Dreadlords Dreadkid Slice of Life 3.0

[Zaire]

Zaire took a deep breath. A very deep breath, one that made his chest rise up and expand as if he were trying to cartoonishly puff up his chest to try and intimidate another. Then he exhaled and he deflated, shoulders slumping forward and staying curved as he shook his head, thick coils of hair bouncing in tandem.

“We suck.” He said plainly before standing up straight and shrugging, right before seeing the ball actually go in. His eyes widen, that single red eye of his shinning bright. Wait. Wait! Kress! She did it!

“You scored a point! Finally one of us scored!” The boy cheered— albeit, rather quietly and it was hardly anything close to a shout.

Excited, Zaire’s hands turned into fists. He soon released them as a ball was handed to him. He looked over at Marcella, and nodded his head quite seriously, his lips twisting down into a bit of a frown.

“Alright. Just gotta get another point.” Zaire said. He couldn’t let someone as glum as Marci show him up, right? He got into his previous stance, focusing on the center hoop. Not that he was trying to impress her or anything, if anything, he was being competitive. Ball firmly in his hands, he squatted down and then jumped, letting the ball fly from his fingertips once again.

He held his breath, watching the ball arc up into the air, just like before. His bi-colored gaze followed the ball, time slowing down for him. Down… down… down…

“Five points. You got six now. But only two balls left.” Zaire was grinning, looked over his shoulder in hopes that Dakarai had seen— he hadn’t and was actually nowhere to be found— and then looked back at Marcella.

“How many points do we need for that one?” Zaire asked, pointing at the stuffed animals that were medium sized.

“Fifteen.”

“Well, Marci?” Zaire said, watching her get handed the ball. “Think you can score another five points?”

Marcella

 

[Silas Artesto]

Silas didn't see what the big deal was. Both of them, Cassi and the Guard, were acting like he was mad or something. Everybody else was going to be doing the activities that suited their specialties, right? Well, unless Silas sure didn't see a running track, and he wasn't stuffing himself into a potato sack-- his speed wouldn't even work like that when he couldn't really touch the ground.

The Academy taught that when things didn't go as planned, you improvise. So he was improvising his own little exercise to work up a sweat with the help of the lovely Cassi as his assistant. The brightly dressed Guard glared a hole through him the whole time he spoke, and Artesto wiggled his fingers to the brute. "Oh come off it. You act like you haven't seen anything stranger in this damned city."

"Cassi." Silas turned his attention back to her. "You manage to get any of those rings landing out of my grip and I'll do whatever you ask for a day. Can't say no." A little smirk played at the corner of his lips-- he wasn't too worried about upholding that deal, because he wasn't losing. No chance in hell. "I catch them all, and the opposite happens. You get it?" He could already feel his blood pumping, every muscle in his body ready to let loose.

Artesto didn't really have anything in mind for her to do. Nothing nefarious or anything like that; He just liked having stakes on the line. It made everything just a little bit more fun.

Cassi Azura

 

[Dakarai]

Dak shot the old crone a wink. "One thing each, luckily I got three different people in this head of mine." He would take some giant stuffed thing that was almost as tall as him, a throwing knife, and some sort of a disk on a retracting string... and a secret slinky.

And then... he ran. "Raena! Let's go, go, go!"

Only one thing made him stop: the mention of that gods awful twit, Flavien. Arms literally full of prizes, he careened to a halt beside where Remi and Ysobel were. "Flavio? That stupid melon?" His gaze shifted til he found him. Gods he hated him. "One sec, Raena, don't mind this quick detour."

Across the way, he wedged until he reached his brother, Zaire and Marcella. "Z. This is for you." He would grunt as he tossed him the giant plush. "Marcie, you." He tossed her the slinky with a wink. "Now, if you excuse me, I gotta get juiced up and blast Flavio."

Returning to Ysobel and Remi, he tossed the latter the throwing knife. "Rems, you look like you could have some fun with this. And Ysobel, no idea what this is but it looks entertaining." He tossed her the disk with string. "Mind hitting me with some lightning so I can hurt melon head?"

