#nru backthatbashup

THE HOOTENANNY FINALE: LOCKED OUT!

With Night Raven University’s first annual Hootenanny finally winding down from one (overly) eventful evening, students and faculty alike begin to trickle out of the dining hall in the direction of their quarters. Abigail Goose has been restored to size and returned to her rightful owners, and the moon is already high in the sky by the time the party is officially concluded. Half-deflated balloons caught in trees and streamers hanging limply from the walls look sad now. Or sadder, really. You can’t help but think that the hootenanny was fun after all…

Fortunately for you, it’s not over yet! Headmage Crowley claims to have misplaced the keys to the dormitories, but he’s certain that if everyone puts their heads together, they’ll be found soon enough. Or, in this case, legs. That’s right. In the blink of an eye, the headmage drapes the dining hall in a strange magic, and in the next, you’re somewhere on campus, tied to a partner by one of your legs. Should one of the pairs attempt to untie themselves, they’ll soon find out that the rope is infused with complex magic and unable to be untied! They’re left with only one choice but to comply with the headmage’s game. The sooner you can find the key the sooner you can escape this nightmarish ending!

THE GAME.

Everyone has been paired up with another random student from a different dorm. Their task is to work together (as best as they can, anyway) to search the area you’ve found yourself in for any sign of the dormitory key. These interactions will be written out in threads, so go wild with all the unfortunate things you and your partner might encounter while they stumble around campus in the dead of night after a party that definitely went on for too long.

For every reply, you will roll a d13. If you roll the number corresponding to your character’s dorm, you win! And the game ends. If you roll the number corresponding to your partner’s dorm, then you have to negotiate with them to let you into their dorm… or hide the key from them entirely. This is a school of villains, after all, and Headmage Crowley’s attempts at bonding exercises never go as planned.

Each participant will have only three attempts to roll, and only one roll is to be made per reply (so no rolling all at once!). Anyone who doesn’t manage to find their key has to sleep outside!

Tag your threads with #the finale: locked out & #nru_backthatbashup

DORM LIST.

1 = Heartslabyul 2 = Savanaclaw 3 = Octavinelle 4 = Scarabia 5 = Pomefiore 6 = Ignihyde 7 = Diasomnia 8 = Ramshackle/Faculty

PAIRS.

These will be the pairs who will be threading together

Jamil & Deuce

Rove & Rook

Jinx & Kalen

Azul & Ember

Yuu & Ruggie

Sebek & Sam

Trouble is heralded by the gentle chime of a tiny bell. It flies halfway across the room in a perfect arch, glimmering under the party lights. The sight of it is so small it's almost imperceptible, lost within the increasing chaos of the dining hall. 

It does not escape Abigail, however. 

Say, did you know? Geese have a 360° range of vision, and see far more colours than a human can. 

And with a less than graceful flight, she now chases after the trinket as it plummets toward Jade.

A low gutural hiss announces her arrival, and as she approaches, her objective changes abruptly; the gilded bell doesn't shine nearly as brightly as Jade's left eye. 

To one accustomed to the horrors— ehem, wonders of marine biology, the multiple bladed edges bared by Abigail's beak wouldn't be an unusual sight. 

Not that it'd do anything to mitigate the pain brought upon her bite. 

The speed at which the dining hall had descended into chaos was enough to impress Jade. He had been fortunate enough to be far from the initial crowd that had, as the rapidly-spreading rumors now concluded, brought RSA's mascot to the party and could survey the dance floor-turned-battlefield from relative safety. But he knew that safety would last for only as long as it would take to devise a plan, and from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Azul making his own move.

As the evening had worn on and the heat and scent of sweat had come to accumulate within the hall, a couple of windows had been opened in an attempt to circulate the stagnant air. Jade made his way to one of them, for it offered protection two-fold: distance from the goose's attack radius, and an easy escape.

The ringing of a bell, however, was not in his plans, and adrenaline-tightened reflexes pulled his attention too soon. He watched the benign ornament soar past and out the window, his guard down for a split second. A split second was all Abigail needed.

A discordant honk too close for comfort erupted from the crowd and following the distracting bell came a snapping, toothed beak so near that Jade thought he could smell the blood of her last victims on her breath. He grabbed her around the wings as she lunged straight for his face, long neck extending as far as it was able but still just short of his eye. It took her no time to find his earring instead. And then his arm. And as she wiggled and pecked and struggled in his tenuous grasp, her clawed feet kicked at his chest.

With a shout Abigale found herself getting yeeted like a frisbee into the crowd. Her angry honks and hisses as she soared through the air would become terrifying when she unfurled her wings like some holy avenger from above. 

Her eyes sighting a beautiful man from the sands. The one the raggity one had called Jamil right? Her indignant hisses as she descended on him to unleash her wrath from above. 

