Log:Ambush Midnight New Year's Snowskull Fight!

{{ Log | cast = Haruki, Lucky, and Uschi. | summary = Fate converges in a graveyard, a snowball fight is had, a pomegranate is rescued, two friends reuinite, and an ogress who was setting the stage makes off with a new knit cap! | gamedate = 2018.01.01 | gamedatename = New Year's Day, Night-Time | subtitle = | location = [[MT04|The Graveyard in Town Square] | plots = | categories = Changeling | log =

First night of the new year, and a Supermoon hangs high in the sky: casting the entire Meetinghouse Graveyard in shimmery, silver-blue light. It's far below freezing, and the frost that covers the gravestones glitters in the moonlight as clouds pass overhead -- ice clings to the naked branches of those few trees that grow here, reaching up towards the sky as if they were grabbing a the soft, slow flakes of snow that fall intermittently.

From over by the Miller plot, there is movement.

Movement and sound; there is no physical wind, but there is the -sound- of wind -- along with the tinkering, metallic clink like icicles falling on a pan of metal. Only there is no pan; and if a person was to stop to listen, the sounds... Well they're not entirely natural, are they? No. It sounds like, like -music-.

In fact, it sounds like a strange, organic interpretation of Schubert -- which is absurd!

Almost as absurd as the vision dancing - literally dancing - around the Miller gravestones. Hares, wild hare made of snow; bucking and jumping and fighting with one another. When they bound into each other, there is the scent of blood blossoming up into the air, and...

...and it's all so, so impossibly real and preposterous, that it's glaringly illusionary.

Something Wyrd is afoot. Where is the caster? Hard to tell -- but those hares, they continue their strange battle-dance to the haunting, organic, half-remembered rendition of Schubert's Der Leiermann.

Haruki's wrapped up so tightly that not even his eyes can be seen, since he has ski goggles on. It's so cold, whatever is he doing here in the graveyard. Perhaps the frozen flowers and the scattered bright red droplets against the snow, are some indication, or the largeish bag he's carrying. He really, truly didn't expect to find anyone else here. and the sound of the music has him hesitating. He ignores the visions, but the scent of blood... that's another story. Terror! It's now just a matter of trying to creep out without being seen, or heard, but his footsteps crunch in the snow, and it's so hard not to leave a path, and how can be scramble for his phone with thick gloves on. Why oh why did he come here?

Hares and the scent of blood? Schubert in the air? It's almost like someone was setting a stage for something. There's a third interloper in the graveyard tonight, this one dressed in a long wool coat and knit cap. The light of the moon outlines him nicely, showing a tall, lean silhouette against the bright orb that shines larger than usual in the sky. He leans against one of the ancient stelae-type headstones, a small mountain of gleaming white orbs gathered in front of it.

Skulls, upon closer inspection. Or at least, they bear the same general shape of skulls. Human ones, too, though they seem.. weirdly misshapen.

The dark stranger leans down, picking one up as he watches the bundled up man as moves through the graveyard. The stranger leans back, winding up like a pitcher on a baseball mound before hurling one of the gleaming white things at his hapless victim!

Except it apparently wasn't -quite- aimed right. Skulls being not very aerodynamic, it hits a gravestone in front of Haruki, exploding into a fine mist of frozen white powder. The stranger, Lucky, pulls off his knit cap and takes a bow, now that he's made his presence known. It's overly grand, arms spread out on either side, with a bright grin that screams equal parts 'Come at me, bro' and 'You know you missed me.'

WAH!!!! WHAAAAT? Haruki spins around at the flying danger, and he randomly flings what he has in his hands. Not a snowball, but a fruit of the sort that explodes into a mass of red seeds when it smashes. Fortunately it's dark, unexpected and the flying pomegranete is very unlikely to actually hit Lucky, unless he's very un-Lucky suddenly. Haruki flails and tries to scramble away but it's so hard when you're more padding than man, which is the case just now. He stumbles, he almost goes face-first into a snowdrift. It's all so very uncoordinated.

Exactly write: hares, blood, and a warped interpretation of Schubert. Like a grim love poem for, uh, who exactly? The moon?

