[Closed Log]

[obeytherod]

Found them. They're separated. [Bakura held the ring in his hands, the charms that hung at its sides now pointing in the direction of their targets.]

[Nearby, Malik smirks at the news, his face mostly concealed beneath hood of his purple cloak.]
Good. You take Eleanor, and I'll get Harriet then. You know what to do from there.

[Bakura leers in the direction of his target, smirking.] Understood. It should be easy.

[The Egyptian, in return, turns towards his own target and lets out a small laugh.] Hehe...I'll meet you back at the cave then. We'll lure in Henry and Rosenkreuz once we've got the girls.

((ooc: GENERAL WARNING: there will be violence throughout the threads in this post.))

Comments

Kidnapping! A Dark Duo Appears!

[obeytherod]

[obeytherod]

[Malik quietly makes his approach towards Harriet's last known location. Of course by the time he gets there, she's a bit of a ways off...but it's nothing he can't catch up to.

Once the girl is within range, he pulls out his Rod and utilizes it's powers to lock her in place.]

Oy, oy...where do you think you're going?

[His face is hidden, and with the chance in tone from how he spoke as Namu, it's not immediately clear who he is.]

[whiterosefoes]

[Harriet freezes in place, having no choice otherwise. A shock of terror courses through her - how could it not, being vulnerable like this in front of an obvious creeper that just ambushed her with some mystical artifact - but she quickly covers it up with irritation and biting sarcasm.]

The kitchen, actually. Do you always greet people this terribly, or what?

[She has a feeling she won't like the "what"]

[fluffydeathdealer]

Ravensdale-san?

[Bakura has the advantage in this stalking game. The Ring is his guide, leading him inexorably towards the target. Once he finds her, he lets the Ring's glow fade, the Ring itself disappearing under his shirt as he approaches her. His hair softens, his eyes widening in false innocence as he impersonates his host with ease.]

I've been looking for you.

[redrosechose]

Ah? Oh, Ryou!

[Eleanor gives a friendly smile, waving. She's about to start asking his opinion on cake recipes, but then he beats her to the punch.]

What is it?

[obeytherod]

[It takes Malik a little bit to locate Henry, but once he's within range he holds out his Rod and uses it to speak to the distant man.]

Harriet wishes to duel you, King of England. It will be in your best interest to accept. If you don't, both girls will die.

[helpusduelist]

[Henry immediately tenses once the voice enters his mind. His teeth clench, anger bubbling up already. What has this man just done?]

Where are they? What did you do to them?

[obeytherod]

[After finishing up with Henry, Malik closes his eyes and concentrates on contacting Bakura. Because he has a piece of his soul within him, distance is not a problem.]

Bakura...what direction is Rosenkreuz in?

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Bakura takes a moment to answer, focusing first on Malik and then on the one he'd never met. It's such a troublesome thing, to find strangers with such little to focus on, but he's done it before. But there's something strange. An ill omen...]

North-east of where you are. But Malik... the Ring is reacting strangely. It could be the lack of information I have on him, but it definitely seems unhappy. This omen is troublesome.

A Deadly Battle

[obeytherod]

[helpusduelist]

[Not willing to waste time, Henry had summoned his Magicians to search outward and lead his way. The Dark Magician Girl had been the one to give him the proper directions, but the unease she felt was enough to put him on edge as well.

And once he sees her for himself, even he can feel it.]

Harriet!

[whiterosefoes]

[He called her name. How disgusting. She replies back with an amused tone]

Henry.

[Harriet was leaning against a tree as though she'd been waiting for him for a while. Now that he's here, though, she'll push off from it and stand, taking out her deck. She's all in one piece, but she's here to duel, all right.]

Do you know much about faeries, majesty? You know their strength from our last duel, but I wonder what you've learned since then. Do you know what tricks they play, spiriting humans away? A faerie called a Changeling can replace a beloved child. The faeries do this as an act of vengeance.

[her face twists as she says that last word as the hatred springs from within.]

Ahh, but even then, it is quite evil to take someone away from their home, isn't it? It's no wonder I'm sick of your fucking face.

[She's saying she hates him for what he's done, and her eyes burn with malice. But if Henry has taken an interest in fairies, he'll know the other side of the changeling story - the taken child becomes a slave in the fairy's court, becomes less than human. The question is, to which of them does she refer? Behind the veil of her words, there could be a cry for help from a lost one...]

Rosenkreuz to the Rescue! The Blue-Eyes White Dragon Appears!

[obeytherod]

[stealsyourduelist]

[When Rosenkreuz's monsters scoured the entire school building and found it was nothing but a wild goose chase, he was livid. However, it did not pause his search except for him to replace one of the monsters with a Blue Eyes for himself to ride and continue on. As soon as he found this coward, he was going to die like a dog, prayers and last wishes be damned. Soon enough, one of his monsters hears voices and screams, and Rosenkreuz, seeing through the eyes of all his monsters, begins heading over immediately.