Raena Mirrsyn | Ysobel | Remi Useda | Zaire | Marcella

 

[Ysobel]

"Flavien?" She followed his finger as he pointed towards the boy who's name she did not know. She did however know what a massive ass he was. "Ahh...that Flavien..." She laughed quietly, observing how he interacted with the clearly uninterested girl. Poor thing. "Is he your final choice?"

She turned her attention to Dakarai as he approached them and nodded, "That would be the one." She confirmed for him as he ran off to do god knows what before joining the duo once again and handing them presents. She held the disk with the string above her head, examining it from all directions before tossing it behind her like garbage. She had no use for children's toys.

"You want me to shock you?" She tilted her head to the side, but gave no more than a second of thought before gripping his arm and letting quite a bit of her overflowing energy flow into his body. Had it been one of the other initiates, it would have probably been fatal but he was some sort of sponge for the stuff so she was happy to oblige. "Okay!"

Remi Useda Dakarai

 

[Oraya Urahil]

Perci stiffened, about to become a rock and dig in some serious weight and heels as Corvus Azura grabbed her hand. But she was too dumbfounded by the bird he'd offered back to her. She pinched it awkwardly between thumb and index digits. Perpetual frown deepening even more as she stared at it's dead, plastic beady-eyes. Not that plastic beady-eyes were ever living.

Before she could protest she found strange hands strapping her in. Corvus with a wicked grin on his face. And the ride starting to sway back and forth.

Along with her stomach and all the contents from lunch within. Poor plushie ducky fell from her hands as she gripped her restraints with a new-found vigor. Large, brown eyes squeezed closed and she tried to take a steadying breath.

Horses she could do.

This?

"I don't like this," words escaped through gritted teeth. "I want off." Her dark skin had already gotten a sickly, ashen hue to it as they went higher and higher.

 

[Rowley Stone]

Corvus was busy enjoying the ride that he did not notice Perci's fear. He only looked to her when she finally spoke up and he frowned. She did not look too good. Was she getting sick?

He looked around for something to help, but there really wasn't much there. He could just tell her to take a deep breath, but that would probably just annoy her. He knew it would annoy him.

Corvus looked over the side and saw that they were pretty high up at this point. The ride was about to really start moving soon. This was just the beginning.

"Um...I can get us off. You might not like how though."

Perseus

 

[Marcella]

Crimson colored her cheeks as Zaire cheered her successful shot. Then he took his shot and seemed to make it with ease. Marcella gave him a soft pitter-patter of a clap in celebration.

”Wow, good job,” she whispered to no one in particular.

When he turned and posed the question of whether or not she could make a basket and earn them another five points - points they required to win anything - she simply stared at him. Wide-eyed and confused.

Could she make it? No. Absolutely not.

It had been a miracle that she even managed to make the first shot and that one was only worth a single point! There was simply no way she’d make it into the center hoop and there was no reason to lie to Zaire about her chances.

”Yes. I-I think that I can make the shot,” she said in a monotone voice as the ball was placed in her hands.

She cocked back one arm and flung the ball towards the center. But before she could see if it even went in they found themselves interrupted by Dakarai. He had tossed her some sort of odd contraption that collided directly into her forehead before landing on the ground and slinking back-and-forth.

It hadn’t hurt, the thing was practically weightless, but it was a very odd object.

“No good! You missed!” the person managing the hoops game called out.

”Did your brother just say he was going to bring Flavio some juice?” That was awfully nice of him, though she wondered which kind of juice he’d bring.

 

[Cassi Azura]

"Cassi. You manage to get any of those rings landing out of my grip and I'll do whatever you ask for a day. Can't say no. I catch them all, and the opposite happens. You get it?"

Oh, Corvus was going to kill her for agreeing to this little bet, but Corvus was not here to stop her at the moment.

"Deal," Cassi said with smirk.

She picked up six rings and slid them down her arm. The last two she held in her left hand. She backed up away from the booth and moved one of the rings to her right hand.

