Forum Thread

Leo giggled. "...Is it really that obvious?" He puffed, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, no. I'm just..." He puffed, looking away as the right words escaped him. He shrugged and looked back at her, trying desperately to smooth a wrinkle on his tunic. "I feel completely the same way. I just never thought I would ever get to this point. No one thought I could. I guess I never thought I could, either." He smiled a crooked, toothy grin back at her. "But we'll be alright, yeah? I mean... I don't think you're annoying. Certainly not annoying enough to push a knight over the edge." Leo stopped and cocked his head a little bit. "...I mean, I might be that annoying, especially since I've driven every teacher I've ever had up a wall."

Clef

Laughing at Riesbyfe's remarks, they can't escape the true weight in his words. It was true after all - going from being nothing but a nervous kid yourself, anxious to meet every expectation set by your superiors - what must the new pages think now? Are they nervous, excited? Terrified?
"Crud, they'll probably expect me to be able to calm 'em down..." He thinks, sporting a worried expression. "My biggest apologies in advance."

They pat their arm. "Thanks, I'm sure you're going to be great too. If they disrespect you, just call me up!" He does a goofy fighting pose at that moment and begins to look for a way to clean his armour. Have to be ready!

David

Having long let go of Steven, she opts to sit and wallow in her own thoughts. There is silence around her, the noise of children fading out in the background. It's never complete quiet in the Wastelands, she supposes, a direct contradiction of what she used to think. The trees swaying in the wind, the hushed conversations of the people who call this land home, and of course the children who try their best every day, she's sure.

She looks their way, seeing them play peacefully, when she spots one particular kid approach a person in a cloak. Scrunching her eyes at first, realization sets in as she bolts over to them and pulls the child away, mumbling hurried apologies under her breath. The child looks confused up at her, but there's no time to explain.
"Leader, I am so sorry if Zlata caused any problems, we just wrapped up our story time segment, the kids were sent out to recess, I didn't keep an eye out for their whereabouts, I apologize."

Heart let out a nervous laugh. "Tonight. Right. And, you would really think so, but I do not recall anyone telling me..." She turned her gaze towards Ava and squinted. Ah. They forgot to tell her about this. And then they entirely forgot about it themselves. Ava, noticing the judgmental squint, pretended to be too busy helping Noah search for his papers to retaliate. Heart stepped a bit closer to Ava and whispered to them. "Cyfrin. We need to go prepare for our show now, if you may please hurry up?" Ava genuinely considered it for a second. For just a second, and then they remembered Noah is here. Their thoughts immediately jumped somewhere else and they whispered back. "Cerys, my dearest sibling, we so need to read these papers to know how the ceremony goes. Why else do you think I'm helping my good old buddy here? Work smart, not hard, my sister." They winked. Heart had to stop themselves from audibly groaning. "But of course." Who cares at this point. She cleared her throat and went back to a normal volume. "Well then, I am going to need to excuse myself, I fear. I must revise my scripts." She smiled at the two and proceeded to head to the The Comedic Duo room.

Ava looked at Noah's papers and tried to read them, casually peeking over and looking for when their performance is supposed to happen. Among the other ceremonial events' timings, of course. "Don't mind Heart, by the way. They just get a liiittle bit frantic sometimes." They smiled.

---

Hadeed jumped a little at the sound of someone knocking, not really expecting anything right after they complained about Enzo not being called. It is a little bit humorous, he thinks. They hummed a little and watched Enzo interact with the leader, deciding it wiser to stay in the background for now.

Damien looks up from his studies, and to Mev. "Good day, Mev! I hope you're well." He closes his book and provides his full attention. "Is there something you may need?" He asks, fiddling with his hands a bit. He's a bit anxious about the event tonight.

(Time: Middle of the morning.)

Noah laughs again. "It's not a big deal. I'm sure you guys will be able to figure something out. Hold on a second." He looks through his papers and pulls a few to the top. "I have the whole thing memorized anyways. This is when your performance is scheduled, and also what happens just before and just after it. Just in case." He hands the papers to Ava.

The Wasteland Leader only smiles (although again nobody can see it because of her hood epic fail). "It's alright. They're just children after all." She then walks toward her home. She continues to think about the night ahead of her. There was still much to discuss.

"Right back at you!" she said between laughs. "Though I doubt I'll be able to scold them at the start but I suppose it's only a matter of getting used to their presence." he said as he grabbed a piece of cloth to wipe his armor. "I'll go ask more specific details about the event after this,wanna come with?" he asked while rubbing. He figured that being a knight he had to be present earlier and already at a specific place but he preferred to be safe than sorry.


