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hs_olympics2012-08-06 09:24 pm
hso_mods) wrote in hs_olympics2012-08-06 09:24 pm
BONUS ROUND 5
Bonus Round 5
Tales from the Road
Hey, shippers! HSO is winding down, so we thought we'd take a look back at the journey, so to speak. With that in mind, this next bonus round is going to be roadtrip-themed! Give us a little taste of your characters' life on the road, whatever form that takes.
Rules
- Submit prompts! Prompts should consist of one ship (friendship/gen is fine too!) and a location. This cannot be your team's ship! This round we will not be giving points for prompts.
- Look through the prompts and fill whichever you like!
- You may not fill prompts for your ship, nor may you fill your own team's prompts.
- Fills should be posted as replies to the prompts which they are for, following the format below. They may be any medium.
Title Format
If you are starting a new thread, please use this format in your title.
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If you are filling a prompt, use this format in your title.
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If your team name is not in this format and in the title we cannot guarantee that it will be counted.
Posts not using this format in the title will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, no matter what they contain. They, like all comments on the comm, are subject to the Wank Policy.
Scoring
For fills (as stated here):
First 5 entries in each post: 30 (per entry)
Entries 6-10 in each post: 20 (per entry)
Entries 11-15 in each post: 10 (per entry)
Entries 16+ in each post: 5 (per entry)
All scored content must be created/assembled new for this round.
If you have any questions, please ask them at the FAQ post here, or email them to us (homestuck.shipping at gmail). Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that we will see them in a timely fashion!
Bonus Round 5 is now closed!
16/08/12 Comments are unscreened again, for the sake of comments on fills. No new fills are being counted for points.
PROMPT: TEAM BRO<3DAD
The Land of Ooo.
FILL: TEAM [Alpha!Dave♥Alpha!Rose]
Re: FILL: TEAM [Alpha!Dave♥Alpha!Rose]
Re: FILL: TEAM [Alpha!Dave♥Alpha!Rose]
Re: FILL: TEAM [Alpha!Dave♥Alpha!Rose]
Re: FILL: TEAM [Alpha!Dave♥Alpha!Rose]
Fill: Team Dave<3<Karkat<3Terezi<3Dave
--
There is a rumour about a kingdom called the Cake Kingdom made of delicious baked goods. It used to be a shining beacon to everyone in the Land of Ooo, until the princess was overthrown and the kingdom cast into darkness. It is now ruled by a woman who calls herself the Batterwitch, a claimant to the throne who has no true right to rule.
The rightful princess (or so the rumour says) spends all her days at the top of the tallest tower the Batterwitch could build. She once used the crumbs of the cakes she was fed to entice birds to fly messages for her, but her jailer caught on to this and now she lives only on liquids. All she can do is wait for a saviour – a hero to defeat her tormentor and restore justice to the kingdom.
The kingdom was once easy to find but is now said to be situated somewhere beyond mortal reach, somewhere that can only be found by closing one’s eyes and wishing hard. Roxy has taken the more practical direction of starting at one end of the continent and working her way across. In a nod to tradition, she has decided to wish very hard while she does so.
A lot of things happen to her on the way, as could only be expected. She runs into a twelve-headed cat that meows so plaintively that Roxy can’t help but stroke the cat’s fur, and she is stuck like that for nearly a day. The only thing that stops her is that the cat smells so sweet, like spun sugar, and she is reminded of her quest. She pulls away, shocked to find how hungry and tired she is. The sudden pangs strengthen her and she runs from the cat until she finds somewhere safe to rest.
There are other oddities. She spends an entire two months exploring the Pit Of Arm, and while the resulting fortune is enough to keep her happy and healthy for the rest of her life she keeps going. She has a princess to save.
She fights a snake the colour of darkness that smells like rain and the sea. She climbs a mountain that is secretly a hill, and doesn’t let it fool her. She eats from a tree that refuses to let her through the gate it guards until she has eaten every single one of its fruit.
At the end of all this, when she has scoured the continent from one end to the other, she still has not found the Cake Kingdom.
She is sat on a rock contemplating her fate when a raven with beady eyes approaches her. “You look lost.”
“I am.” She takes a swig of her drink, trying to drown out the disappointment. “I’ve looked everywhere, and it’s nowhere.”
The raven cocks its head. “Who are you?”
“Roxy. I’m nobody. Just… I thought I could do this one thing.”
It hops a little closer. “Surely nobody is the best person to find nowhere.”
“And when I get there, what do I do? Nothing?”
The bird cackles harshly. “Maybe you need to think about where you came from to get where you’re going.”
“If that isn’t the steamiest pile of horseshit I’ve ever-”
“I mean it literally!”
She could swear the stupid thing is grinning. “I come from… Oh, over there somewhere.”
“Think harder.” There’s definitely a knowing smile on the raven’s face. It makes her wants to throw her bottle at it.
“I don’t want to. I’m tired.”
“Maybe you should stop acting like a spoiled little princess. If that isn’t too forwards of me!”
Roxy frowns at the bird. “You don’t… how would you know…”
All it does is wink.
