to the vampire as she checked the boy over “As that’s the sort of man he is…..and you know it” Lily just shook her head as she examined the mans neck “… well it’s clear you didn’t -bite- him.. but there are other ways to spread a disease of the blood….. whatever the case… we need to act quickly to fix this…” she retrieved a simple little bottle of what appeared to be spices and had the dazed lord Makar swallow it… only to have him suddenly clutch his chest in pain, his lungs feeling like they’re on fire.

No doubt his loves gave the hedgehog suspicious looks maybe even a ‘you’re killing him!’ only for her to shake her head “The potion is meant to ward off the undead… and:Yes. it -is- killing him…. the parts that are already dead. It’ll leave him weak, but slow the infection down……” she waved towards some of the stronger folk present.. the barbarian and merc will do “.. you two.. help me get him back to the camp…I need to fetch my things…”

(Still going to have to auto a little bit. You can assume Lily is doing what she can here.)

Slowly, the fear began to drain from her face, replaced with determination and a slight hint of pitty. “Call me a hypocrite latter, but now isn’t the time for self loathing… I need to know if you know of ANYTHING that can help reverse the transformation… She grips Lieselotte by the shoulders and forces her to look the princess in the eyes. “I may not know a specific spell for curing vampirisum, but I can adapt one with your help alright?”

It was a whole different princess to the scared little girl who had been frozen in combat. She wasn’t a fighter, it’s true. But now she was in her element. Curing aliments and healing wounds were what she excelled at. With the resources of the castles medical tent, she could have fixed every wound up till this point to perfection, leaving the victims fully healed. It was amazing that she had even managed to do as well as she had been with no supplies. “If you care even a little bit about Makar… If you truly feel the love for him that he seems to feel for you, then help me…”

((Assume that bit happened before Lily’s post))

“I’ll help in any way I can Lily…” She nodded as she looked to Lieselotte, still waiting for her answer as she moves into position to help the hedgehog move the knight’s heavy form.

Dave rushes over to help pick Makar up and lets him lean onto his shoulder for support.

Don’t worry Makar, we’ll have you back to camp in no time.

Carter moved on from Delilah, rubbing his hands on the arms and sides of people that he passed by on the way to the camp. He tapped David’s ribs in order, moved to squeeze Lily’s arms, then rubbed against Sunday’s side. He flinched massively when he came across Lieselotte, however, and retracted the arms he almost touched her back with.

She follows closely behind Dave, watching Makar carefully. She keeps her concerned gaze to him as she tries to explain to Sunday the what little she knows of curing the infection.

Being a vampire from birth, I know very little of the infection process. He is the only person I have infected in my lifespan, which is why I could not detect the infection myself. I will help you in anyway I can though to save him. I intended to turn him, yes but after he made his decision, not before. It pains me to be forced to stop the infection, I desire for him to be like me, but I can’t have him loathe me for it for eternity. Prove me wrong, show me you don’t belong in the castle, just save him please.

Figuring leaving the healing to the pros was best, he follows the others back to camp and rests.

This certainly complicates things…

(Autosleep: Will arouse during an emergency, etc.)

((Auto-play, I’ll try to check in every once in a while, though my next best solid posting time will be tomorrow, likely the afternoon. Lieselotte will by Makar doing what she can to help him. She’ll aid Sunday and Lily when and where she can in regards to helping the Lord. She may be auto-played by Maverik and Bribri))

She wakes up, realizing she is in a place she doesn’t recognize.

Huh? Where… am I?

She stands from her dark throne and takes a walk around the castle.

All of this seems… strangely familiar. Is this my home? It has changed a lot… And where is that old lady?

Getting a sudden headache, she falls to her knees, holding her head with her hands. Calming down after a few seconds, she stands once again.

Damn… how long was I out? I can’t believe they defeated my dragon that easily… the stress of controlling a dragon while being stabbed and electrocuted is what probably made me pass out.

She turns her head to look at her previously wounded leg. It is now fully healed. She walks to the throne room once again.

At least I’m now ready to fight them, let them come now.

HAHAHAHA!