"That damn..." she growled as she closed the door shut. "D'ya hear that,Hadeed? Seems like they remember us. Finish up what you're doing and let's head over there." she said as she sat on a chair backwards. She knew her presence there was mostly for moral and psychological reasons since her ideas were almost always rejected and that it was Hadeed who made good suggestions but she didn't mind.

Clef

"I mean, if they're acting unruly, that's expected of us to do, isn't it? Teaching them respect and all that..." She scrubs some dirt off of her armour, inspecting it for a second. "Although, I really don't want to be the one that's responsible for their development," she thinks.

She looks up at Riesbyfe as he proposes the idea of learning more about the event. She nods frantically, scrubbing the armour with utmost haste before it looks somewhat shiny.

David

David nearly faints as soon as the Leader walks away from the group of children. More kids are watching cautiously now, probably startled by David's panicked movements. She approaches them, assures them it's all okay, and with slight hesitation they go back to play.
Except for...
"Zlata? You don't wanna play with the others?" She asks the little girl curiously, who looks up at her with a guilty expression. Ah. It's this, then. "It's alright to make mistakes, you know. Just don't grab at other people without asking first, it's not seen as very polite."
That didn't make the guilty expression go away on the child, as the little girl only meekly nodded and sat down a far distance away.
David looked away. What's a caregiver when they can't comfort the people they're caring for?

"Woah. You're too generous, really, thank you." Ava patted Noah's back and tried their best to process all the information that was basically handed to them. They felt a bit guilty, but it's not like they wouldn't need the schedule otherwise. They tried to justify it. Still felt a twinge of Bad in their heart. "I hope our performance makes you cry laugh, on the floor, all that funny stuff. You are our number one supporter <3" They grinned again, except a bit more stupidly this time.

Heart, now in the assigned Comedic Duo room, screamed into a pillow. She loves Ava- she truly does, seriously- but they can be very unreliable at times. They wondered how it is that Ava is a tiny bit higher in status with a brain this dysfunctional. In the nicest way possible, of course, it is part of Ava's charm, yet it still gets frustrating to her. There are times when one wishes their sibling can pay more attention. They shook their head to get out of their bad mood, declaring now no time to be hung up over Ava being Ava. She got up to revise some backup "Ava & Heart's: Extraordinary Extragalactic Extravaganza" scripts and tried to come up with ways to work them into tonight's ceremony's show. They tried to estimate the time they had, but they can't do too much without the schedule. She prayed to God that Ava does not forget it the moment they come back.

---

"Aye aye!!" Hadeed decided to wrap the belt around their leg. A classic, honestly. She looked at Enzo and smiled widely. Just the fact that they were not forgotten should be enough to lift Enzo's spirits, they think, but she doesn't seem too excited so they tried to pass on some good vibes. Some energy. "We are sooo gonna win at... the meeting. At talking? You know what I mean. We are gonna win." They stood almost proudly, straightening their posture and placing their hands on their hips. They have both got something to prove tonight, right? Hadeed felt a bit nervous, but, thankfully, they are not going alone.

(Time: ok its late morning now i have decided)

Noah smiles. "I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever you guys do." He then looks through his papers and frowns. He's still missing one of them. He begins to search the hallway for it.

The Wasteland Leader walks up the steps to her home. She opens the door then closes it behind her. She hears its familiar creak again. Maybe she could ask someone to take care of it. She shakes the thought out of her head for now. She has more important matters to attend to. She takes off her shoes and then walks into the meeting room. She sees that only Tarin, her second in command, is inside. So, she takes off her hood. "Hi."

Tarin had looked over when the door creaked, becoming a little on edge, but relaxed when she realized it was just the leader. “Hey,” She responded in turn, getting to her feet to pull out her chair. “Everyone seems to be late. …Even you,” She teased gently, cracking a little smile. “I’m hoping that it’s not because of what’s happening tonight.”

ok i pull up

Lee hadn't had a busy morning, as one of the less respected servants he wasn't needed at the preparations for tonight. He'd dusted a couple rooms and was busy sweeping a hallway, humming to himself a lullaby as his broom scratched along the floor. He rarely got bitter about his work, so he was in a good mood when he saw the sheet of paper on the floor and picked it up. There was nobody around so he tucked it under his arm and kept sweeping, stopping only when he heard a door open and the prince came out of his room (chamber?). He gave a little smile and kept working.

---

---

Audrey was out for her morning run through the wasteland that was the forest, as she did almost every day. It was how she'd managed to almost make a map of it in her mind; the best places for views, where she should avoid, and good places to hide should she ever need to. As she neared the fighters area, she could make out a hooded figure walking away - she guessed they'd been payed a visit. Walking now to regain her breath (though this never took her much time as she was very fit (not in a weird way)), she smiled at the children as she walked past and quietly slid inside the fighters quarters. Enzo looked grumpy as always and Hadeed almost the stark opposite, though she could see from their eyes that they were more nervous than normal. "Ready for tonight?" she asked to both of them.

