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

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

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. ]

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[The ponytail is pretty easy to spot. There's something about Buffy's gate that makes it swing up a bit before it sways. Like there's an actual bounce to the determination. Like, she's happy to be headed toward something with purpose. Faith used to be jealous of that. That and a long list of other things. The ponytail isn't quite as bouncy, but it could be the wind outside. It's messing with Faith's whole ideal of who she's been trying to catch up with. She doesn't want to be that person shouting out across the yard to get the girl to wait, standing there expectantly.

Plus, it's a moment of pride for Faith to catch up to her.]

Hey. [She nods toward Buffy, trying to insert herself into the walk.] Thinking about making a run for it? [Faith is joking, of course, but she shifts to actual talks vs awkward timed remarks.]

So, how many times do you think we've saved this world? Because, back home I know you were at least headed toward double digits.

Saved the—

[ the expression is hard to mistake. faith knows it well, actually. it's the same face buffy made too often when she was supposed to be finding time for faith in her life, back home. when she was supposed to be making room for her. it's the fact that says buffy has more important things to be attending than poor faith.

but she doesn't say it. ]

...What? [ her brain takes a second to catch up, then she glances back at the treeline and does her best to play it cool. ] Oh, I ... I don't know about saved. If you ask the section heads, I think I've pretty much made things consistently worse.

[Faith shrugs. The look is familiar, but thankfully, Faith is in a slightly better headspace in this place. She's as desperate to be part of Team Buffy these days. Sure she's made bad choices in this world too, but she's managed to keep her head above water.]

Eh... [She makes a face.] Sometimes it's like cleaning your room. It looks a lot worse before it looks like one of those catalog photos. [She lifts her arms out, trying to frame up an imaginary room.]

Besides, worse is what this place is made for handling. If it was all aces all the time - we'd be out of jobs.

Unemployment. [ she laughs. it's bitter but also ... yearning. she thinks of nell's place. of a quiet retirement with rafael. he's so far away, now, that she can barely summon the image. ] Now there's something to aspire to.

Hey, it wouldn't be that bad at all. [Faith imagines Buffy having some log cabin-y existence. Those huge blankets that are knitted with people's arms or something.]

I stepped down to on-call. Probably not the best timing considering the whole 'time away from this place' has turned into 'not allowed to leave' this place.

Knight life not everything you dreamed it'd be?

I don't know... [She shrugs.] I think it's too much of what I thought it'd be. I mean, I could probably just keep bouncing from mission to mission. Knocking heads. Jumping off rooftops.

It's a rush. It's something I wanted years ago. Someone to say that they needed me to help stop something big and ugly.

So I get that rush and I get that good feeling of being part of something. It's pretty cool.

But then I come back and I start looking for that rush again. [She shrugs again.] I took that vacation after France. I figured I needed to find that rush somewhere else.

Except, knowing that I was missing out on stuff - knowing that things could be happening and I wasn't there -- it got to me. So I figure I need to figure out if I want to be part of the rush of being a Knight or if it's time I find other ways to feel like I'm good.

Good enough, I guess.

You wouldn't be the only one to be here because risking your life is a rip-roaring good time, you know. [ it couldn't be farther from her original reaction, but buffy doesn't know that. she just shrugs. ] Doing good is still good. No matter what reason you're doing it for, the act means something. And the people here ... well, they're doing good.

[ but there it is. 'they.' even here, even now, buffy can't completely consider herself a part of them. ]

[Faith nods, listening to Buffy's response. She wonders if she's putting her on the spot, but Buffy offers her an answer and doesn't seem to be trying to shut her down. Faith knows that could have been the result of this. Buffy wanting space and not wanting this girl who knows everything that she doesn't know around. This feels normal, though.

What Buffy says makes sense, too. She doesn't quite catch the underlying meaning behind her saying 'they'. She hears it, but she doesn't feel anything wrong with the statement. The people = they.]

They're not doing much good right now. [She figures she can be honest with her.]

I mean, I thought for sure it'd just be jump into the action with something this big. Instead, they called everyone here like we're bratty kids that don't know how to behave during the end of the world.

Politics.

[ she smiles a bitter smile. ]

The Achilles heel of institutions of goodness. [ she seems to think on that. then, she glances back towards the woods where lan lives. where the property line extends. ] If we're going to do any good in this fight, we gotta get out of here.

[If Faith had known that circling the wagons would also mean sit on your ass while everyone figures out what to do, she would've just gone back to LA on her own. Instead, she followed the rules. Which makes her think back to what Quinn had said when she'd brought him to the castle. That there were a lot of rules to follow. Which isn't exactly something Faith has been good with in the past. Maybe it's why she keeps doing things for this place. Always trying to make good on the times when she wasn't good at all.]