"Ready?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she threw the first ring followed immediately by the other one that had been in her hand. The first ring went to the left while the second went to the right. She pushed her hands away from her body and then out to the sides as wind picked the two rings up and took them even further in the opposite direction.

Silas hadn't said they all had to go in the same direction.

"Fetch, Silas!"

---

Silas Artesto

 

[Zaire]

Zaire, just from pure instinct alone, caught the giant stuffed toy. Oh gosh, it was five feet tall! And Zaire unfortunately was still at five feet and six inches. He was certain this summer he would gain another six inches, after all, his father had told him that he used to be quite short as well, and then the summer of his sixteenth year was when he grew nearly a whole foot!

Zaire couldn’t wait for that to be him.

He winced, hearing the ball bounce off the wall, and as he turned his head, still hugging that plushie to his chest, the fuzzy head just barely touching his chin, Zaire was met with an untimely demise.

The ball bounced straight into his face, and for a moment, Zaire thought he got a broken nose. But that was hardly the worst of his problems as he fell back, his arse falling down hard on the ground.

“Oof.” Was all he managed to say, still hugging onto that plushie. He looked up at Marcella, hearing the game-master snickering. He tilted his head to the side, quite confused by Marci’s last question. “What? Juice? No, Marcella.” Zaire said, getting up from the ground and dusting off his behind. He glanced down at how he was still holding the plushie and dropped it, clearing his throat and shoving his hands into his pockets. “He’s getting juiced up. Because. Yanno. He hits harder after someone hits him.”

But Dakarai’s words did give Zaire an idea.

“Marci. Take the ball again. I got an idea.” And without warning, Zaire used his magic on Marcella. If it felt like anything, it felt like nothingness. But everything as Marcella knew it would just make sense. The entire world, the wind, the ground, her body, her mind, everything around them— it all made sense. It was like handing glasses to a person who had been born far-sighted their entire life, and now with their pair of spectacles they could see just how everyone else did.

“Alright. Aim for the middle again.” Zaire said, looking a little smug.

Marcella

 

[Raena Mirrsyn]

Raena followed Dakarai like a good partner and then he went off to talk with some of the other initiates. She stood there awkwardly remembering that she spent more time with the silent Fennec than she did anyone else. It showed now. She did not have friends or know their little jokes.

She wondered if anyone would notice if she just vanished into thin arm and went back to her room.

She wondered if Dakarai would even care if she did.

Her left arm crossed over her chest as she rubbed her right bicep and debated her options.

---

Dakarai

 

[Marcella]

Oh. Juiced up. He wasn’t going to bring anyone juice. That was so disappointing.

”Ok…” she cautiously picked up the ball as she stared at the hoops dumbfounded.

Marcella had already tried this before. It was pointless to try again. She was miserable and terrible at this game and there just wasn’t any point because someone like her would never be able to-

Her train of thought ceased as Zaire’s magic began to worm its way through her nervous system. She could feel everything more clearly, she could sense the world around her in a way she never had before. And she knew that throwing a ball through a tiny hoop would be the simplest task she’d ever attempted in her life.

In a fluid motion she arced a shot upwards and it flew through the air. It whizzed directly into the center of the middle hoop, a near perfect shot.

“Wow. That was incredible.” The attendant commented, clearly shocked that the dour girl had managed to make it in.

Marcella looked back at Zaire with a genuine grin. ”Thanks.”

 

[Oraya Urahil]

"Um...I can get us off. You might not like how though."

Wide-almond eyes cracked open as they went back and forth. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack and fooooooooooooooooorth. A growing sense of panic swirled in the rich, dark depths. Brow crinkled and a silent pleading crossed her face as she silently looked at Corvus knowing he would either be her executioner or her savior.

"Do it," she rasped and clamped her lips tightly closed for fear of releasing something out. A low moaning grown left her lips as her nausea continued to mount. Any moment now it would be too late.

 

[Rowley Stone]

Careful what you ask for.