At the sound of Haruki scuttling down the path, the hares' battle dance starts to change: some still crash into one another, punching and kicking and biting, the scent of blood and ice still strong in the air. But others, they start to hop and scatter, almost as if they were real wild hares -- moving to 'vanish' into the snowbanks, as if they were running away into their dens.

The music begins to warp -- fading in-and-out of melody to more organic sounds; wind and ice crackling, boughs of trees wiggling.

Then there's an odd gravelly sound, from over yonder at the back of the Miller grave plot -- right after Lucky throws that skull, and it bursts into shards near Haruki's feet. The little Magician's reaction? That crunchy-gravel sound takes on a barking quality.

Sounds like laughter. It is laughter. Uschi is laughing; and she is just barely visible, as a bundle of shadowy gloom backlit by moonlight.

Lucky sees the bulky padding covering Haruki begin to move. And then fall. Which was not -quite- the intention. The elven man runs forward, eyeing the pomegranate as it flies through the air like it might be some kind of vital treasure, his face now a mask of surprise and worry. Feet slip in the snow as he does his very best to get under the thing, but even -he- can only be so graceful. He lands on his stomach, arms outstretched as he just -barely- manages to get the thing before it hits the snow and explodes into a seedy, juicy mess.

Though it's probably a little bruised now.

Calling over to Haruki, he shouts, "Easy, easy! Don't hurt yourself, man! You know where your towel is, no need to panic!" He raises a friendly, gloved hand to the bundled mass, still lying flat on his stomach in the snow. Probably looking ridiculous. Especially since he's holding up the rescued pomegranate triumphantly! THough the gravelly laughter causes him to look around, trying to find the source

Fortunately for other lurkers, and possibly unfortunately for him, he's left his pile of snow-skulls unattended.

"Lucky?" Haruki asks with utter disbelief. He knows that voice? Or is he just making a declaration. He flails in the snow, much like a turtle, trying to regain his balance. It's easier said than done. He grabs the offered hand and tries to haul himself to his feet, or Lucky down onto the snow atop him, who can tell. "What're you doing here?! I thought you were gone." He's ignoring all other strange sounds now as if they didn't exist.

Civilisation, man. What a trip!

The feral Ogress loomin' over there in the shadows laughs again, as she watches Lucky take a dive and end up holding a pomegranate while belly-crawling in the snow. When Haruki says the elven man's name? There's just an amused snort! from the background, and she continues watching their snowy re-introduction.

Because Uschi isn't trying to hide herself anymore. She's lingering in the shadow of one of the taller Miller graves; a broken column for a gravestone. Real fancy. S'like they own this town or whatever.

The Farwalker doesn't move, but those illusionary hares do: the music has faded out, and the last of the hares start scuttling around Haruki and Lucky and--- shouldn't the Ogress be concerned about the illusions? Isn't the giving herself away as something? It's not very discreet of her!

Lucky tries getting to his feet, and helping Haruki up too, but the two of them just go tumbling down again together. A real picture of grace and poise, this pair. Lucky can't help but laugh as their efforts to free themselves from their frozen earthy captor just fails. Though the pomegranate is at least safely set aside.

When the Ogress reveals herself, Lucky offers a wave, at least managing to roll over enough to sit upright. "Don't mind us," he tells the giant, slightly pointed ears gleaming in the moonlight. The knit cap was left near the mound of skulls, so his own weirdness shows nicely enough. Still, he tries to lean over and leverage Haruki at least up to a sitting position. "Just got back in last night," he explains to the little asian man. "What, you didn't think I'd stay away forever, did you? And I brought Joel and Sid with me!"

Turning his attention back to Uschi, he leans over against Haruki and whispers, "Every time I'm around you, something weird happens. Last time I ended up trading stuff with a dragon. This time, I'm getting laughed at by a giant as, uh..." His eyes follow the snowy hares. "Cold attack-bunnies start their hunt, I guess? God, I missed this town." And then, to Uschi herself, "I'm gonna try to get him on his feet again. We may need rope."