Politics? [Faith frowns.] I didn't think secret organizations that deal in what we deal in was too worried about how it looked to the rest of the world.

I mean, isn't this one of those times where we just do what we're good at and then stay in the shadows while the rest of the world blames it on PCP and gang violence?

... PCP and what?

[ you almost had her there, faith, but then you had to go all sunnyhell. ]

[She catches that and laughs, shaking her head in half-apology/half-amusement.]

Sorry, sorry - it was this thing where it was easier to use lies like drugs than actually tell anyone that there were vampires in town.

I just mean, isn't it better to just do the right thing now and then if we have to lie about it later just to make it pretty for anyone that doesn't understand -- isn't that better than doing nothing?

The trouble is, when it comes to Knight politics we're not just dealing with the law. The gatekeepers aren't cops or principals. They're the section heads. This ... bureaucracy is all because of them trying to compete with each other, to make themselves seem like they're better than Wynn.

So can't we just pick the one we like and go with them? I mean, if they're all in-fighting, then one of them has to be looking to do something to prove that they've fixed it first.

A race to the solution or something?

Or just quit and fix it ourselves? [She had been considering walking away at one point, but talked herself out of it when she was face to face with Wynn.]

Joining up with the most likely to succeed just means finding the one with the least perspective. They won't have what it takes to do it right if they're really worried about their own ambitions in the midst of this.

[ she huffs out a breath. paces a moment. then she stops and looks at faith.

they need all the help they can get. ]

Would you? If there was a way to make a difference, but it meant leaving all of this behind — would you just walk away and take it?

Oh. [It makes sense. Faith never really has the best perspective on how it could all shake out in the end. She's more impulsive than that. It's why she's figured out that she's better just doing what she does best and in the easiest direction. Quinn might think she's selling herself short again, but she is a blunt instrument 70% of the time and a sharp mouth 10% of the time. The rest she figures is leather pants.

When Buffy asks her if she'd leave it all behind, she slows to a stop near Buffy. She knows that she has options outside these walls. She has Quinn and a life of letting him do what he wants to make money and not stressing about the Knights finding out. Not that she wants to consider that the rest of her life, because Faith doesn't want to consider anything that long term. At least not that she'd admit -- not even just to herself.]

Sure. [She shrugs.] It's got its perks and I like having access to a room full of weapons and a kitchen full of food, but I've also managed on microwave popcorn and a crap mattress in a pay by the week motel.

There might have been a time when I would have just stuck it out, not doing anything to make waves, just to enjoy the luxury items.

But, I think I'm more committed to doing something... [She laughs, softly.] If you know a back door to this place, we can make a run for it and save the world.

[She wants to add in 'like the old days' because it feels like that sort of moment, but she also knows there aren't old days to have that are actually positive. She also knows that Buffy wouldn't know about any of them anyway. Which might be a good thing in light of current events.]

[ this is the weird thing about faith.

she's notoriously reliable. and not in the ways that are apparent. honestly, outwardly, she seems like the kind of woman who'd cheat on a test and then call you the one who copied. or maybe like she's been in a rodeo before. you know, a real dive-bar kind of woman. a drifter.

but she's shown up. over and over again, she's shown up in buffy's life, and after the concert, it's hard for her not to wonder how much of it is a flashing neon sign that michael or some god is putting over her head to tell her that she has help.

after all, if faith really is the slayer, if she's even close to as strong as buffy, isn't that worth it? ]

I think I know a place to run. Faith, I think you should come with me.

[Under normal circumstances, Faith would have assumed this was a joke. Buffy going along with her prior comment and trying to roll with it, but this tone -- the way she looks at her, she has to take this seriously.

Buffy is asking her to join her, which isn't something she ever thought she'd hear in this place.]

Alright. Where are we going?

To get Rafael. And then, when he's with us, to stop Blade. Or ... to figure out a way to stop Blade.

[ there's no sense in being coy about it. not now. when she's showing her cards. ]

There's a base. Like a — a safehouse? I think I can get you a GPS pin or something.

[Faith nods, taking in this information. This isn't what she had expected, but she's not going to look back.]

Alright. Is there a set time?

Tomorrow. It—

You know, maybe it's better if you just come with me. That way I can explain. We're not so big with the strange faces, lately. Meet me in Kat's room.

Alright. [She shrugs.] Who all is in the we -- or is that depending on how many show up? [a beat] Or is that something you'd rather wait to tell me until we get there -- 'cuz, I'd get that too.

I want to trust you.

[ she looks faith firmly in the eyes as she says it. wants to, but can't. not yet. things are too delicate now. so that's the answer she gets instead. buffy just has to hope she'll understand. ]

[Faith nods, she does get it. It's probably the most 'Buffy' thing that she's heard from Buffy - at least in regards to her.]

It's fine. [She looks at her, earnest in her expression.] I'll be there.

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

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