Strike A Gourd [Seasonal Event]

Deimos the Reaper You can't take back the cards you've dealt on this long and lonely road to hell the throne must be such a sad and lonely place This time Deimos devised a more strategic, amusing plan for the incoming vegetables. While murder, desecration, and absolute oblivion had its own fair share of entertainment, the mercurial wiles of his mind fought over different channels and avenues. He couldn’t spend his entire time destroying the gourds – though testing weapons on their rinds and cores was gratifying too – without altering and morphing the arrangements and procedures. After some time, and a few bored, half-hearted kicks, he was reminded of a game in his childhood, where he and his fellow youths would race across meadows and fields, each team vying to score more than the other. There’d been triumphant shouts and raucous arguments, no referees tending to keen, blunt knocks and jabs, and where the first sense of conquest, victory, glory, or defeat would howl through their beings. It’d required a fair amount of fitness, back and forth, back and forth, and a lighter ball; but he would make do with what he had. The Reaper chose the open fields for his quick diversion; flattened out a pocket of land by pacing back and forth, knocking over the long, lingering vegetation so the pumpkins would glide easier over the fallen stems and stalks. He eventually found some larger stones, grabbed ahold of two to set up a designated goal area for one team, and then did the same for the other side. He paused, tilted his head to survey the makeshift grounds, tying up the longer pieces of his hair and removing the outer layer of his furs. When several pumpkins came nearby, just as daring and bold as the rest of their counterparts, he tested out his new playing patch with some well-aimed kicks, watching them soar across the lanes with a well-resounding chuckle. He was a youth again – wild and free and savage – a snicker, a smirk, a smile tucked between the edges of his mouth.   {COME PLAY PUMPKIN SOCCER. <3}

_{Photo and Table by Time
Photo taken at Hero's Square in Budapest, Hungary}

RexannA maybe they'd forgotten, when they failed to see the cracks. Rex had returned to the fields for a reason she couldn’t really say. Perhaps to actually explore some of it rather than just playing in the grasses. Yet on her attempts to return to the beautifully wild and free scenery, her eyes lingered on a slight stream of those terrible pumpkins heading toward a figure out in the center, one that had made something and seemed to be enjoying kicking them into each spot. Brows raised, yet interested in also trying to kick the devilish pumpkins around, Rexanna bounded toward the figure, avoiding the pumpkins in her path. As she got closer, she couldn’t entirely believe her eyes. Was that Deimos? She wanted to rub at her eyes and see if it truly was the brooding man she had found again in the bar that was actually running there, enjoying the idea of punting the pumpkins into the makeshift goals. A bright smile crossed her lips at the man and she hurried her steps to get closer, clearing her throat slightly before offering him a wave. “Deimos!” She called out to him in greeting as she drew closer. She looked at each of the goals, the pumpkins that drew nearer, and laughed quietly as she turned her head and sapphire gaze to her friend. “Mind if I join you?” She asked, though before he could say something a pumpkin drew near her, snarling and grimy. She looked down and moved just in time to kick it across the field, completely missing the goal but enjoying the feeling of the crazy bloodthirsty beasts going flying. that a star's light shines the brightest, when it's starting to collapse.

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Did Edy ask to play? No. Did she even say hello? No. What did she do? Well she set the gourd on fire of course. Using the magic that now sung fiercely in her veins, Edy sent a fireball roughly twice the size of the gourd that was currently being kicked about. It was incinerated immediately, and a wickedly bright laugh left the teenager's mouth as she mimed blowing air off of a finger gun, which was silly of course as guns weren't really a thing. But, there you have it. "So...like 3 points for me?" She chimed brightly, her brilliant and untamed curls like a dark halo around her head as she eventually bobbed to a halt. Grinning at the pair (damn good looking, the both of time), Edy bounced her eyebrows mischievously a few times as a gourd snarled and rolled and otherwise did its best to make its way menacingly towards her. "Comin' atcha big guy!" She trilled, kicking the gourd smoothly towards Deimos and shooting Rexanna a wink for good measure. EDY Could dress up to get love. But guess what? I'm never gonna be that girl who's living in a Barbie world