Corvus moved quickly, standing up in his seat and wrapping his arms around Perci. By now, he was aware that he had made some kind of mistake, but was it really his fault? She should have said something. Well, she had said something, so maybe it was his fault for just being an idiot. Either way, he would apologize later.

Without waiting for her response, as he was sure that might just freak her out more. Corvus took her and jumped from the ride falling quickly to the ground below. Right before his feet would have collided with the ground, Corvus sent out a strong burst of air from his feet which immediately killed the momentum.

He landed with relative ease and was happy to see that he had managed to hang onto Perci. Cor quickly put her down, not wanting to make it awkward for her.

"Sorry about that. If you don't want to do anything, then just tell me."

Perseus

 

[Oraya Urahil]

The moment his hands touched her warm, brown skin her eyes shot open. She hadn't really been in the position to be able to expect anything. She'd had on goal in mind. Keep contents of stomach down. But as her got past her safety harness and stood up on a swinging ride OF DEATH and MISTAKES, her lips parted in protest, any thoughts of sickness disappearing.

"Wha-," that was the only protest she got as shrieks from others on the ride disappeared with a whooosh of wind and she and Corvus unceremoniously left the ride. There was angry chatter somewhere below, probably from the poor ride worker who was sure he'd never work in the carnival business again.

Her grip tightened on him as the ground bucked upward.

But they touched down safely, with none of her golden bangles and hoops the worse for wear. She pried her fingers free from his body as she got her own two feet beneath her. A breath and then another.

"I do not want to ride anymore rides," she announced. The ride worker was yelling again and waving his hands, coming closer. Perci grabbed Corvus' hand as if she needed to protect him. "Come on before he brings the wrath of the proctors on us," with a light tug, she lead them to disappear into the crowds and down a row of food vendors. Just as quickly, she'd release his hand.

"Do you think we can sneak out of here?"

 

[Rowley Stone]

What the hell was this worker complaining about? They were fine and he was still going to get paid. He should really just fuck off. Corvus was about to walk over and settle this the easy way when Perci took his hand and pulled him away.

Once they stopped he looked around before focusing on her. "Like sneak out of the carnival or sneak out of the Academy...because getting out of the carnival probably isn't too hard. The Academy is a bit more difficult."

He stuck his head around the corner of a food vendor to see the worker still looking angry, but they were already beginning to give up on the chase.

"Also, sorry about all that. I didn't know you were afraid of rides or anything. I would not have made you go, so...my bad."

This was one of these times when people would have yelled at him for being dimwitted, as others would have likely noticed her reluctance beforehand.

"Anyways, I think we are done with the rides, so lead the way and I will follow."

Perseus

 

[Silas Artesto]

Clever girl.

Cassi threw the first two rings up high, before using her wind tricks to send them flying in opposite directions like they'd been picked up by a swirling maelstrom, tossing his targets away like an ogre flicking a bug. It was kind of what Silas had expected though, and he was certainly up to the challenge.

Pressing his tongue against the roof of his mouth, Artesto lens down and presses the sole of his right foot firmly into the dirt, focusing every little ounce of power he had into the push-off. With a kick of his leg, he was off-- speeding towards the left bearing ring at a blinding pace.

If anybody could catch both rings and still make it back, it was the kid vaulting over a food vendor, nearly knocking the thing over. He thought he caught a glance at Corvus and even gave him a wink, but he was probably going to fast for Cassi's overbearing brother to notice, and it could have been anybody seeing as Silas could hardly look at anything and make out more than vague shapes and colors.

That was the thing about moving at the speed of a horse with its tail on fire; You went fast, sure, but the rest of your senses took a hit. Damn if you couldn't see very well with the wind hitting you in the face, and good luck hearing with air rushing through your ears. Didn't matter, angling his head up he could still see the round shape in the sky, and it was right over him now.

Now he just needed a good jump.

Bringing both his feet under him after his next step, Silas used the last of his speed to launch himself up, stretching his arms out above his head and saying a little prayer. He felt something hit his palm, and wrapped his fingers around something he hoped was the ring before coming back down.

