#s59

Title: Learning a Lesson

Author: Rena from @na-nossa

Fandom: Katekyō Hitman Reborn!

Prompt: Day 2 - Sky Day: Secret Dating AU | Stuck in a Closet @khrrarepairweek

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Relationship: Squalo/Gokudera, background relationship

Summary: Gokudera and Squalo are stuck. Literally. But, was there possibly some kind of master plan behind it?

Rose has been looking for answers - and this is a secret that the game is perfectly willing to reveal. I wonder how she took it?

EB: rose, i am fairly sure i saw your mom! [...] EB: she was with my dad. TT: That's interesting. [...] TT: Did she seem happy?

What the hell is Mom even doing?

Initially, I assumed the parents travelled to Skaia to face Jack, but he's long gone. If they have other plans, they aren't showing it - so far, it seems like they've just been aimlessly wandering the Battlefield. Why did they come here?

The White Queen believes that Mom is acting out of love for 'her children' - Rose, but possibly also Dave. What can she do on a ruined Battlefield that could help the Players?

EB: now stop being so spookily mysterious and tell me what you've been doing! TT: Investigating, mostly. EB: investigating what? TT: Everything there is to investigate. TT: Information hidden in the lore of our lands, concealed in ruins and riddles. TT: I'm looking for whatever there is to discover about the game, and more importantly, whatever exceeds its boundaries. TT: The cloaked traces of myth beyond its scope.

Sounds like Rose is trying to datamine Sburb, and access information external to their session. Sburb is the game, but Rose wants to learn about the console - or perhaps, the developer.

This is, of course, an interesting prospect - but it's important to note that it doesn't actually answer John's question. He asked about her activities, but she's replying with the big-picture motivation for her activities - and completely neglecting to mention her new friends. She's still dodging.

EB: oh, rose, did you know that we are supposed to be creating a universe with this game? TT: [...] it won't happen. TT: The writing is on the wall. Literally. [...] TT: This session was never meant to bear fruit. TT: It's barren, so to speak.

The Alpha Timeline decreed that this session was a dud - and by the laws of Paradox Space, that means it was a dud all along.

Karkat talked about failed sessions like this before. He considers them a cruel joke - but in this case, I'm not so sure. If this session really is pointless, why isn't this timeline a doomed offshoot?

Whatever the Alpha really represents, the fact that we're still in the Alpha would imply that this timeline is still contributing to some larger picture. This is all leading up to something, even if it's not a universe.

EB: that's a bit of a bummer! EB: i am still skeptical about that, though. TT: That's why you're our leader, John. [...] TT: Optimism through stalwart skepticism is a defect not everyone is lucky enough to be cursed with. [...]

John's not a tactical leader - but he is the perfect antidote to the flavor of nihilism that Paradox Space peddles. If someone tried to tell him he didn't have free will - even if someone proved it to him - he'd just be like 'nuh, uh', and carry on with his life.

This inspires people. It certainly inspired Karkat.

EB: i'm not your leader, i am your FRIEND, there is a BIG difference! TT: Statements like that are also why you're our leader.

Taking a brief respite from their tireless preparations for the Trial, the Mudwangs made their way back into the Bloodwoods to meet with Xulivoc and undergo their next test. Through the almost incomprehensible Scottish accent of the Druid, Rucker listened to the tenets of the League and agreed to undergo the test along with his fellows.

Led by Qaleorda, they again traveled through a portal and found themselves in a dark and dour encampment. Immediately, they all sensed an ominous sensation in the air they couldn’t place. Treated as mercenaries called to Maplegard, the men noted how many of the denizens were bundling up covering their skin to protect them from the Dark Scratch. The leader of the town, a masked hierophant known as the Proctor, spoke words of warning and inspiration to the townspeople and other soldiers as they prepared to head out into the woods to find and root out an evil Mare spirit, who was corrupting the minds of the townspeople.

Warned to not get scratched by any of the corrupted, the mob split up, with the Mudwangs headed towards the Mare’s supposed hideaway. Vax ascended to thre trees above, seeing terrible winged beasts floating in the distance. An increasingly jittery Rat welcomed some other soldiers who’d come to call on the group for support. Suspicious, the Mudwangs tried to gain more information, but instead found the villagers- and Rat- attempting to force them to follow along. A warning arrow from Vax knocked off one of the assailants tricorns, revealing a sickly ichor leaching from many open wounds on the man’s face.

As the assailants move in on the Mudwangs, they react accordingly, defending themselves from the seemingly corrupted villagers. While Vax continues to rain arrows form above, Taerus and Shakan struggle to deal with a fetid assailant whose body contorts and cracks in unnatural directions. Rucker wrestles with Rat, who seems overcome by a fever of aggression. Eventually the group is able to strike down the villagers and restrain the thrashing Rat. Finally, he recovers after Rucker lays his hands upon him and purge the evil that had infected him.

Rat takes a few minutest to recover, spitting up black ichor from his lungs and washing it back with ale. The Mudwangs put together that this mare’s curse may be more than mere enchantment, and the evil may be within the air itself. As they plan their next step, the sounds of battle and desperation echo in the woods around them, hearing cries for aid and terror. FVax summons a specter from one of the fallen visitors, but it only whispers confusion and warning in the warlock’s mind. 

Having been almost completely taken by this evil, Rat proposes they abandon this quest- pointing out that being thrust into deadly, otherworldly incursions is not the best way for them to help the world. Despite his points, the original Mudwangs urge their most recent ally to steel himself, for they all took the oath of the League of Terror Vigilant, that they will stand against whatever darkness arises. Though they briefly consider aiding the Proctor in rescuing the riders of the lost wagon, they resolve to continue on to the East, where the mare’s curse is said to have originated. 

Moving deeper into the moonless woods and leaving the clang of battle behind, the men continue on, vigilant and wary over the threats in the shadows. The party discovers a lost young woman crying and shaking over her father throwing her out after consorting with her schoolmate, Abigail. As they approach, the Mudwangs recoil in horror as they see her flesh beginning to sprout and expand in capheads, like a mushroom. 

Rucker again tries to save a soul from violation, though as the healing concludes another corrupted bursts out and tries to attack the Goliath. In the fracas, the young woman runs off and another villager appears with a spear lowered. After dispatching the threat, Taerus confronts the spearman, asking for his aid in destroying the mare. Hearing that the warriors are intending to meet whom he calls “The Queen of Sweets,” the guard runs off into the night screaming. Shakan incinerates a pulsing purple fungus, and as it cries they realize they are getting closer to whatever is affecting the countryside.