Roxy stares down at the drink in her hand. She speaks slowly. “I ran away from my home because I couldn’t deal with the pressure of… of being the Void Princess.” She stops and takes a deep breath. “I’ve been running from it. For so long.”
The raven nods as understandingly as a bird can. “It’s hard, being a princess. It’s hard and no one understands.”
She sniffs. “How do you know so much?”
“I was a courtesan when the true princess was overthrown. I witnessed it all.”
“Then you know… were the kingdom used to be? That the Cake Kingdom and the Void Kingdom once shared a side?”
The raven looks at her knowingly. “I remember you.”
“You do?” Roxy thinks for a moment. “Of course. We used to play on the border all the time. She said we would get married when we were older. For the good of our kingdoms, or something. She was so excited about growing up and ruling. But then the Batterwitch came, and all I could do was watch as her kingdom disappeared.” She shudders. “I saw an entire kingdom disappear.”
“I know. My tame sweetheart was in the palace when it went. I was able to flee, but he was trapped.”
“Oh… That sucks.”
“I’ll say! Still, it’s a big old land. Perhaps if you see him you could tell him I’m pining for him as he must be for- Oh, never mind me. What are you going to do now?”
Roxy chews her lip, thinking. “I thought… I could still do something helpful, right? Even if I wasn’t running my kingdom? The carapaces don’t need me. They’re happy without me. I thought I could take a few weeks’ break. Then it turned into this.” She takes another gulp. “Oh, algebra, I have to go home, don’t I?”
“Not just yet.” The raven nudges her gently with his beak. “You have a princess or two to save. Don’t give up hope just yet.”
Roxy forces a smile, though it is difficult to feel anything but despair, and begins to pack. “Alright. Where do you suggest I go next?”
“Nowhere.” The raven hops a little. “It works for me.” And with that he flies away.
Roxy thinks for a good while. The sun sets before she has come to a decision, but the chill wakes her from her thought and forces her to move. She tries to delay it, but ever since the raven reminded her of home she has known there is only one route left to try – the one she least wants to take.
She breaths deeply and slowly and reaches into the power that she’s barely tapped since she left home. It’s still there, deep down; all she has to do is call it. She cups it in her hands and tugs it out, teases it into shape and lets it tickle at her mind. When she is done she lets it fall where it will. She does not hesitate, though she feels sick and does not think she can do this. She steps into it.
The void is vast and empty and roaring. Roxy does not waste time. She reaches out, ignoring the things that tug at her. She catches the castle in a few moments and drags it with her out – out of the void into the sunlight and the grass and the land of living things.
She falls back onto the ground, all the air knocked out of her. It takes her a good minute or so before she can sit up and open her eyes. Her skin has lost its glow and she is shaking all over, but she manages to stay conscious.
A vast shadow is cast on the land around her. Above hovers the Cake Kingdom. It shines pink and orange and green, but most of all it is bright, bright blue. A single ladder hangs from a point not ten yards distant from Roxy.
She stands carefully and painfully. Strength is returning to her with the sunlight and by the time she has started climbing the ladder she feels refreshed, if not quite as energetic as she was before she went into the void.
In the time it takes for her to climb the ladder, night passes and the sun rises on the opposite side of the land. There are no rests and when she reaches the top she is shattered. She flops down on the frosting and slips into a dreamless sleep.
When she wakes it is afternoon and there is a raven gently pecking at her temple.
“You again?” She rubs the sleep from her eyes and yawns drowsily. “More help?”
“I think you have me confused for my wild sweetheart. He told you how to get here?”
“In a roundabout way.”
“He’s like that. Did he look, ah, well?”
Roxy smiles. “He’s been exploring the continent, apparently. He’s happy. He said he misses you.”
“Adventuring. Of course.” The raven seems to lose focus for a moment. He shakes his head sharply to regain focus and flutters up a little to perch on Roxy’s shoulder. His claws dig in to her, but she doesn’t complain. “You must be a princess too, then.”
“I... yes. I am.”
Her surveys her and nods. “You brought us out of the void?”
“Yes.”
If there is anything to be gleaned from the bird’s expression, it’s that he expected something more. He doesn’t say it, though. “Follow me!”
The bird takes off, a quick push digging in hard enough to draw blood before it flies ahead. Roxy has to jog to keep up with it. Luckily this early in the morning very few people are up and about, but the few who are awake stare at her, wide-eyed, and whisper amongst themselves.
The palace is a huge building of every kind of cake imaginable. Swirls of frosting adorn the walls, icing sugar dusts every available surface and dots of candy surmount every appropriate point. Some parts shine in blue, but a large amount of the frosting is a harsh, unnatural red.
“Um. Bird! I wanted to go to the tower where the princess is kept. Not right into the castle!”
The raven ignores her as it swoops through the wide doors. On consideration Roxy decides that it’d be better to follow than to be lost, so she goes inside too.
She is greeted by a huge hall, decorated the same as the outside. There are more people in here, scurrying about their business, but they ignore her. She makes a note of it as being strange but does not try to approach one of them.
