chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

skye: the return

[hacker]

[ when skye returns the next day, she looks … different.

her hair, bangs excepted, is pulled up into a loose, short ponytail. she's in a black tactical outfit, and her leather holster is visible around her ribs under her leather jacket. the loose, quasi-bohemian LA look has been lost.

she truly looks like an agent of SHIELD.

she pulls a car owned by the knights, borrowed in the knight, up to the front of the castle, and when she climbs out of the driver's side, she turns to talk to someone in the passenger seat. ]

It might be better if you wait here a minute. [ she says it delicately, for the situation surely feels delicate. ]

text;

[familybusiness]

[Sometimes in the middle of the day, a text comes through on Skye's phone.]

Hey.

[...What a start that was, Sam.]

[hacker]

What's up?

[familybusiness]

You were right. About everything.

I screwed up and I'm sorry. You had my back the whole time and I just...I should have listened to you.

[hacker]

wait, what?

[ she thought for sure this was hearing about her. but — ]

What's going on? Sam, what happened? Are you okay?

[familybusiness]

I'm fine, I think.

I can't really talk about it on here. Are you busy?

[Everyone's on lockdown, so she should be here, right?]

[hacker]

That's ... complicated.

Can I raincheck? There's something I need to do. Things are kind of up in the air for me right now.

I went out last night.

[familybusiness]

Wait, you left?

[Yeah, dipshit. That's what she just said.]

Why?

[hacker]

Again, complicated.

But if you trust me, and I hope you do, I hope you'll give me the chance to explain when I can.

[felidity]

[ kali waited, perched on one of the workbenches at the end of the garage. she waited for skye to come back at the edge of the garage like a creep, but she doesn't need much sleep and she doesn't care about hellsing and she wasn't going anywhere anyway.

not unless topher left. ]

You're back.

[hacker]

[ skye turns around and sucks in a nervous breath. she glances around as though expecting that kali isn't alone, then nods. ]

You should probably keep your distance.

[felidity]

Why?

[ her eyes flicker over skye, checking for injuries (spot 35), before her gaze drifts back to the passenger side of the car. she pushes herself down from the work bench, landing silently. ]

You said you went to pick up a knight and you would be back. You did, you are, what is the problem? It's not Wynn, they don't smell like Wynn.

[hacker]

It's complicated. It —

[ She draws a breath, glances back at the SUV as though to make sure no one's gotten out of it. She puts her hands on her hips. ]

Kali, I need to deal with this. Go to sleep.

[ it doesn't take a great sense motive to tell she's been here all night, ok. ]

[felidity]

[ kali bristles. ]

No. I don't need sleep.

[hacker]

[ so it's gonna be like that. well, some things still matter to skye. all she can do is hope kali forgives her later for this. ]

I don't want you here for this.

[felidity]

When did you stop trusting me?

[ she tries not to take it personally, skye's resolve, but she can't help it. she should have told peter that skye left, he always knew what to do when it came to people, kali was still a couple steps behind, still trying to catch up. ]

[hacker]

You have it backwards. You're not the one I don't trust, Kali. I—

[ it's honest. too honest. she's never trusted herself with this. and she was right not to, it seems. she backs off, frightened of the end of that sentence, and glances back meaningfully at the car.

this isn't the kind of thing that should have an audience. ]

You can be as mad as you want at me later. But I have something I need to do first.

[ambitionist]

[alex sees her coming up the drive while he's on the balcony chain smoking his anxieties away. he watches like wtf??? what is the policy on stragglers?? what is happening?? why is skye wearing that??

so uh. he's gonna find out. he runs as fast as he can (not very fast) down towards the front of the castle. ukw. maybe he'll just wait for her in the entranceway. and catch his breath. breathing hurts, y'all. why do people who aren't being chased run??? fuck. ANYWAY.]

Looks like you had a fun night out.

[just assumes it's kinky shit because this is who he is as a person.]

[hacker]

[ she looks uncomfortable — surprised, at first, and then ... the cavalier humor there is undoubtedly constructed. the ease with which she shrugs, deliberate. ]

Yeah. You know how I am with ultimatums.

[ambitionist]

[now that he got his quip out, he pauses to ... actually consider what he's looking at here.]

Uh-huh. I wouldn't have pegged you to just say fuck it. though. Hasmed and Solace seemed pretty stick-up-the-ass about staying locked down.

[hacker]

I had a mission.

[ she glances back at the truck. ]

And I'm not finished yet. I can tell you all about it later, but now's not a great time.

[ambitionist]

A solo mission? [he raises his eyebrows at her like really gurl. u r not a dragon's claw. and also:] I thought all missions were recalled.

Look, I understand that you need to ... go, do whatever you need to do, but that doesn't mean you get a free pass for bullshitting me, okay?

[hacker]

My mission didn't come from Wynn, Alex.

[ she squares her shoulders up. no bullshit. that's fair. ]

I'm here for SHIELD. We need to meet with the section heads.

[ambitionist]

Okay, one, what's SHEILD, and two, what the fuck? How long? Why?

[hacker]

We're here to help. Look, Alex, you said you were going to let me do what I needed to do. If you meant that, what I need you to do right now? Is get out of the way.