RUMORS: BLUEBELL

[crittersheep]

WELCOME TO SILVER STAR, YOUR SOURCE OF THE BEST OF THE PASTURE NEWS! From Newspapers, magazines, radios and more, we at Silver Star are determined to bring you the best as it happens live. ... Is what we normally say but you work here today! So it's not like you need the big run down. You heard the boss though, we need you to get to WORK.

Your editor today is EDGELORD! 

Comments

SUBMISSION

[crittersheep]

Entries are due at 4:30 PM EST, unless an extension is required.

Re: SUBMISSION

[heavyliesthecrown]

If you shoot an arrow directly at the new moon and your aim is true, a thousand wishes, in the form of very cute salamanders, will pour from the sky to fall harmlessly to the ground. The polite salamanders are friendly and affectionate, and known for complimenting all far and wide. If you find one and give it a kiss, it shall make one of your wishes come true.

DISCUSSION

[crittersheep]

Re: DISCUSSION

[bloominto]

... This sees highly unprofessional.

Re: DISCUSSION

[arrowace]

?

Re: DISCUSSION

[bloominto]

For a news station to just publish or broadcast whatever they make up is to spread misinformation. In many cases, this can even be harmful.

( also i forgot, fit check. )

Re: DISCUSSION

[stirtheblood]

Eh? Editor?

[HE'S NOT SURE THAT'S A JOB HE'S QUALIFIED FOR]

((also since we can get clothes he's in this lol))

Re: DISCUSSION

[heavyliesthecrown]

You look rather well dressed today, Edgelord-san.

Re: DISCUSSION

[stirtheblood]

Eh? Huh, yeah, I guess. They sure like puttin' me in stuff for this kinda thing...

Re: DISCUSSION

[bloominto]

( passing him some of the fruit and a water bottle from the minifridge. fuck it. their office now. )

Do you know what you're supposed to be doing here with us?

Re: DISCUSSION

[stirtheblood]

[takes them, blinking]

"Editing"? Makin' things excitin'? I ain't big on doin' what I'm s'posed to anyway, so I'll do whatever seems interestin', prob'ly.

Re: DISCUSSION

[bloominto]

( yo mr editor, whatcha think )

Re: DISCUSSION

[arrowace]

[ tasting light fixtures ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[heavyliesthecrown]

[ . . . This is their mute.]

Re: DISCUSSION

[heavyliesthecrown]

[ . . . . . . . . Crescendo seems to be wearing this, but he is a little unusually quiet considering the circumstances, his fists clenched into his pants.]

'Entertainment'... is it.

Re: DISCUSSION

[arrowace]

. . . Crescendo?

Re: DISCUSSION

[heavyliesthecrown]

. . . I am just annoyed. I apologize, Mute-kun.

[Deep breath in.]

So... some sort of story, is it? I imagine involving the other flocks.

Re: DISCUSSION

[dadinside]

[poof! he just randomly appears.]

Uh...?

Re: DISCUSSION

[heavyliesthecrown]

Duo-san...?

[ Hah... sometimes this sort of thing happens, huh. Late arrivals. ]

Welcome to... a very butchered version of journalism.

PHASE 2

[crittersheep]

THE BROADCAST

[crittersheep]

The radio sparks to life, and a girl speaks, stoic yet subtle in her emotion.

"It is said that if one beseeches the aid of the elder beings of the sea, one may be granted blessings, or have their deepest wishes fulfilled. The method is thus:

At sunset, go to a high cliff overlooking the sea, with a beach down below. Sing to the deeps of all your sorrows and desires, and cast out a cask of fish’s blood. If the Old Ones have heard your plea, a necklace of seashells will wash up on the shore below. If the shells are white, wear it for three days and three nights, and know the tides of fate will bring you blessings.

But if the shells are red, beware: the Old Ones have taken measure of your call and found it lacking. It may be that your offering did not match the size of your wish, or they’ve found the quality of your character is undeserving. Now you must pay with your own blood and flesh until they are sated.

Ignore the necklace on the sand, and you forfeit your life. But should you don it, you may show the Old Ones the strength of your resolve, and take upon yourself the chance to prove yourself again. They will send ashore their emissary -- a being so awful to behold, to lay eyes on it will cause you to cry tears of blood.

The creature will pursue you for three days and three nights. If you successfully elude their gaze in all that time, the Old Ones will be satisfied. The necklace will crumble from your neck as a sign of their change of hearts, and you may expect your tides to turn for the better.

Each time you look upon the emissary, another shell from the necklace shall crack, and it will grow tighter. Fail enough, and you’re surely done for. If you decide your wish isn’t worth it after all, fill two casks with blood from the land as an offering. Your wish will never come true in all your days, but you will be free from the emissary’s eyes, forever.

So, if you find yourself on a cliff at sunset, with a cask of blood in your hands, ask yourself carefully: are you worthy?

Is your wish worth the price you might pay? How far are you willing to go to prove it?"

AND: SCENE

[crittersheep]

The room goes dark and quiet. And after a long while, you can hear something: waves, crashing against rocks. You open your eyes and it is dusk, and you are all standing at a cliff's edge. The way down is quick and easy enough, and for a moment it may seem peaceful, even.

At least one of you wants to sing your heart out.

There's a wish in your chest, aching.

However lucid one of you is, another will be ready and willing to plea, and the sea waits with great hunger. How long can you resist?


(You can't.)

Re: AND: SCENE

[arrowace]

[ They hold the blood close to their chest and think of Ranger, their junior. They think of how just having him there made the harsh training so much less lonely and horrible. They think about watching the training slowly break him, doing too little too infrequently to help. They think of the final awful betrayal their master ordered: leaving him to die because he wasn't strong enough.

When they sing, their voice is quiet and rough, barely audible over the ebb and flow of the waves. But with every note they hold onto their wish: "please, please, no matter what price I have to pay, even if he hates me forever, let him be happy someday." ]

On the broken backs of all the words we spared
Like little soldiers in the trenches
It was a march we made towards ruin and despair
But we held hands all the while

I swear that I loved you
I swear that I loved you
I swear that I loved you
I swear, I swear . . .

Re: AND: SCENE

[heavyliesthecrown]

[ Eyes closing, the little bottle of blood is held close to his heart. There are many things he might wish for. But truly, there is only one thing he could ask for above all else.]

Father...

[The memory of him, looking like death while clinging to life on a hospital bed still haunts him. All he wants or truly wishes for, is that he get better.

Lips parting, he sings-]

The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair
In doctor's-office-lighting, I didn't tell you I was scared
That was the first time we were there
Holy orange bottles, each night I pray to you
Desperate people find faith, so now I pray too

And I say to you
Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better
Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better
Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon
'Cause you have to

TO THE END

[crittersheep]

... How long are you running? Hiding? Fighting? Thrice the sun sets, and thrice it rises, and while Edgelord, Duo and Harmony try to keep the Emissary at bay, so too does it try to go further inland in search of Crescendo and Mute.

Crescendo will gaze upon it's wretchedness three times, and three times a shell will crack and the cord tighten around his neck.

Mute will see it once, and only once will a shell crack, tightening the cord.

Edgelord, Duo, and Harmony will suffer great fatigue that comes with fending the beast off for three days straight.

But eventually... eventually the Emissary turns back, and the necklaces crumble.



It's over.