call me out v. 12.0

[misheard]

Call out one of the characters from my muselist with a starter, a prompt, a general 'hey can we do something with these characters' comment, a smoke signal, etc., and I'll get back to you with some kind of RP thread!

Comments

[silksentinel]

[A fight then. Hornet did not like to consider herself a brute, but it would be a lie to say that she didn't enjoy a good duel. That had been the much more enjoyable portion of her recent interactions with the Mantis Lords.

Even if not, the words Grimm had told her before of his purpose and reason for being in this kingdom were enough of an incentive for her to agree.]

Very well. I can grant you that. [It would only serve to benefit everyone.]

What need I do to prepare?

[hagrides]

Only what you would to prepare for any difficult battle. I will not be going easy on you.

[She would be insulted if he did, and that's fine with him.

There is a reason it takes a battle and not simply a death. Both to stoke the flames, and to be less traumatic for everyone involved.]

Return to my tent when you are ready.

[silksentinel]

[Indeed she would be. She nods at his words, acknowledging the severity of them. This was going to be significantly more challenging than the fight she had just had with the Mantis Lords, and so she would not take his warning lightly but so was she glad that he would not demean her by going easy.

Hornet gave herself a small break to gather her energy from aforementioned fight and her travels, enjoying some solitude in the home she had claimed as her own. There was little in way of decoration seeing as how she was almost only ever here when she needed to sleep--all there was were threads of shining silk hanging from the ceiling, and the masks and weapons of her fallen siblings she had dragged from the temple.

Once she has gathered herself, feeling for how much silk she had to her, and gathering some new tools Hornet made her way to the tent. The two bugs that stood ever watch look at her as she went through and she gave them a small nod of acknowledgement.]

[hagrides]

[The bug who usually plays the accordion is not present, making it easier to hear the sound of Grimmchild sniffling.

Hornet is spared from Grimm's need to make an entrance this time, because he's already in the main room of the tent, hugging his child close to his chest. The sad warblings are answered by his soft voice.]

Dear child, it will be alright. You're going to be magnificent.

[He knows Hornet is there, but until she addresses him, soothing his child takes priority.]

[silksentinel]

[Patience is not Hornet's greatest virtue but there is no way she could ever interrupt something like this.

She wasn't foolish or naive. Grimm had spell it out quite clearly when he explained his ritual to her.

A Ritual, that one vessel of the Nightmare King may die and the god be reborn in the next. It is time for me to pass that mantle on to my own child.

Hornet doesn't like the idea of taking a child's father from them, but if Grimm was committed to seeing this Ritual through, it was going to happen either way.

So she waits, letting father and child have this--what could be their final moment---together.]

[hagrides]

[After a minute more, Grimmchild stops crying, and Grimm looks over to where Hornet stands.]

I apologize for making you wait, when I was the one who called you here.

[It's rude, but again: child takes priority.]

Thank you for your assistance.

[silksentinel]

It is fine. You need not apologize.

[Comforting their child is what any parent should do and Hornet is hardly going to be bothered by that. She simply nods, acknowledging his gratitude.]

I am ready.

[...]

Are you?

[She doesn't look at Grimmchild at all. Can't.]

[hagrides]

I am.

[Grimmchild tells themself they will be brave, and disappears into Grimm's cloak. He folds them back into himself, ready to receive the flames of battle and the Heart.

This time, there will be no audience. Only him, Hornet, and the child they and the Knight helped raise.]

May I have this dance?

[But first - he bows to his partner.]

[silksentinel]

[The needle strapped to her back is slid off, but she doesn't ready herself yet. First she will bow--this time without a trace of the reluctance or awkwardness when she previously returned the gesture.]

Let us dance, Troupe Master Grimm.

[hagrides]

[Grimm straightens, and then disappears.

He reappears almost instantly in the air above Hornet's head, bearing down on her in a flash of flame. He's fast, and most certainly not going easy on her.]