Riesbyfe nodded at Clef. "I can't help but imagine them as our own children." he added. Since some time has passed Riesbyfe finished wiping and rubbing some of the dirt and possible rust off from his armor and wore it. He lifted his arms and moved them around to see if everything was alright. The clacking sound it made put a wide smile. "Fits like a glove." he chuckled. He expected that it would be alright since he keeps his body in check and also goes on various expeditions in the wasteland,meaning that he wears it from time to time. He kept his helmet in his hand,only wearing body armor and leggings. "Come on,we have royalty to meet." he motioned.


Enzo just kept raising her fists from excitement when Hadeed mentioned them winning at whatever was about to go down. She kew her head wouldn't be able to maintain all the information so she was glad she was accompanied. "Yeah!" she cheered. "Come on,let's get movin'." She opened the door wide and headed out,doing a little hop as she jumped over the singular step onto the road. Even though Enzo and Hadeed always stuck together,they had their own ideas and opinions which they expressed during such meetings. That wouldn't stop Hadeed from helping Enzo,however,convey her thoughts properly,even if they didn't agree with Enzo sometimes.

Warmth blossomed through Jill at Leo's empathy and reassurance. She supposed that even if one or both of them did get booted by the knights, at least they could stick it out together, and that wouldn't be so bad. Giving him a sincere smile, she nudged his arm with her elbow. "Hey, if we both drive our knights crazy, then at least we have each other, yeah? Besides, it's totally their fault for signing up for this in the first place." Feeling a bit of her usual vigor renewed, she clapped the young boy on the back with a wide grin. "And hey, guess what? You're kind of stuck with me now. Occupational hazard of talking to me: you're now my friend, so I'm going to pester you all the time."

---

Mev shook his head 'no', noting his mentor's nervous habit of messing with his hands. "Just taking a break from my projects," he answered, stepping quietly into the office. He gave the room another look, eyes travelling over the documents and books giving the room the appearance of a well-used study; Damien was by no means messy, and the slight unkempt state of the room made more of an impression of a busy, thoughtful teacher than someone being careless with their things. "Is everything alright? You seem a bit worried," Mev ventured, hoping that he wasn't touching a nerve of any sort.

The Queen walked down the halls, turning the corner to see her son, Noah. And one of the Jesters. They seem to be having a conversation... wonderful! She walks up to them, exclaiming with open arms. "Noah, my dearest! You look amazing today <3" Her eyes brightly flash as big as her seemingly genuine smile. (i am drawing her soon i promise) She looks over at H..eart? No-- Ava. "Good morning. I assume you're prepared for the show this evening? I'm SO excited to see what you guys have planned."

---
Damien ponders Mev's question momentarily before responding. "Everything's fine," He smiles. "The kingdom's having a big event tonight, and I have to go to a meeting in a little bit with the leader. I don't know what exactly is going to happen, but I think it may be big." He looks at the nearest time-telling device."I'm going to have to go in a bit, but you stay safe tonight, okay? You're in charge while I'm gone." He looks back at him.

(Time: Still late morning fr)

Noah freezes as the Queen arrives, but still puts up a smile. "Hi mom." He just stands there awkwardly and pretends to review the event with his stack of papers. He hopes that this ceremony will come and go quickly. Everything would go perfectly anyways, wouldn't it?

The Wasteland Leader laughs and sits in her seat. "I actually forgot to invite Enzo and Damien to the meeting today, so I pushed it back to noon. I was so caught up in thinking that I just..." She trails off and her face slowly gets serious. "Now, I think we need to talk about tonight before the others arrive. Just so we're on the same page and can smooth out the rough ideas."

Face turning a deep red, Leo's lips twitched into a smile. "Yeah! Yeah, we'll have each other. Yeah. Being a knight is great and all, but what fun is it if you don't get to live, work, and fight with a friend?" He shrugged, coughing a little bit when Jill's hand intercepted his back. He giggled, relaxing a little bit.

For the first time since this whole 'page' thing, he genuinely felt like this was going to turn out alright. "Is it pestering if I'm fine with you bugging me all the time?" He asked. Thinking about his words, Leo turned red as an apple. Again. "Not that I think it's bugging. At all. You're nice! I like listening to you!" Then, in a near whisper, "yeah, that sounds less mean."

