STORM RITUAL - THISTLE

[crittersheep]

[Your Barn seems to fall away to the sides, and you find yourself in an ice locker. It's freezing, making it difficult to think--and sickening. You feel so sick. You're feverish, you might cough, you stomach might make you keel over. There are some medicines in the locker; aspirin and the sort, but they only grant you the mildest of relief before making things worse. Well, regardless, you have a decision to make. . .]

Comments

THE QUESTION

[crittersheep]

[You see visions floating in the air, demonstrating what other flocks are dealing with.]

A voice rings out: Thistle can save only one. Who?

[BLUEBELL is in the middle of an open field, but Minuet's arm seems to be warping into a horrible weapon of sort, threatening to blow them all up soon. Possibly the others could run, but how far will they truly get. . .?]

[Lily is trapped in a deep valley with steep cliffsides, surrounded by flowers. A bunch of humanoid wolves resembling Bea have surrounded them, taking delight in slowly slicing them to bits.]

[CLOVER is in a graveyard, surrounded by a horde of zombies. They don't seem to have anywhere to hide.]

[DAFFODIL is surrounded by a pack of One-Eyed Gorgon wolves, with the threat of being turned to stone the longer the wolves have them trapped]

[PEONY seems to be on a rapidly deteriorating platform over molten lava, with two other platforms to their side. Only one can support their weight though...]

[ROSE is surrounded by snakes and mongooses, each threatening to tear the other animal, and the flock apart.]

DISCUSS

[crittersheep]

ANSWER

[crittersheep]

[survivaltricks]

[sneezes]

What the fuck?

Re: DISCUSS

[leonheartedly]

[there is so much to hate about all of this, where does he begin]

The fuck.

[literal_trainwreck]

[hunching over and wrapping his arms around himself]

Fuck.

[shortforever]

[Don't mind him he's huddling in a corner trying to stay warm.]

Fuck.

REAL DISCUSSION NOW

[shortforever]

We should pick someone who isn't gonna get picked by anyone else, to give 'em a chance.

[survivaltricks]

[shimmying up to Odin's side for warmth. he's shivering so hard his teeth are chattering]

That's a hard one to predict. . . plus, I've got Melody on Bluebell, and Tyr's got Crois on Daffodil. . .

[he trails off]

[shortforever]

If we pick wrong, someone's probably gonna die. We have just enough votes to go around if we all pick unique teams.

Think we can logic out who would pick what teams?

[literal_trainwreck]

[not moving yet]

I don't especially care...

Are any of them likely to choose us?

[survivaltricks]

[immediately]

Prob'ly not.

[literal_trainwreck]

Then I definitely don't care.

[survivaltricks]

There's no "right" or "wrong" choice. Not in a situation like this. Everyone is going to do their best, so. . . we just gotta, too.

[sneezing again, sniffling a bit afterwards]

. . . the good news for me is that Bluebell is almost a sure pick for Lily.

And if you asked me which teams are the least likely to be picked. . . I'd say it's us and Rose.

[survivaltricks]

[. . .]

[moves from Odin's side to Loki's, bumping their shoulders together before he huddles close for warmth]

If Melody were here, I'd say Bluebell might pick us, but. . .

[. . . he is pretty sure nobody else would put Thistle first]

[shortforever]

[Watches the Bluebell and Lily shepherds fucking die in their holograms.]

About that.

[survivaltricks]

[JESUS CHRIST??? JESUS CHRIST!!!]

Well.

All right, then.

[shortforever]

Okay, let's not pick Bluebell or Lily at least, since they'll probably pick each other. What about Rose? They've helped us before in games.

[survivaltricks]

[nnnngh. . .]

[a sharp exhale]

What about Thistle?

[leonheartedly]

[he's pacing back and forth and just sort of grunts in agreement, though he does mutter loud enough:]

I'd rather deal with wolves than be eaten by infected.

Lily might pick Peony instead of Bluebell.

[shortforever]

That would be the best choice, but can we even pick ourselves?

[survivaltricks]

[has his arms wrapped around himself, trying to stay warm and failing]

[but he frowns]

. . . yeah. . . that's true. Aides used to be part of Lily, so. . .

[he gives a small shrug]

1/2

[survivaltricks]

I think we should try. What's the worst they could do?

[survivaltricks]

[a long]

[long]

[long. . . . . .]

[pause]





Don't actually answer that.

[literal_trainwreck]

[immediately leans in, body shaking]

Then just pick someone and get it over with.