When Carter touched Delilah, he could feel her trembling as she walked alongside her boyfriend; while she has put on a determined face, the fear is obvious in her eyes. Her mind is racing, her tail lashing, and her cheeks and ears still sting from the heat of the fire bombs, even if her wounds have mostly been healed. Her legs are stiff as well from her incredibly paced dance; the Whirlwind Dance, despite its name, is not really designed for such actions, and this is why. It takes her several moments to even notice Carter’s touch and, by that time, he has moved on.

Taking a few shaking breathes, she thinks over the conversation. It almost seemed too easy, the way everyone believed Lady Lieselotte so easily, but she had pledged her support to reversing the process, so she must be telling the truth, hard as it is to believe that someone can -accidentally- turn someone else into a vampire. But hearing the words of the lady, her longing for the Lord Makar to join her in eternal undeath, this finally prompts a response out of the dancer. She lets go of Albert’s hand and speeds up her movement, marching up behind her a bit sorely and speaking quietly, not wanting the others to hear and knowing the vampire has very keen hearing.

You do know if you turn Lord Makar into a vampire, you will lose what little respect you have. He will be seen as a monster, and you as the monster who turned him into such. He won’t be able to be with his old friends… is that really what you want, Lady? Despite your harsh words and manners, you are a person, and a lonely one at that. Do you really need for that to continue?

(And here ladies and gentlemen we see a wild forum RP. Notice the slow response times, even after the GM makes a post, that indicate that it has passed its prime and will be ready to die soon.)

((Just poppin in momentarily, couldn’t stay away, my posts will be very, very spaced out so don’t expect my usual fairly quick responses, since I am at a friend’s house))

She turns to look at the dancer.

If he is a true hero and serves the kingdom even in undeath, people will still respect him. I understand the urgecy of this matter, which is why I leave the choice to him. I know he understands the consequences of his choices. This is why I would never force such a fate upon him. You must imagine Delilah, outliving your precious Albert, not even by a few years, but for eternity. This is why I ask this of him.

Her words are solemn, but she speaks them with a passion she has not shown before. She turns away from the dancer again and returns to Makar’s side to aid in anyway she can.

Delilah stops as the Lady walks away from her, muttering to herself.

They’ll respect him about as much as they do you… can’t you see?

She gets bumped into from behind by the folk behind her, jerking her out of her thoughts.

I’m sorry, I was just thinking.

She starts walking again alongside whoever just bumped into her, looking a bit embarrassed.

He had risen, and wandered over to see how the others were doing. On the way he bumped into a rather distracted Delilah.

Sorry…Are you alright?

(FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF- Sean ninja’d me.)

Carter eyed the conversation between Delilah and Sean and, without anything better to do, joined in.

“Yeah, you look worse than normal,” he said, his choice of words worse still.

Altough the manical laughter scared them a bit, the remaining bandits arrived the throne room and their Leader stepped foward, hands on his wounds.
I hope it’s a good idea… altough I disagreed with that previously, if she find out by herself I’m going to die, no doubt.
Err… excuse me, boss… we… we failed. We’re the only ones that made it alive… my comrade and your special forces have fallen…
He closed his eyes and expected the worse.

(Is Reinhild supposed to be their leader? If so, I can adapt to it.)

(Well… I thought it was explicit, but anyway… now you know.)
While being carried back to the camp, he looked at Lieselotte faintly.
It’s okay… you didn’t meant to… and you’re even trying to cure me, altough that’s what you wanted… I forgive you…
He looked at the sunset and started to feel heat on his face.
… Urgh… too bad I’ll not be able to do much during the day… or even this night, since I don’t really feel well from that potion…
He looked around him and only noticed his damaged sword.
Where’s my shield? It’ll be tough to defend someone without it…

Delilah shakes her head, sighing.

No… I’m not. Thanks for asking though. *she flashes a smile at them* Its just… we rescued Lord Makar, but things only seem to have gotten WORSE, not better. Before, he was their prisoner, but now… now he’s cursed, and that seems even more dangerous. I don’t want him to be stuck cowering from the sun forever…

Her ears droop, then she looks over at Carter, suddenly remembering his touch earlier.