Haruki laughs as well as Lucky tumbles on top of him and that's at least chased away the fear, or perhaps he's just forgotten. He ends up sitting, leaning against Lucky, smiling at him. "Were you throwing snowballs at me? Did you think I was Itsy? OH! Joel's back? I miss Club Carnivale so much. It was just gone and no one said why and it seemed shady overnight ripping it down like they hated him or something. And now I don't know where to dance. Itsy's going to be so happy to see Sid again." He smiles at Lucky. "Life is weird. Wait? You see those? They're real? I miss the dragon. He was great and then he went and left."

The Moon Ogress starts to move -- bare feet crunching on the snowy ground like it ain't no thing. Uschi isn't drifting -directly- towards Lucky and Haruki, but she is gradually getting closer; pacing around them, sniffing the icy air, watching them carefully from her shadowed eyes.

Er... She's not sizing them up for a rumble, right?

"Rope? Kid needs spine." Uschi snorts, dead arm swinging as she inches a little closer. Eyeing the two, seeing if they're dropped anything. The knit cap, over there? Uschi goes to investigate. Yes. She's going to pick it up and sniff it. Meanwhile, the last of the hares are darting away. "...New year, same changes."

Lucky nods at the mention of Club Carnivale, though he can't help but laugh a little as he quips, "Would you believe me if I told you it involved a conspiracy with the Vegas mafia families?" Okay, so this one might not be -entirely- there. But then again, who among the Lost is? He gets to his knees, managing to get his footing again as he tells Haruki, "Ok, on three. One... twooo...." A quick glance at the rabbits. "THey're not yours? Shit. Uh... heel?" But that's about when they start to drift away. "THREE!"

"I have one thankyou very much," Haruki says in regards to his spine. He looks at Lucky and nods. "That's dangerous. I was in Vegas and. Don't mess with them." He gets up to his feet on a count of three and wobbles against Lucky a bit. "Is that where you were? And Sid? And Joel?"

"We may have stopped there," Lucky tells Haruki brightly. "And then maybe again. But nah, we were in California for the most part. Well, not Joel. I think he was like... airing out his kilt in some castle somewhere. Or was it drinking wine in France?" He looks puzzled for a minute, but then just kind of shrugs. "We decided to go on vacation. You know how these things go. Meet the people, see all the weird shit they put on postcards. And there was some business, too, but mostly? Vacay." He glances over at the ogre as she sniffs at his cap, shaking his head. "Man. I thought they only did that on the west coast. Is it like, -trending- now?" Still, he lets her do her thing. "It's Drakkar!" he tells her. Because why else would she be sniffing it?

Uschi doesn't glance up as Haruki speaks to her -- she seems preoccupied with lifting Lucky's disregarded knit cap up to her face. Is she smell--- yes, yes she is smelling his hat. There's a soft grunt, and iridescent eyes dart in Haruki's direction.

"For now." She croaks.

Oh, real reassuring Uschi! Of course, subtly may not entirely be her bag -- because as the Fairest counts down? Uschi just stands there, barefoot in the snow. One... twooo...

...when three comes around, there is a soft rustling noise. The last of the snow hares have jumped into their illusionary dens -- and it's the damnedest thing? Because Uschi has as well - the Ogress literally steps into a snowbank and, poof, like magic she's gone.

Because it is magic.

Haruki shivers at the threat is it? He edges closer to Lucky and tries to look as harmless defenceless as possible. Best to take Lucky's spine first. "That was fun." He shakes his head. "I don't think I've ever been on vacation. Or maybe all life is one? Did you two have fun? Are the three of you, like together? As a throuple thing?"

Lucky leans over to put his arm around Haruni protectively as the ogre makes her threats, but he doesn't seem daunted by it. Especially as she seems to satisfy herself with simply stealing his hat. "That's the second one this week," he sighs. "I'm gonna have to stock up at this rate." Though at Haruki's question about his relationship status, he lets out a good-natured laugh, as if that's the funniest thing he's heard all year. "Oh, you. Never change. Nah, Joel is his own man. I just got the satyr." By which he means Sid, naturally.

"I could knit you a hat if you want," Haruki offers. "So your ears don't get cold. Only it'd have to be kind of scarf like since that's about all I can do. So well maybe better to just buy one? Or tie it onto your head?" He smiles fondly at what Lucky says. "Sid's fun. You're fun. Together you're like quadruple that awesomeness."