And crashing down onto the unfortunate slingshot shooting gallery, hitting the roof with a thud before rolling to the ground, along with splintered chunks of the stall's roof.

Pain. Alright, he'd gotten a little cocky. At least he'd caught one though, right?

Laying on the ground, trying to catch his breath, his eyes moved to the object in his hand.

A rather frightened-looking pigeon stared back at him.

Cassi Azura

 

[Zaire]

“You know what they say,” Zaire said with a small yet sly grin, his magic of enhancement leaving Marcella (game was over, after all) and receding back into… well, wherever magic came from. “Team work makes the dream work. Not that they ever said that at the academy, but I’ve heard it in other places.” Zaire then patted Marci on the back, careful not to do it too hard in case she tripped and fell over into the stand.

But with their combined total of eleven points, they had scored just enough to actually get a prize!

“So. I got a teddy bear already. Why don’t you pick something you’d like?” The initiate said. Really, there wasn’t anything that caught Zaire’s eyes or anything that he would want to split. Besides, he did already have this big fluffy bear from Dakarai! What more could he ever want?

His stomach growled.

Ah. That’s right. He had missed breakfast. And breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Unsure what would happen around noon, which was when the initiates could begin getting their daily lunch as long as they weren’t being disciplined, even if older kids had to wait until it was more like an hour or two after noon before they would be served; Zaire languidly looked around the make-shift fair.

“Do you… I mean, you probably don’t eat much because you’re so tiny, but I could really go for something… uh.” There was a pause as he continued to look around. And there! Finally! Something of substance! “Sweet. Like one of those candied apples.” Zaire said, pointing at the small stand.

Marcella

 

[Marcella]

"Something I like?"

Marcella stood, dumbfounded, for a moment as she took in everything that the prize rack had to offer. There was an, 'I ♥ VEL ANIR,' shirt but Marcie wasn't too sure she liked its design. Or its sentiment. Far off to the side was a big plushie in the shape of a snake with the names of Dreadlord legends embroidered all across its scales. But Marcella absolutely hated snakes.

Then it caught her eye. A tiny little stuffed animal in the shape of a camel. It had oversized eyes and a cartoonish face.

She pointed to it sheepishly and asked the attendant, "can I have that one please?"

In a few seconds she was cradling a stuffed camel between her arms whilst Zaire was asking her about food or candied apples or something. Eventually she broke her concentration away from her new friend and stared up at him.

"Yeah. A candy apple sounds nice."

 

[Oraya Urahil]

Perci nearly choked when he said sneak out of the Academy. "No," she said quickly, giving a glance around a kettle-corn maker. The salty-sweet smell making the tip of her nose tingle. And even though post-Revolution they wouldn't get strung up and executed for casual talk about leaving, she was still nervous.

And she had no intentions of leaving.

She couldn't let her family down. They needed this income. Even with the facade of the minor house they owned.

"Not the Academy. The carnival." Lips pursed into a thin line as she looked around at...all of it. "And...it's okay. I am not mad at you." She was surprised that he seemed to feel bad about it at all. Almond-eyes traveled upward, above the lights and glow of the booths, rides, and vendors and toward the dark roof of the Academy beyond. "There's a spot I like to go just to think. Want to see it?"

With on last glance over her shoulder, she'd begin to walk down the row of food vendors, giving Corvus a quick look to see if he truly wanted to sneak away from the carnival. If he didn't, she'd stick it out with him.

 

[Cassi Azura]

Cassi had no doubt in her mind that Silas would not catch the rings. He was fast but she literally controlled the air around the ring. She watched him with amusement and as he started to come down for a hard landing, she took off jogging in his direction.

She used the wind to bring the ring back to her so as she stood above Silas with a smirk on her lips, she held the ring in her fingers.

"That pigeon looks nothing like this ring, Silas," Cassi explained slowly like she was talking to a child...or an idiot.

"So you will do whatever I say for a day, huh?" She crossed her arms over her chest with the same amused look on her face. Corvus would hate this so much.

---

Silas Artesto

 

[Rowley Stone]

Ok, so she wasn't choosing the most fun choice, but she was going with the safer one, which was probably the smarter idea anyways.