What were you doing earlier, anyway? I saw you touching everyone, like Princess Sunday did, but I didn’t feel magic…

Sighs the moment she hears the report of failure from the bandit leader. She stands.

How many days passed since I sent you out?

The bandit responds.

Two days huh? Seems like I was out longer than I expected. I’m a bit surprised that they aren’t here yet.

Heh… so much for an “elite” group of bandits, even those random bandits from the forest did better than you.

A dark glow emanates from Reinhild’s hand, as she takes some steps towards them.

You are unworthy of working for me, or even be alive. Hell… even death would still be nice to all of you… failures.

The bandits start to flee as Reinhild lifts her hand, aiming towards them.

SOUL PRESS!

All of the remaining bandits drop instantly to the ground, emiting a pulse of light from their bodies as they fall.

Your souls have been denied heaven and hell. Enjoy the nothingness… fools.

(@ above: O_o Damn&hellip

We have to have faith in the other’s abilities, hopefully they can find a cure…

After the last battle he has begun to doubt the success of their mission…The thought of the previous losses and now the group’s current condition has brought back painful memories of losing his last group.

If we don’t get it together, then everyone’s sacrifices will be for not…

“I dunno,” Carter lied. He really thought he might be able to do some magic, somehow… but now that he thought about it, it was obviously a dumb idea, so he avoided admitting his thoughts.

Delilah looks at Carter slantways, feeling a little uncomfortable now and taking a step away from him.

I don’t know why you were touching us then. I know you’re a little strange, but…

She looks over at Sean.

I do trust their abilities, but I’m not sure that they trust their abilities to fix him, which makes ME worry. If they don’t know, I certainly can’t do much but watch…

She keeps moving stiffly, shivering a little for no apparent reason.

Brr, felt like someone stepped over my grave.

(You can all come over to my lair now and attempt to defeat me, or are you suddenly a bunch of cowards now? Hehehehe&hellip

Carter’s face twinged at the word “strange.” All this time, even during his time it seemed to be his key and only quality. Now, of all times, he’d rather be dumb than strange.

“Wait!” he half-shouted. “The truth was… well, I thought if I tried like the Princess did, I might be able to use… magic,” the last word came out of his tongue with a heavy sigh.

Delilah blinks.

Magic? Really? It… doesn’t exactly work that way. Well, it -does-, but… what do you know about magic? Just waving around your hands or dancing isn’t enough; there’s more to it than that…

She tilts her head at you.

I thought everyone knew that… *she purses her lips thoughtfully*

((Probably not the greatest idea to do the final fight w/ most players not here, and Makar “ill&rdquo)

(Hahaha, I promise you the Reinhild battle won’t be immediately after you enter.)

(I think we’re going to want to make camp at least once more before we go inside, given the timing. Its past the prime time for a lot of people. I mean, I’m all for stirring up the shit, but we’re all beaten up and want to rest IC.)

(Ok then.)

Carter turned his head in embarrassment.

“I… though I might be able to, if I believed enough… but you’re right!” Carter pumped his fists. “No point in looking back at what I could do, it’s time to focus on what I will do!”

(I love how we’re like having a telepathic conversation with the boss and he’s all like “Prepare to fight me newbs.” And we’re all “No.” And he’ll all “Wait what?” And we go “We want to effin rest gawd.” And he’s like “Ok kool.&rdquo

(Lol yeah. Inconscious telepathic conversation ftw.)

The dancer looks completely nonplussed by the jester, then laughs a bit too loudly, unleashing some of her nervousness into the laugh.

Well, maybe that’s true! We all have our own abilities, after all. *she does a little twirl, then grimaces a little at her fatigue* So what CAN you do, oh jester?

Delilah smiles encouragingly at him, genuinely curious.

“Umm…” Carter had a genuine look of worry on his face. In a sense, she was right - what CAN he do? After some intensive thinking, he had an idea.

He pulled a deliciously-smelling pie from his knapsack and handed some utensils to Delilah.