Unfortunately for Jamil this was likely when he was about to grab himself refreshments or refuel himself with a snack…what a bad time to get slapped in the face hmmm? 

One minute. Jamil will endure this for one more minute.

It had taken too long —far too long— for something, anything to go horribly amiss. Jamil had expected it from the moment he’d lost sight of Kalim, and well, here it was.

Of course a rabid goose would trigger the hootenanny’s rapid descent into madness. It doesn’t surprise him in the least; any event arranged at Crowley’s behest was eventually bound to devolve into the nonsensical circus NRU had always been at heart. 

Be that as it may, allowing Kalim to run amok would make him no wiser than whatever dumbass set a scorned bird loose. So, one minute it is. Like the concerned, faithful friend Jamil very much isn't, he'll wait just that before leaving. 

One minute and not a second longer. 

With this course of action in mind, Jamil distances himself away from the crowd, surveys the concessions table one final time and—

‘Catch, Jamil!’ 

Much to his chagrin, just as fifty-three seconds have already passed, Rove’s devious tone comes within earshot, rendering all escape plans futile.

Jamil snaps his head back, only to be met with a flurry of feathers and sharp, ragged edges. 

While he had known his earlier mishap would carry dire consequences, never did it cross his mind that his mistake would come bite him in the ass in the shape of a frenzied goose. 

Quite literally.

The bird flaps furiously around him, pecking at Jamil without respite. His back is pushed onto the table, pushing a plate of Ignihyde's saganaki off the edge and into the floor. It shatters upon impact, and the striking flames shine ever brighter. 

…Surely, this isn’t how the plate-breaking tradition was meant to go.  

By now, Jamil’s hood has fallen down, and with the top of his head uncovered, Abigail comes to a sudden halt. 

She observes him for a moment, in what appears equal parts hatred and interest, and resumes her onslaught at full tilt, now pulling at his hair relentlessly.  

“What the hell are you—”

Ah! 

Arriving at an opportune realisation, Jamil zeroes in on an idea. 

In a fragment of a second, he unclasps one of the ornaments at the lower end of his braids and holds it before Abigail’s eyes, instantly capturing her attention a second time. He scans the room and locks in on a target; an open window ten metres to the side. 

And it is most definitely an unlucky coincidence that Jade Leech just so happens to be standing before said window, and not a deliberate choice on Jamil's part. Right? 

Without sparing it a second thought, Jamil flings the gilded object into the air. Still enraptured by it, Abigail follows closely behind. 

Rove clung to Kalen slightly swaying on his feet, subconsciously entwining itself with the music as he stared up at the taller male. An almost cat like smile on his lips that was similar to a certain cheshire cat that sulked around the Heartslabyul leader.

His mouth suddenly felt dry as one thought echoed in his head.

I wanna dance with Kelan....

He huffed slightly unsure how to ask the rather embarrassing request from the other before he suddenly smirked slyly as he thought of a way to get what he wanted without outright admitting it.

"You want to dance with me don't you Kelan." He said bluntly, making it out that clearly Kelan wanted to dance with him and not the other way around. He felt oh so clever for his idea.

Ember walked up to Jinx in the midst of the hootenanny. He held his hand out for Jinx and gave a smile. "Mind if I have this dance, Jinx?"

Fiddling with the finer details of his appearance had become something of a nervous habit. As Ember approached, Jinx was pulling at the hem of his robes in a futile attempt to smooth the fabric. The diasomnia student would be met with wide, confused eyes as he stumbled into a reply. The shadows at the edges of the room were still moving all thanks to that nasty risotto, which left his gaze slightly unfocused. 

“Uh, yeah, sure?” His response sounded more like a question, so he reiterates, “Yes. I would like that.”

He cleared his throat and realized how awkwardly he had answered his friend.

“Listen, I only really know ballroom dancing, so I might not be any good at this,” he clarified, “Also, I ate some of that purple risotto and it’s messing with my head. So, if you want to find another partner I’d get it.”

Sebek looks down to the plate of food the other has offered him, uncertainty and curiosity buzzing through his mind. It by no means would ever be his first choice—far below the meat he had already sampled that night—but he wouldn't turn it down. The dish smelled neither rotten nor fowl. Could it be considered raw? Sebek recalls that eating raw meat was quite common in some groups living in Twisted Wonderland, so surely consuming it wouldn't harm him.

Or maybe this was all an elaborate test to see if he was worthy as serving as Malleus's knight?

Rove nodded, taking Ortho's hand leading him out the door. He knew there was a quiet spot outside away from the heat and flashing lights where you could still hear some of the music.

Away from judging eyes and annoying people. Once outside he smiled gently at Ortho. A rare smile reserved for barely a handful of people.

"So what's making my little moth so down?" He asked as he Took Ortho's hand gently starting a slow dance to match the music envious of Ortho's floating as the other could glide in the air as if he had wings.