"Yeah, let's go."

He turned to look into the distance, as he felt his sister pull at their connection. She was using her powers. She might struggle to use them once he moved away, so he moved and bought a bag of kettle corn. He snatched up the bag and left some coins before the vendor could even say anything. By that time, he did not feel the pull of his power so he followed after Perci.

Corvus had seen her look at the kettle corn, so when he caught up to her, he offered some of the snack.

"You show me this cool spot, and I get us some food. Fair trade."

Perseus

 

[Zaire]

Zaire looked at Marcella’s prize that she had chosen. It was so… goofy-looking. Girls liked things like that? Animals with really large heads and huge eyes? Zaire himself didn’t see the appeal but he couldn’t deny that… well, despite Marci not smiling, she seemed very intrigued over the whole camel. She just kept staring and staring at it. That meant she liked it then, right?

Not that Zaire cared if she did or not! This didn’t bother him in the slightest!

Without looking back to see if Marci was following him or not, Zaire began to make his way to the candied apple stand. The smell was incredibly. Cinnamon and sugar and caramel were melding together to create the most tantalizing smell that Zaire had ever witnessed, and it only got stronger the closer they got. Soon enough, Zaire felt like he was enveloped into a warm embrace, one of his mother’s big bear hugs or when she would rub oil into his scalp by a roaring fire before holiday gatherings.

“What can I get you kiddos?” The vendor asked with a saccharine smile. Zaire looked over the menu. It started from the signature candied apple which seemed pretty basic all the way down to the…

“Two super-duper giant candy apple supremes, please.” Zaire asked. Bigger was better, right?

Marcella

 

[Silas Artesto]

Sure, he'd gotten cocky. It hadn't been the first time he'd sought to push himself beyond what was reasonable, and it probably wouldn't be the last, either. The ache of his back from the hard impact against the stall roof would be enough to keep him from trying something like that again for at least the next few days though. Silas let out a groan and tosses the poor bird away, watching it as it flapped as far from him as it could.

"Yeah, well I'd like to see you pick out one thing from another when you're moving as fast as a horse on lyrum." Artesto cracked back with a small laugh, arching his body. He wasn't really upset; fair was fair and it had been a fun little litmus test of his progress. "Next time I'll have to let you ride on my back."

With another long groan, he sat up, his body still shaking from the exertion he'd put himself through. He'd made the bet and lost, so now he could only hope Cassi wasn't going to have him do anything that Corvus would hold too much of a grudge over.

Not that he wouldn't do it regardless.

"Seems that way. Try to use this power for good, no?"

Cassi Azura

 

[Oraya Urahil]

A look of surprise as he offered the kettlecorn. Then a light frown at his words as she lead the way, keeping an eye on the proctors. Even with her stature and Corvus' presence, they managed to escape the carnival without being seen. Back into the quieter halls of the Academy.

It seemed like most of the other classes were down for the night or perhaps also enjoying the carnival. The halls were empty.

Reaching out, she nabbed a handful of the salty-sweet snack, leading the way toward a spiral, stone staircase that a lot of students overlooked or missed entirely.

"Why does everything have to be a trade with you?" A quietly voiced question into the even quieter hallways.

 

[Rowley Stone]

Corvus followed behind Perci without protest. He was enjoying his own snack and lost in his own little world. He barely attempted anything resembling stealth, but the Proctors never caught them, so he was just that good.

He was taken to a staircase that he could have sword had never been there before. Perci must have a lot of secrets to know of a place like that. Now it was his secret too, so he might need to get her another secret.

While he was trying to think of something of even value, Perseus asked her next question.

"Hmm, oh, it just makes things easier. Everyone like a good trade. Without trades then people can feel like they are in each other's debt...People then get weird if the power dynamic isn't balanced. It's just easier this way. Less complicated."

He remembered the first time he had traded when he was young. He had injured Cassi with his powers. She had cried, but then he went and found her a little doll. She smiled, so it had all worked out.

Perseus