closed ♔ and when we collide | we'll see what gets left over

[dragonsclaw]

WHO || Failboat [closed]
WHAT || After the announcement, Jack calls a meeting
WHERE || Thomas Bancroft's room, the Castle
WHEN || 8am, the day after LA
HOW || Actionspam or prose

Solace's announcement makes the situation unfortunately plain - those who have worked to stop Blade and company for the last five years have been side-lined, and will be until this ends, one way or another.  Jack has sent out a secret communication to all members of the team, asking them to gather in Thomas Bancroft's old room, which has stood empty since his death, and is usually locked.

When they make their way there before 8am, however, they will find the door unlatched.  Jack is already inside, with Gar seated near him, one hand on his arm.  Kat leans against the wall behind Fred, who is seated in a chair.  Her arms are folded, and she's grinding her teeth back and forth.

Comments

[slay]

If you already knew you weren't going to come, why meet us here at all?

[bigbad]

[Spike turns to look at Buffy.] You're my family. I was hoping I was wrong.

[slay]

You're right. We are your family. And you're abandoning us to this? Now?

[ she steps closer. ]

Spike, we need you. I need you.

[msattentionspan]

[Faith doesn't know Spike the way the rest of them do -- hell, it seems like she doesn't know a lot of what's been going on with this grou--gang. She keeps her eye on Spike, just to see if he's actually coming with or not, but she drops her phone in the bag when it gets to her and heads toward the plane.]

[bigbad]

[Goddammit. He should have kept moving while he had the chance. Even after all this time, even when he's absolutely moved on, those big eyes of Buffy's have a way of getting past his defenses.]

I'm bloody tired, Buffy. I want to stay. I just don't know if I rightly can.

[slay]

You want to stay? [ she throws her arms up. there's pitchy, hysteric exhaustion setting in. all of this is Too Much, for all of them. ] Great! Then stay.

God, maybe the reason it's so damn hard for you to walk away is because you know it's wrong.

[nepotism]

Either way, the place we're going is safe, supposedly. Worst case, you can stay there. [ he shrugs ] Either way, we don't have time to argue. [ annnd up he goes ]

[bigbad]

My safety isn't the thing I'm worried about here.

[It's everyone else's safety. It's the safety of the world. It's that they never have time to argue. Eventually that excuse starts wearing on him. Eventually, they'll have to bloody make time, except everyone's made it clear they don't think his concerns are even worth considering so he somehow doubts they ever will.]

Fine.

[He throws his phone into the bag with perhaps more phone than is strictly necessary and stomps towards the plane, shoulders hunched.]

When the world ends because no one ever bloody listens, don't come crying to me.

[shootfirst]

Pretty sure if we fuck up now, no one will be left alive to come crying. [ with that, she exchanges a look with gar, and then makes her way up. gar gives spike a concerned and troubled look, and then glances back at jack, who nods to her to head in. she follows kat up the ramp. ]

[slay]

[ mollified, she turns to join the others after a Meaningful Look of Gratitude for spike. ]

[savemyself]

[ GUESS WHO SHOWS UP TO THE PARTY JUST IN TIME, all but crashing through the gate b/c she doesn't have a keycard, whoopsie, sorry knights. she gets out and pushes up her sunglasses looking back at it ] I am sure they are insured. [ sup bitches, just heading right for the ramp ]

[klep]

[From the window, as she watches Isabella roll up, to no one in particular:]

I like her.

[That's literally all she wanted to say, carry on.]

[dragonsclaw]

[ once they've boarded, jack gets the bird in the air, and the ground falls away as they head for parts unknown. once they're on autopilot, he makes his way back out to the cabin, where he stands in the entryway, surveying the group. his weariness has vanished now, replaced with a hard determination. ]

I imagine you have some questions about where we're going.

[ a beat ] Over the years, there have been those Knights who have... crossed a line, so to speak, violating some tenet of our Knighthood that could not go without reprisal. Some of you may have heard of cases like these - where a Knight was abruptly transferred, not to be heard from again, or for some time.

[ he finally looks over to finnick ] Sometimes there were those who just needed a place to escape from themselves. Who feared they were a danger to the outside world.

[slay]

We're going to the Knighthood's time-out corner?

[ she blurts it out, then tries to save it with — ]

I just mean ... won't they think to look for us? Or won't someone working there send them word?

[graveflowers]

Is that where Charming disappeared to? [ LOOK she's still... wondering. ]

[dragonsclaw]

The number of people who know of this location's existence is... extremely limited. What's more, there is no way to contact the outside world, even if I had any reason to believe someone would. Rather, I trust the man who runs the facility entirely to be our ally.

The sanctuary is located in a remote mountain region of Russia, overlooking a small village called Krozna. Its disconnect from modern society and distant location from civilization have made it a haven for some Shadowkind who are too inhuman looking to live without facing prejudice, or who simply prefer a simpler life free of technology.

[ he looks to vi ] That is where David Charming has spent the last few years, yes. As well as the place Finnick disappeared to until now.

[klep]

[Oh well, this is all very interesting but:]

Who runs the facility?

[Just ... out of curiosity.]

[chessing]

A Knight named Mikhail Kalachnik, a member of the Dragon's Hide. He has been there for a number of years, having taken the position by choice.

I have known him quite some time. He is a very good man, and one I trust completely.

[familybusiness]

[This is all well and good, but...]

So the place is cut off physically and technologically, right? And that's what you say keeps it from being noticed, why it's safe?

[Which begs the question.]

What about magically? Is the place warded at all? And if it is, then how extensively?

[witchwoman]

[Myri turns to Finnick first, searching his face for any sign of distress. She figures if it's a terrible place, he'd be the one to know. But she shifts her gaze and directs her question to Jack.]

This place is full of knights who are a danger to those around them? [Her arm around Shayla tightens a little.] I thought you said it would be safe for the children.

[65]

[finnick nods from the acknowledgment from jack, but is otherwise more than happy to let him keep fielding the questions. he's not up to being the spotlight for interrogation hour. but he will try to reassure myri:]

Everyone keeps to themselves for the most part. They wouldn't — I think the children will be safe.

[chessing]

There are families in the village nearby as well. Most of these Knights have been there for long years, on a road to recovery. But if you do not feel safe, you are welcome to stay in the village. To my knowledge, there has never been an incident of any harm befalling another there. Sir Kalachnik can tell you for certain, if you still have doubts.

[ he looks to sam ] The location itself is under wards, yes.

[slay]

Alright, so they're safe for the kiddos. But ... is the Mountain Range of Misfit Matroshka Dolls really the ideal place for us to be recruiting for a battle like this? Remote might mean safe, but it also sounds wicked cut off from any kind of meaningful intel. How is going here supposed to help us get Rafael? Or stop whatever the hell Blade just ascended to?

It feels less like regrouping and more like hiding.

[rationalizes]

[ it's gar who speaks up to answer ]

Our enemies have already made it clear that they intend to come after us until we learn to stop antagonizing them - something we certainly do not intend to do. We need to protect the team, need a place where we can focus on getting stronger, plan our attacks, and retreat once we've executed them. The truth is that at this moment, I don't believe we're strong enough to face Blade. We're all here because we disagreed with Hasmed and Solace's method of going directly to war with him. We need to play this smart, and the truth is that if we were somewhere with accessible technology, whatever we searched for or accessed would leave a trail.

1/2

[shootfirst]

[ well, kat looks fully disturbed by the idea of leaving her millennial paradise ]

I think what she means is like... how are we going to know what's even going on out in the world? Won't we need to be in touch with everything to like... make our plans?