"You should see it now that we've got Joel in the mix!" he tells the man. "Now it's octuple the fun, with -style-!" Because apparently that's what Joel has taught them! "And I'll be okay. I've survived worse." Reaching over into the snow, he deposits a healthy bit onto the top of Haruki's head, grinning. "Since I missed you last time." Though he does offer Haruki the pomegranate back. "Did I interrupt your dinner?" Followed by, "I might have squished it a little. I'll buy you another one."

"Joel is fun?" Haruki seems surprised by that. "He always seems so serious. Not in a bad way I mean. Just. I suppose he's always been working when I've seen him." And then he looks sa.d "I don't know where we're going to do our magic anymore." He gets covered in snow and he laughs. "Sooo cold." He takes the pomegranete and shakes his head. "No. It was for the dead. In case they're hungry. And because it's a new year. And just because. I suppsoe I should give them all one each but Persephone only ate a few seeds so I was hoping that would do."

"Tell 'em it's an exercise in sharing!" he tells Haruki. "Or, you know, give them each one seed so they can grow their own pomegranate... tree. Bush? Vine? Plant. Pomegranate plant." Because he has no idea what sort of apparatus pomegranates grow on, but it doesn't seem important. "And yeah, Joel can be loads of fun. He's usually the one that takes the ideas and refines them into something truly brilliant," he explains. "Whereas before, it was just whatever we could get away with."

Haruki smiles and nods at these ideas. Not that much can be seen since he's all muffled up with his scarf. "We never got to see your strip performance. So Joel's like the mastermind? Enid's going to be so happy you're all back. You know she was a balloon pilot champion once."

"Oh, don't worry about Enid," Lucky tells Haruki. "We already left her a present. I'm sure she'll say something about it in her next column." He flashes the smaller man a playful wink. "Though the bastards wouldn't let us ship the parrot. Apparently there are rules against that." What the hell did they -send- her? "And I think it might be a little cold for a strip show. You'd be awfully disappointed, and I'd probably be a little embarrased. Maybe this summer!"

"It's just as well," Haruki says. "Parrots really shouldn't be pets or gifts. Apart from the little ones." He doesn't ask what's sent, instead he laughs. "Depends on what I was hoping for. But stripping in the snow is just going to give you frost bite and can't have that happening. So what you doing here? Did I ask that?"

Lucky shrugs. "Here is as home as anywhere else. And most of my stuff is still here. Vacation over, time to head back!" Like he just left last week or something. No big deal, right? "You been holding up okay while we were gone? Anyone's ass need kicked?"

"I meant in the graveyard," Haruki admits. At the question there's a brief hesitation before he smiles and says. "Everything's been great. Quiet. I'm a little worried about Itsy, but hopefully things will be good now the fun people are back. He'll have an excuse to leave his burrow."

If Lucky senses the hesitation, he doesn't push. Some things are better left until the proper moment. Instead, he moves over to sit on one of the headstones, listening carefully. "To have a snowball fight with you, of course! Why do you think I made all those snowskulls?" He thumbs back over his shoulder, grinning. "Though I'm thinking maybe I should have taken it easier on you in the opening salvo. I thought you broke something!" How he knew Haruki would be there, at that time, he leaves pretty much open.

Haruki smiles brightly. "Oh! Okay!" And then he's scooping up snow to throw at Lucky. The fruit's just placed down on the ground, so he doesn't get confused, as is his bag.

Lucky's actually caught off guard! He manages to get a facefull of Haruki's snowball, leaving the elf with a bright dusting of ice crystals all around his face. "Oh, so it's sneak attacks now, huh?" He laughs brightly, moving down to pick up a handful of snow all his own. "If it's war you want, it's war you'll get! Have at thee!"

It's Midnight! It's the Graveyard! There's a supermoon in the sky, which basically means the full moon is bigger than usual. And Haruki got the bright idea to take his keyboard (in the bag) and some pomegranetes and flowers to the graveyard for the ghosts. So here he is and Lucky's here too! And there's splatters of red on the ground and a squished pomegranete and Haruki flings soft snow at Lucky, before diving behind a grave. "I won't win fair and square!" he says.

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