Deimos the Reaper You can't take back the cards you've dealt on this long and lonely road to hell the throne must be such a sad and lonely place His steps were a rhythm to war beats and fiendish drums, savage and sinister, motions and movements akin to battlefield dirges and requiems. He delighted in the fervor of another foe vanquished, lodged from the end of his foot and past the goal stones, gliding into the grass, halted eventually the lines of untended stalks, a hole in its side. When another came near he merely repeated the cycle and pattern, amusing himself without much fanfare; practicing, perfecting, whatever art came to mind. Something, someone, hollered, caused his head to lift from the nearest pumpkin ready to be lanced – piercing gaze settling on Rexanna. A tilt of his head indicated his curiosity and surprise, for he hadn’t regarded her as a being yearning for games of this craft; but perhaps he truly didn’t know her well at all, and blended lives hardly mattered when there were new regions, new kingdoms, new lands embroiling at their feet. “You may,” he indicated with a smile, a chuckle, a raw bloom of laughter settling over his chest, one finger pointing out her next chance as her first sailed, but not into the drawn lines. The beast thought about moving closer and giving her some suggestions for a well-assailed punt, a way to indicate direction, to implore complete, utter devastation behind its jolt, when another came upon them. He didn’t recognize this one at all – but she made her presence loud and clear with a snap, a singe, of fire and embers. Stunned, mildly bewildered, his eyes widened for a fraction of a second, the nonchalance all but expired, then shrugged, and clapped slowly at the blazing performance. Deimos could appreciate potency and potential in those snapping synapses; his father had mastered the art of the blaze long before the Reaper had howled into the world. He didn’t have long to acknowledge or welcome the finery of the blistering array – she sailed another vegetable to him, much less scorched, and the heathen accepted it with great aplomb. A portion of him didn’t want to be outdone, so he allowed the slightest relish of his deadly expertise to scald over the pumpkin, and when the poor gourd was unleashed through the air, it had already begun to expire mid-flight, withering, decaying, languishing before it hit the ground.

_{Photo and Table by Time
Photo taken at Hero's Square in Budapest, Hungary}

RexannA maybe they'd forgotten, when they failed to see the cracks. The surprising chuckle from Deimos and his agreement to having her join, made her smile to herself as she moved in to play. They weren’t alone, however, as soon as Rex began to kick at one of the pumpkins, aiming for a goal, she spotted fire in the vicinity. Her head shifted immediately toward the cause, spotting a woman she’d seen just briefly before at the meeting. A laugh escaped her lips, in a deep sultry tone as she nodded to her. Then, she watched as the girl kicked a gourd to Deimos and winked at her and Rexanna returned a smirk. As Deimos, too, used some kind of magic, Rexanna suddenly began to feel outdone. She didn’t have any magic that she knew of, but what could it hurt to try? She spotted another pumpkin, and she focused on it as it ran toward her. She didn’t know if she needed to use her hands, or her mind, or a feeling, so she tried everything she could at the pumpkin to have something happen. At first, nothing did and as the pumpkin neared toward her she huffed in quiet frustration, trying harder to reach out with a buried part of her. There – suddenly, sparks shot out from the pumpkin, breaking it apart entirely as a colorful stream of steaming liquid emerged as a halo around it. A giggle escaped her lips as she turned to Deimos and Edy, a grin crossing her features. “Oh this is going to be fun.” She purred, aiming a pumpkin toward Edy, leaving it completely unharmed for Edy to make work of it should she wish to, flashing a grin in her direction. that a star's light shines the brightest, when it's starting to collapse.

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As soon as it appeared as though no one was going to read her down for having interrupted and exploded their game, Edy burst into an even wider grin. Bowing with her usual brand of piss and vinegar as Deimos applauded (she didn't care at all if it was meant to be sarcastic), Edy raised her hands up with a flourish as flames sprouted from them. As Deimos lobbed a quickly-decaying gourd, Edy raised a brow. She too had lifedrain magic, but he didn't need to know that. "Ooooh." Edy purred with a mischievous wink. "You have that effect on everything you touch?" She lilted suggestively with a bit of a cackle. Meanwhile the pretty one appeared to be playing all by herself, which of course wouldn't do. "Hey you wanna come play with my ba—" Edy began, as sparks erupted from one of the pumpkins Rex had been looking at. Blinking with happy surprise, Edy whistled a long and low note of appreciation. Whether it was directed at the magic or just at Rex was of course impossible to say, but the teenager's grin was delighted nonetheless. "I don't know if we're going to make the team." She cackled musically. "I''m Edrei by the way." The teenager greeted with a comical bow EDY Could dress up to get love. But guess what? I'm never gonna be that girl who's living in a Barbie world