“Would you like to share?”

He leaves the two to their conversation and goes to the edge of camp to keep watch. The memory of his fallen friends and love have become a distraction and he needed some time away from the others to clear his head.

I couldn’t save them…I couldn’t save my friends…and…*Clenches his fist* I couldn’t save her…

He drops to the ground and begins sobbing.

As the party begins to spread out, Delilah is apparently the last to realize that they have decided to make camp. As the jester pulls out a delicious looking pie, she looks around for Albert, but realizes he’s busy helping set up the campsite. Sighing, she nods her head.

Sure, I’d love to. Let’s find a good place to sit down…

Delilah casts around for a good spot, and notices that they are camping out on the side of a hill with relatively few trees up towards its top, several boulders sitting atop it looking like they might make for an ideal place to sit down and eat.

Let’s go up there!

Points towards the large flat stones and beginning to hike up the hill a bit awkwardly, her legs burning a bit from her earlier exertion.

“Yay!” Carter skipped to the stones, occasionally tripping on his face, but getting up quickly nonetheless.

They reach the rocks to find McCardell sitting there, staring into the sky, his cloak singed.

“Excellent view, no?”

Delilah smile at Carter, helping him up a couple times as the pair stumble up the hill, finally reaching the summit. The wind blows across the treetops, making them sway as she finds a good seat, sitting down on her skirt and crossing her legs, smiling at her companions.

It is! You can see for miles from this place. The trees up and down the rolling hills… the clouds slowly flowing across the sky… the… dark…

Delilah stands up suddenly, jumping over quickly to the tallest stone, looking out.

McCardell, what do you see over there? Am I just imagining it? Or is that…

The dancer points…

“Oh… hi?” Carter managed a nervous smile and waved. In all honestly, he’s unsure of who this person is, but he’s apparently a member of their group. Carter figured that he must have never noticed him and sat on one of the large rocks, cutting the pie into three slices.

The dancer notices a black spot in the distance about 2 miles away. Considering the distance and the size of the spot, it probably is an enormous building.

(FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF I forgot to change my name UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU).

Carter observed at the black spot as well, but chose to continue slicing his pie, taking off a slice and handing one to McCardell and Delilah.

(One slice each. Just clearing that up.)

Delilah trembles slightly, knowing that there is not supposed to be anything so large out here. She looks over to the always blasé McCardell.

You saw it already, didn’t you? No wonder you commented on the view…

She shivers a little, but not from the wind as she hops back down off the rock and accepts the slice of pie from Carter, her appetite somewhat ruined.

Is that what I think it is?

She takes a bite of the pie, then her eyes widen a little.

This is good!

He stares blankly

It’s rather hard to miss. I figured someone else would notice it sooner or later. Perhaps Markar should be told. I guess he’ll decide something, and, I expect he’ll appreciate being indoors and out of the sunlight…

He is able to pull himself together after remembering some advice, past pleasantries, and finally the promise he made.

This isn’t the time to have a breakdown, we still have a chance.

(Automode: character keeps watch, and follows the group if they move. Combat: catious, ranged, melée, etc. Goodnight everyone.)

“Thanks!” Carter took the slice he left for himself and eyes the crusting before opening his mouth. “I hope this works…” Carter thought before taking a bite, the mushy blueberry filling him quite nicely. However, Carter took a deep breath and closed his eyes before taking his third bite.

*SPLAT*

The slice that Carter was holding suddenly exploded, leaving traces of blueberry on his suit and a much of dough and filling all over his face. He finally opened his face and blinked, his hand still in a holding position, as if he hadn’t realised what had happened yet.

Delilah starts at the loud splattering sound, almost dropping her pie, looking over at Carter in shock. Then she begins tittering, her fork clattering against her plate as she barely manages to keep her balance.

Oh, wow! Are all our pies going to do that?

She eyes her own slice a bit nervously, tilting her head and contemplating it as she keeps her balance there.

“Uhanipo, waig,” Carter’s words were completely jumbled by the pie covering his face like a blanket. He wipes the filling off of his lips and licks his finger.