After leading her through several large corridors the raven’s route ends at a single large door. It taps its beak imperiously on the door and it creaks open. Roxy follows it inside, trying to squash her mounting trepidation. This becomes difficult to do when she spots the figure at the end of the throne room – a woman in black clothes, with a large fuchsia sign emblazoned across her chest. She is sat on a large golden chair and holds a trident in one hand. The Batterwitch.
The door creaks shut behind Roxy.
The tame raven lands at the left hand of the chair. On the right is a small girl with dark hair, glasses and buck teeth. She waves and it feels like a punch to the gut. Roxy takes in the red tiara on her head and sees how comfortably she sits. Her pupils are huge and fill almost her whole eye, and she seems hardly aware of what is going on.
“Oh,” Roxy says.
Jane smiles back like her arrival is a pleasant surprise that she has long suspected would happen. “Hello!”
The Batterwitch leans forwards, smiling. “I must say, no other has got this far. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Roxy doesn’t look away from Jane, who is staring ahead with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Are you – what have you done to Jane?”
“Nothing,” Jane says serenely. “I’m perfectly fine. Won’t you come take a seat by me? We have such lovely food here. It’s been quite lovely since…” As she trails off, she frowns and bites her thumb thoughtfully. “Since…”
“Never mind.” The Batterwitch tousles her hair. “The real question is what you think you’re doing here.”
“I came to save Jane.” The words feel weak in Roxy’s mouth, but when she says Jane’s name the girl stirs and a brightness momentarily returns to her eyes.
The Batterwitch’s eyes narrow. “How do you know her name?”
“Lucky guess.”
The woman laughs with little real humour. “It doesn’t matter.” She waves at the raven, who flies to a corner of the room and returns with a tiara almost identical to the one Jane wears. The Batterwitch takes it from him and advances towards Roxy.
Roxy backs away. “What are you- What’s-”
“Our sweetie’s last bodyguard died not long ago. I’m sure I can rely on you to keep her safe and sound.” She lunges with the tiara. Roxy tries to push her away but she is stronger than anything Roxy has fought before. She is caught and can do nothing as the device descends towards her.
At the last possible moment there is a screech and the tame raven dives for the Batterwitch. Roxy expects him to help her somehow, but he scratches her hard, then digs his claws into her hair and pecks at her, flapping his wings. Roxy jumps and tries to help him, punching the Batterwitch in the stomach, but the raven shakes his head. “Go, Roxy!”
Roxy barely knows what to do, so she does the first thing that comes to mind: she runs to Jane. The girl is still smiling distractedly. “Such a friendly bird…”
“Jane, please, you have to snap out of it!” Although once more she jumps at her name, Jane doesn’t otherwise react. Roxy can hear the Batterwitch fighting the raven behind her, and knows she doesn’t have much time. She tugs at the tiara, but it refuses to come off and seems glued to her skin. “Jane!”
The princess looks at her as if through a dense fog. Roxy knows she has only seconds left. She swallows her fear and does the only thing she can think of.
She pulls them both into the void.
Silence, immediate and empty, envelops them.
The void reaches out to Roxy again, even more eager than it was before. This time she has no patience with it. She corrals the grasping things that reach out to her, sweeps them with a hand and sends them scurrying back to where they came from.
“Roxy?”
Jane is blinking slowly. Her pupils are almost back to average size, and as Roxy watches they shrink a little more and then stop, finally looking normal.
“Where are we? What…” Jane looks around, clearly scared of the space. “I was… I was doing my evening walk and I heard my subjects shouting and I ran and I saw her- Oh, she stole my kingdom! She stole my kingdom!”
“I know. I’m here.” Roxy pulled Jane towards her and hugged her tightly, trying to quiet her friend’s shivering. “I’m going to help you get it back. But first…” She tries to prise the tiara off. This time it comes easily. Roxy is so surprised she drops it. It spins away into the void, red quickly lost in darkness.
“The connection must have been lost when we left the kingdom.” Jane grins. “You have no idea, how awful it felt. And now I’m free.”
“Red doesn’t suit you.” Roxy wants to stay with Jane forever, but the void is cold and unwelcoming and she knows there is a Batterwitch to be dealt with. “Jane, before we go back. There’s something I should do. Something I meant to do before the Batterwitch stole you away.”
“We don’t have time.”
“Please. Let me.”
Jane sighs but waits, shivering in the cold. Roxy steels herself and leans forwards. Their lips meet clumsily, noses bumping, teeth clicking. It’s not graceful or elegant or anything like Roxy imagined. It’s better than that; the way Jane jumps in surprise and accidentally nips her tongue, the way their bodies press together and how even though it’s clumsy they keep going.
They break apart far sooner than Roxy would have liked.
“Is this really the time?” Jane asks, though she’s smiling.
Roxy shrugs. “Now or never.”
Jane rolls her eyes and twines her fingers in Roxy’s. “Well, now we’ve got that sorted, do you think we could work on getting my kingdom back?”
“Of course,” Roxy says. It takes only a small effort to move out of the void and back to reality. She makes the shift in an instant and pulls Jane with her into the warmth of the palace. There is a Batterwitch to be fought and a kingdom to be won, and the best thing of all is that Roxy doesn’t have to do it alone.
Re: Fill: Team Dave<3<Karkat<3Terezi<3Dave