Deimos the Reaper You can't take back the cards you've dealt on this long and lonely road to hell the throne must be such a sad and lonely place All together, they seemed to make a good show: displaying traces of their powers, mere hints at chaos, bedlam, and ruin. Nothing was unveiled too wildly or haphazardly, sketches of what laid beneath the surface of each individual, and he made a careful note at Rexanna’s fireworks, at Edrei’s infernos, at the considerations and calculations possibly required for the future. He was always a conniving, Machiavellian figure; but he didn’t break the moment apart to regard, to plot, to scheme, or devise. The beast carried on in the same venture, listening to the cackles of Edrei with a wayward shrug and easygoing snicker; giving not a single other revelation of himself except controlled, contorted amusement. Well, he could bestow his name, if that was the next step in the bizarre discourse. “Deimos,” he offered into the crowd; though Rexanna was already well aware of his existence. He said naught about making the team, and instead, merely gave both of them another round of pumpkins headed their way. The first he dropped along his foot as it came swinging by, airborne for a few seconds, aimed entirely at Edrei, curious about how she’d return the gesture (because she seemed wild, untamed, unbroken, unobliged to anyone or anything, and that was a blessing). The second was lobbed with intent towards Rexanna, with a series of kicks and volleys, coming closer and closer, and hurling it towards her so that she might hasten it towards the makeshift goal.

_{Photo and Table by Time
Photo taken at Hero's Square in Budapest, Hungary}

RexannA maybe they'd forgotten, when they failed to see the cracks. She briefly heard Edrei speak to her before the fireworks spouted out of the pumpkin like a steaming gun, her head sliding to the dark-skinned woman with a grin as Edy whistled. A small giggle escaping her lips as she bobbed her head as if to say thanks. Another giggle slipped her lips as Edy spoke of a team, Rexanna’s own shoulders shrugging briefly with the thought. “We’d make one gorgeous team regardless.” She purred with a wink sent in both Deimos and Edy’s direction. The girl then introduced herself to which Rexanna listened as Deimos introduced himself. Her eyes slipped from him briefly toward Edy again with a brilliant smile. “Rexanna.” She hummed, her voice laden with honey. She then watched as Deimos lobbed a pumpkin in Edy’s direction then one at her. As it neared, Rexanna slipped to the side, extending a leg out to kick the pumpkin toward the goal. She didn’t look to see if it made it or not before another pumpkin ran at her and she kicked it toward Edy with the hopes that the girl might make it through. She moved away from the goal then toward Deimos with deep smoldering sapphire gaze, a brilliant grin shot toward him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you act so free. You should do it more often.” Her purred voice aimed at him as they continued the game, her eyes slipping from Deimos to Edy with another brilliant grin, forgetting about the curse of her words. that a star's light shines the brightest, when it's starting to collapse.

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Deimos? It sounded positively chilling, especially since he offered it in such a deadpan. Vaguely Edy wondered what those eyes would look like sparked by blood lust or just lust in general. Would his voice become even more of a growl? As another gourd came sailing her way courtesy of mr. tall, dark, and mysterious, a grey shape suddenly shot out of the air. Bobi the bobcat kitten was no stranger to these bitey vegetables and she'd found they made excellent play-things and felt good against her growing claws. With a happy yowl the kitten collided with the ball knocking it down, the weight of her causing it to smush beneath her paws. With a happy snarl she looked around before biting at the fleshy bits. She wasn't a herbivore, but she'd happily practice tearing something to pieces. "Pleased to meet you." Edy purred back towards Rexanna. The teenager didn't notice anything amiss with the sapphire-eyed woman's speech. If anything Edy was just glad to find someone else with as salacious and uncaring an attitude as she. Or at least that's how it seemed anyways. EDY Could dress up to get love. But guess what? I'm never gonna be that girl who's living in a Barbie world

