IP: 68.210.143.202
Posted on May 20, 2010 at 04:25:49 AM by joel
For three days the child had been crying without pause. He thought he would lose his fragile grip on sanity and snap, the outcome catastrophic to anyone unfortunate enough to be within reach of his powers. The desparately pathetic wails raked the inside of his head raw and the overwhelming waves of sympathy flowing from Elle for the poor child had him nauseous all hours of the night from its potency. The Newfoundland was doing what she could to offer the babe comfort, keeping him warm against her furry form, but the little boy's skin was a deathly green, proof of the septisemia poisoning his tiny body. The mother's cries for a healer fell upon deaf ears in the chaos reigning inside the castle walls. At first, the flood's survivors had been panicked, but had bonded around the common good and will to live. Now, after two months of being stranded and starved inside a gilded stone cage, all patience was waring thin and those who still breathed were simmering with aggression and savageness. It was almost to the point where a fairy had to sleep with one eye open to avoid getting knifed in the back over a scrap of bread or a tattered bit of wool. Gaunt, hollow eyes seemed to stare back at him as he'd paced the crowded halls of the west wings, searching where he could for a healer to tote back to the mourning mother. There were none to be found and no one would offer any further advice on where to search next. When Joel awoke to a tense and complete silence on the forth morning, the sunlight streaming in with hazy fingers to brush a tiny, still body in requiem - his control snapped. "That does it," he snarled, stomping past the quietly weeping mother and dead child in a fury so intense it ricocheted heat off the stone corrider walls and back onto him. The rims of his irises began to take on the red glow signifying the loosing of his blood rage, reined in only just by Elle's frantic attempts to keep his emotions in check as she trotted at his heels. "Calm down, Joel. This is nobody's fault. We are disorganized and scattered and sick with fear. No one knows who or where to turn to. Arthur's doing his best, but there are too many dying, too many cries left unheard. Bringing down your wrath and frustration will only hinder any progress they've struggled to make," the dog said, her voice sounding rushed and breathless in his head as if she was hurrying to placate him before he did something incrediably stupid. Which in the past would have been perfectly justifyed. But Joel had no intention of simply unleashing his fury with no target in mind. "There IS NO progress, Elle. That's the problem," he hissed through clenched teeth, having to dodge a couple as they chased each other through a narrow turn in the hallway, one obviously carrying something of value worth pursuing. Joel ignored them, needing to get to a place where there was no chance of being unseen and unheard before he addressed everyone. He increased his pace, the tired moans of the sick and dying blurring as he focused only on reaching an open space, saw only the end of the labyrinth of stone corriders where the smell of death was not so suffocating. "You can't possibly think to address them all in this state!" Elle huffed, starting to pant as they ran toward the main great hall, away from the cramped darkness and the rank decay of hope. "Why try to force your position on them now? Why should they listen to you?" she tried to reason with him. He set his jaw and gave her a fleeting dark glance from beneath heavy brows. "Because something's got to change. They'll listen to me if they know what's good for them." It was more a growl then a statement and as the hallways suddenly exploded into open space and light and air less polluted, he slowed his footsteps and took a moment to catch his breath. He scanned the breadth of the massive room, going unseen by fairies busy trying to salvage meager rations, trying to find whereabouts of kin long lost, trying to die in peace without getting pickpocketed before their last breath was expelled. Those who had started out trying to aid those less fortunate had now become what they'd pitied - those who had lost beloved still clung pathetically to frozen corpses in some vain attempt to comfort themselves. "Enough." It was first a disgusted whisper, then was repeated in a low, punctuated roar that faded in a resounding echo around the stone walls. "ENOUGH!" Even Elle's ears and tail went up in surprise as she skidded to a halt some ways behind him, looking up at her fairy in something between respect and fear. "You listen to me, all of you! If we want to survive long enough to see our homes again, we have to do a hella lot better then this," he snarled into the shocked silence, taking advantage of the new stillness to glower threateningly at every pair of eyes he could manage. "So I'm issuing new orders right NOW." "Water Manipulators, the drinking water supply needs to be replenished immediately. Do what you can to start filtering salt and debris from what you can reach past the walls and get it to the wounded and sick first. Filter it three times if you have to, but I want it clean. Earth Manipulators, we gotta extend our food source. See what can be done about raising soil from the stables, the conversatory gardens, even the king's house plants, anything you can grow something in. Weather Manipulators, Immie, Adonis, that means you, they're gonna need sun and rain for whatever they can grow so get going. We've got to get these corpses out of here before the disease starts to take hold. We don't have burial room, we'll have to make do with torching the bodies. Fire Manipulators and Fire Breathers, it'll be your job to despose of the dead. Anybody has a problem with you removing their corpses, you have permission to use force if necessary, just get them the hell out of here. Telekinetics, start pulling any fish you can from the water. It may take a while, there's no way to tell what outside the walls has survived the flood. Any semi-aquatic fairies and familiars, dive for clams and mussels. We'll take ANYTHING you can find, just don't come back empty handed. Healers. Do your goddamn jobs. There's no reason why ANYBODY should be dying, I don't care how malnurished and tired we are. Those that can be saved, save them. Those who are beyond help, send them to the Fire Manipulators. Poppy! Stop destorying everything. If you can't find someway to help, then I'm going to lock you in a tower. I swear to the gods, if you wreck one more room in this castle... Aura, get your damn daughter under control and out of the way if her magic isn't going to help anything. Those with shape shifting abilities...if you can fly and are strong enough, I want you out there looking for signs that the water has receded off any of the land masses. If you are a predator, I want you patroling the corriders for signs of trouble. We're all starting to get cabin fever here, and we're all at the ends of our rope. But we can't afford to let crime and disorderly conduct start up just because we're all trapped in here. If you don't have a power already listed, find some other way to be helpful. Strip the dead and make blankets from the clothes before their burned. Keep the children away from the worst of it. Help me patch the erosion in the outer castle walls. (Freya, that means you. Never too early for your first lesson as my student.) Sing, keep our hearts light. We all have to act for each other if we're going to make it. It's all of us or none. And frankly, I aim to survive. Anybody who doesn't wanna follow my orders, this is where you take your leave of the castle with the best of luck. But if you stay, you will respect my authority as Chancellor or I will kill you where you stand." He scanned the room once more, daring someone to accept the challenge and give him a reason to explode. "Now get to work." chancellor, hardass, father, hater, introvert, leader, lover, craftsmen, killer, hero |
Ooc: Nobody be put off by Joel's gruffness. You should know by now, this is just the way he operates. xD He really does act for the best. And think of his "rules" as suggestions for what can be done more then laws. Just some ideas of what people can do to aid in the bad situation we are all in. It's sorta instructional rather then an actual thread, but you'd make me smile if you reply :)
Replies:
- We'll live and steal among the dead, But we'll die like Criminals - By Shyra Talownski & Blake May 20, 2010 at 02:51:49 PM
- imprisoned in the hawthorn; - By Arthur & Nimueh May 20, 2010 at 09:24:38 PM
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