Malik and Bakura's only warning is a distant roar from outside the cave, followed by an explosion, and then another, because his Blue Eyes needs stomping room and so he's blowing up parts of the cave with her Burst Stream, basically until he finds them.]

[obeytherod]

[The explosion seems to shake the ground beneath them, stalactites and loose rock crumbling around the two men and their hostage. Malik turns and hurries further back into the cave as a result, covering his head as he does.]

Shit--! [He spins on heel to stop by Bakura and the girl, holding out his Rod to use its powers defensively if need be. He can already tell it's Rosenkreuz; the Rod alerts him as much.]

Bakura, summon one of your monsters!

[How?! How could Rosenkreuz have found them already...? They were miles away, hidden in the jungle! The school isn't small either. This was bad...his plan was falling apart!]

Malik and Dark Bakura's Escape

[obeytherod]

[obeytherod]

[Malik inhales sharply and cringes when Bakura touches his wound, but remains unconscious.

It has only been a few minutes, but already his cloak has been soaked so thoroughly that it's become a sickly crimson, heavy with the weight of blood. Malik's skin has grown clammy and cold--a sign of shock--and has lost its usual healthy brown tone.

But at least he was still responsive, and still breathing.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Cursing under his breath, Bakura summons one of the Necro Mannequins to hold the coat over the wound as he looks around for something to burn. Luckily, the caves are in enough of a ruined state that it's not hard to grab some branches and ignite them. He lets the fire burn in a corner of the cave, leaving the blade of his knife resting inside, and returns to Malik.

Dismissing the monster, he carefully takes off Malik's cloak, pausing briefly at the sight of the marks on his back. His hand rested on them for a second before he shook his head to clear it. No, he didn't have time for this.

He rolled him over to get a better look at the wound.]

At Last! The Rose Duelists Reunite!

[obeytherod]

[redrosechose]

[Mercifully, the flight back to the Campus had been short. But even back in their dorms, Eleanor didn't seem to be any more reassured. Thankfully, Rosenkreuz had had plenty of energy, and his healing card had sealed up most of the wounds Bakura had inflicted, with just the deepest ones needing extra bandaging.

That had been Rosenkreuz's job as well, seeing as she couldn't quite get at them to do it properly herself, nor did she really know how. Even so, as he bandages the wound on her hand, he can easily feel her trembling.

She's not in bad enough of a position to go into shock, but it seems like her brain has shut down for the moment.]

[stealsyourduelist]

[Rosenkreuz is actually rather skilled at patching up wounds - if he hadn't been pressed for time, he could have easily taken care of her without magic. He stays silent as he bandages her hand, mostly because he doesn't think he could comfort her. He's far too angry for that. Despite that, he keeps his expression as calm and cool as he can muster because he wants her to be comfortable. It comes across as completely emotionless.]

[whiterosefoes]

[Although Henry healed her poison and wounds, the exhaustion of the hellish duel plunges Harriet into a long, dreamless sleep. Hours pass, and as the first peek of sunlight appears in the sky, the birds of the forest begin to twitter. The noise gradually pulls the girl to life. Before she opens her eyes, she wonders where she is, and whether it had all been just a dream. The smells of the forest could just be remnants still lingering from her imagination. The ground under her back is hard, and there's a chill breeze of outside morning air... but why is it that she feels so warm? When she opens her eyes, she sees her answer. She's not alone.

Henry's on top of her. She has no idea why. Only that he looks... as spent as she feels. Did he save her? No, he attacked her... she doesn't remember what happened after that. But her body feels fine, so he must have. You don't simply recover from that kind of damage, or, for that matter, from poison.

She doesn't try to move him as the memories come back from the previous night. If he's woken up, it'll be by the wet feeling of tears, or the sound of choked, quiet sobs.]

[helpusduelist]

[The sobs do begin to rouse the exhausted king from his sleep, a few incoherent murmurs following the sluggish awakening as he just shifts, ever so slightly. He's completely unaware of where he is right now, just that there's crying somewhere above him.]

Harriet...?

[helpusduelist]

[It's a little later in the morning that Henry and Harriet finally arrive back at the Campus. In the hopes of being at least slightly subtle, he's had her dismiss her centaur and armor for just the moment, walking as quickly as he can with his wounded leg back to the dorm. While the healing during the duel had managed to at least prevent any serious infection, it's still given him a noticeable limp, though he's ignoring the pain for the sake of speed now.

As it is, they manage to return to their room without any real problems, Henry rather firmly shutting the door.]

[redrosechose]

[The door closing somewhat loudly is enough to rouse Eleanor from her sleep -- how did she get to bed? -- and get her to her feet, rubbing her eyes. After a moment, she opens her door to stick her head out.]

Who's there?