Deimos the Reaper You can't take back the cards you've dealt on this long and lonely road to hell the throne must be such a sad and lonely place He hadn’t seen the barb, the thorn, the nettle, coming his way. It was likely uttered in innocence, honeyed, dulcet tones drawn in his direction, causing his eyes to narrow in the slightest of suspicion, but then it stung deep in his chest, and he looked away. A juvenile Deimos, well before he’d ever known the meaning of death, damnation, and desecration, might’ve blushed or rolled his eyes, laughed, but this one flinched, drew up those iron walls. His features were rendered back to absolute nonchalance, complete reticence, the smile gone, the grin vanished, the tangible diversions and amusements smothered, down, down, down, into the reaches of purgatory and hell, where he sputtered and clawed. He shouldn’t have allowed himself the opportunity to be free - those days were long since passed, and he’d tethered the lines, the chains, the manacles to his arms, to his feet, to his soul. The beast didn’t deserve a single amount of contentment or joy, and he’d seemingly forgotten in an instant, as if lives hadn’t been torn apart because of his foibles, because of his flaws, because of his maligned existence. He should’ve been quicker. He should’ve been faster. He should’ve been guarding and protecting, instead of pillaging, plundering, and discarding; and the lesson had scorned him ever since, burned a hole straight through his ribs and lungs, deep in the denizens of his glacial heart. They’re gone because of you was a common theme in his nightmares, and he watched them all burn without his strength, without his abilities, fingers pointed at his figure, faces devoured by flame, by ash, by cinders, by smoke. Then, sometimes, it was the rain, drowning him on the spot, swallowing him whole, consuming every ounce of flesh and bone, sent down to a watery grave, a deluged catacomb. The problem with self-deprecation was that he didn’t know where to go from here: spend his entire life brooding, wallowing, and serving his sentence, spiraling deeper into oblivion, carving his way straight to Styx? What was his purpose now? He loosened a breath, took to distracting himself by lobbing a gourd back and forth between his own feet, listened to it gurgle and growl before it took its place along the goal line with a well-placed kick. The silence ate at him, tore into his skin, and he knew the rest of the world would continue drifting by, eyeing him, pondering, wondering, but eventually positioning their time elsewhere. “I am always fun,” he muttered (but never free); a form of self-ridicule with sarcasm, with bite, with malice and menace only pinpointed at himself. His gaze didn’t even lift back to Rexanna: the shame was too great, disgrace too severe, pretending to be riveted by Edrei’s cat companion instead, reaching down to toss a smaller pumpkin its way, let it delight in merriment.

_{Photo and Table by Time
Photo taken at Hero's Square in Budapest, Hungary}

RexannA maybe they'd forgotten, when they failed to see the cracks. Rexanna looked toward Edy with a brilliant grin at her response. She noticed finally that Edy wasn’t alone in the company of her and Deimos, and instead a small kitten had taken to joining the fun. A surprised yet amused giggle escaped Rex’s lips as she kicked at another gourd, her attention leaving Edy and the bobcat and turned to Deimos as he sighed, choosing to kick the gourd between both feet and kicking it into the goal with what seemed like ease. He responded to her then, a sarcastic tone and nearly mumbled that Rexanna’s own brows inched toward each other. Ignoring the other pumpkins heading her way, she stepped either over or kicked them away as she made her way toward Deimos – standing in front of him with her sapphire gaze lingering over his face after he had tossed a smaller gourd to the kitten. “You are always fun.” She hummed to him in her honeyed tone, briefly offering a solemn smile before reaching out to wrap him in a tight hug. There was nothing romantic in it, despite her words. It was a friend comforting another, and the only way Rexanna knew how to show appreciation (friendship or otherwise) was with her body. She just didn’t know how he would take it – he had remained that aloof, brooding beast of the winter mountains and icy chill, and she couldn’t recall ever embracing him so openly. Yet here she was – new beginnings, promises underlined to him that she intended to keep in this land, and she left the offer open for him, beaming a smile his way before she, too, tossed another small pumpkin toward Edy. that a star's light shines the brightest, when it's starting to collapse.

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