*~*~*~*~*

"Right," Tarin nodded, sitting down in the seat next to her. She bit her lip, recognizing that tone of voice. "I agree. We should talk. There's a lot to talk about. ...I'm a nervous wreck thinking about tonight. I have been all day." She straightened up and glanced to the door, perhaps unconsciously. The last thing she wanted was someone eavesdropping on them now of all times. "Sorry. Erm... What specifically did you want to discuss?"

Jill giggled to herself as she listened to Leo trip over his words, adjusting her sleeves and straightening her tunic. She had been worried that being assigned to a knight might turn out to be a boring slog of chores and orders, but if she could hang around with the other pages like Leo, she doubted boredom would be an issue.

"Trust me, I've heard mean stuff said about me and that's far from it. I'm glad you don't mind, though," Jill added, a slight redness dusting her own cheeks. "I like talking, so it's always nice to find someone who likes listening to all of it! Careful, if you keep saying stuff like "you're nice, I like talking to you" then you won't be able to get a moment of peace."

---

"A big event?" Mev echoed, wondering what was brewing within the group. Tensions had been rising between the kingdom and the wasteland lately, but it was still a bit startling to hear actual news of the leader making moves. Suddenly the prospect of conflict felt a lot more real. He followed Damien's gaze to the clock, feeling a slight unease in his stomach. Was his mentor going to be asked to do something dangerous? As much as he wanted revenge on the blasted kingdom, he preferred to get his revenge with as few casualties as possible.

"Alright," Mev finally answered, trying to keep the worry out of his tone. "I promise I'll keep everything in order. And...er, well, just...er, take care," he finished awkwardly.

(Time: Still late morning.)

The Wasteland Leader tapped her fingers on the table lightly. She followed her second in command's gaze to the door, and immediately lowered her voice. "Well, I would like to discuss how we want to... proceed. This event will shape our reputation. I do not want the Kingdom to believe we are bloodthirsty murderers. I want our... 'event crashing' to be peaceful. I was thinking of making an elaborate entrance," She raises her left hand and lets a small shadowy cloud escape from a fingertip. "and Damien could help me with that. We would make our way to the stage, the Fighters and Archers flanking us to prevent any 'backstabbing'. Then, once we get to the stage..." She trails off, realizing she just released all her ideas. "How do you think we should tackle this?"

Ava grinned widely again and almost giggled out a "thank you, thank you" before noting that Noah is still looking around. For a paper, they assume? They scanned around to help but did not expect to find anything, really, they know the extent of their skills in hunting and survival. They would not last a day on their own in the wilderness. After a minute or less of peeking around, she instead turned her attention to thinking of some extremely dumb thing to say, perhaps an 'Are you free this weekend?', or a classic 'Run away with me so we don't have to deal with any of this pressure anymore. We can live in a cottage together, just the two of us. And also Cerys. I don't want Cerys to be sad about me being gone. We can have a little cat too.', but his train of thought was interrupted before he could blurt anything out.
Ohhh my God it's a code red where is Heart where is she where is she where is she wher
"ahaHA! Your socks will be knocked right off, my bud- your majesty, you have absolutely no idea just how prepared Heart and I are. Yep. Show's gonna be soooo crazy. It's crazy. Seriously seriously." Ava smiled nervously, an eye twitching a little. He didn't know how to break the news to Heart that he is going to die here, now, and for 5 accounts of treason because they almost called the Queen "buddy".

---

"WOO!!! YEAH. You get it, my dearest friend!" Hadeed was now officially Pumped, as he noticed Enzo is really good at instilling some spirit in his cowardly heart. They hopped up and followed behind her, whispering reassurances to themselves as they walked along. They definitely have got this. Big day.

Clef

Working on cleaning the rest of his armor, even though he think it's perfectly fine as is, he ponders on Riesbyfe's words. Our own children. Why, if that isn't the most terrifying thing she's ever heard. It's no trouble for a knight as brave as the one standing next to her, but... She looks down at herself, noting the fit arms that suddenly look weaker than ever. The chestplate in her hands seems foreign, like she's cleaning the armor of another knight. One that isn't herself. She focuses on other thoughts and tries it all on.

Standing in the knightly get-up, Clef walks ahead as Riesbyfe motions her to follow. There's a lot of things she learns with each new visit to the castle building. The finest decor she could never hope to understand nor afford, history present within the sheer walls of the property. She walks mostly by instinct. He said they were looking for royalty, right? Where would the royals be at this time of day-- Oh. There. She quickly shuffles behind the nearest object there is - a small plant.
"Ries, I think I found some," she whispers without really knowing why, occupied staring at the three people in the hallway further ahead. Her Royal Majesty the Queen, his Royal Highness the Prince, and the clown one. It would in any case be wisest to approach them, but alas, she cannot help but feel a little... shy...