TEST DRIVE MEME #7

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you not with mirthful revelry, this time around dear friends. There is a seriousness in the air, though the food is still hearty and the imps still mischievous. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket! Be mindful, though -- the monarchs are watching and cross court communication should be done with the utmost secrecy.

Comments

[babbylon]

[Gilgamesh dares to smile in the face of it all.]

There's a man here you should meet. He goes by Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, and he serves as my Knight. I believe he may provide you a measure of guidance throughout your journey and might serve you in his own way.

[Because are things he cannot do for Zack, comforts he cannot provide. He's a tyrant and a monster of a man, even under the best of circumstances, but Zack requires a gentler hand, he can tell. He requires stability and as one already driven mad long before ever coming to this realm, Gilgamesh cannot ground him.

But the Knight who leashed a King, brought him back down to earth? Perhaps he'll fare better than Gilgamesh ever could.]

Seek him out when you've sorted yourself. He'll help you find what you're searching for. [Teasingly:] You truly are like twins. It's uncanny.

[colorofthesky]

[ He doesn't really know what he needs, honestly. What happened back home was enough to process, and he spent so much time running in those last few months, he didn't have much room to slow down and really cope with it all. Adding a strange new war that would somehow influence all worlds was a bit much to add to the pile.

Stability and some sense of purpose will likely help in the long run, though.

Zack listens, and though he isn't entirely sure what to make of Gilgamesh's recommendation, he thinks the man means will in giving it. He makes a mental note of it -- the name, and the fact that the man he's supposed to look for is apparently is twin. ]

...I'll look for him.

[ When he's "sorted" as the other so delicately phrased it. Also, he can't really help but ask: ]

Are we that much alike?

[babbylon]

He lives for his honor.

[Gilgamesh speaks without realizing the true depths of Zack's plight, without knowing how little honor meant to him now. Truthfully, it didn't mean much to him either, but most soldiers followed some form of code. Surely Zack isn't so different in this regard, though he suspects he'll keep to his secrets for a while longer.

That sword's huge, though. Some part of him covets it against better judgment.]

And he has no tongue for lies nor deceit. He means what he says and acts accordingly, and that is why I have placed my faith in him. He will never stray from his righteousness, even were it to bring about his undoing. Although...

[Gilgamesh leans a bit closer, paying particular attention to Zack's face.]

His eyes aren't so striking. I've not seen their equal in many years. So startlingly blue, as though stolen from the sky itself.

[colorofthesky]

[ He lives for his honor.

The words strike at something deep inside him, and though he doesn't flinch, exactly, something flashes across his face. He does follow a code -- a code that was instilled in him by his teacher when he was young. A code he could never really strictly follow because of the company he worked for. An ideal he lived and died by.

He will never stray from his righteousness, even were it to bring about his undoing.

Gilgamesh is right in thinking they're alike. Honestly, he finds it a little disturbing.

Blinking once when the other leans in to get a better look at his eyes, Zack stares back at vivid red ones -- eyes that remind him of someone he used to know. He isn't sure how that makes him feel just yet but lets it go for now. ]

The glow comes from Mako.

[ That much was common knowledge back home so he doesn't mind sharing it. ]

All SOLDIERs have it.

[ A beat, then- ]

He sounds like a good man.

[babbylon]

[...ah, one of those men, then. An experiment. Some wretched creature that defied God. Gilgamesh isn't inclined to pity Zack—or anyone else, for that matter—but it does fill in a few blanks. Beings that are made rather than born are often at odds with the world around them. Even if they began life as humans, they often ended up something else entirely.

Gilgamesh takes note of this Zack Fair, pledges the face and the name to memory. They'll run into each other again. He's sure of it.]

I'm a good king, so good men are drawn to me by nature. By my decree, all those in my employ shall be held in the highest regard.

[He announces it as though it were actual law. Mischief fleets across his face again, and when he smiles, it's full of teeth. When fingers skitter across Zack's cheek, they're warmer than they should be. It is both a welcome and a warning of what might happen if Zack lingers too long out here.]

Go back inside, soldier of the sky. Return to the revels. You will feel better with a few drinks in you. By order of the King, face the day anew tomorrow, and follow that path of righteousness. I eagerly await your progress.

[colorofthesky]

[ If only Gilgamesh knew how true it was -- how madness had claimed three of the best and brightest of SOLDIER and made them into monsters. It's not a story Zack will share, now or anytime soon, and especially not with a stranger, but for himself, Zack has clung to his own humanity. It's one of the few things he can still consider his own after everything he's lost.

He takes what Gilgamesh says with a grain of salt (Zack doesn't know anything about kings or what makes a good ones outside fairy tales he heard as a child), but he does, at least, make up his mind to meet this Diarmuid the other spoke of.

Zack stiffens a little when those fingers drift over his cheek, and if nothing else, that convinces him more than anything else it's time to pull away.

Snagging the hilt of the Buster, Zack rises and returns the blade to its place at his back in a smooth, singular motion. He really isn't the mood for more of the revelry, but a drink or two might not be such a bad thing before he comes back out to stargaze.

He's not really sure he wants to say this (he doesn't quite know what to think of Gilgamesh yet), but he thinks he should say something. ]

...some other time, then.

[babbylon]

[Gilgamesh rises with him, as if he means to follow, but passes by instead. As he does so, the air whips up around his figure, his mana expands, and his casual clothing disappears outright, replaced by golden armor that could put even a SOLDIER's to shame. He looks every bit the King he claims to be now, speaks with the authority of a true liege.

It can no longer that be doubted that in another place, another time, Gilgamesh indeed ruled over his people and occupied a mighty throne. He ruled and he commanded them, as he commands Zack now, holding to the utmost faith they will see each other again.]

Walk with pride. And know that you have been noticed by me, the great Gilgamesh.

[Gilgamesh retreats inside, or else would have, if he hadn't simply disappeared in a golden cloud of magic.]