Crown Prince Wilhelm ♛ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ordinar) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
abraxaslogs2024-06-04 05:55 pm
ordinar) wrote in abraxaslogs2024-06-04 05:55 pm
ordinar) wrote in abraxaslogs2024-06-04 05:55 pm
my turn to be slow
"It makes sense to split up by who has worked with each other before."
Hopefully, that will make their plan run more smoothly. Wilhelm used to think that he and Kell were cursed with bad luck, their energies bending together at all the wrong angles, with how often — and how spectacularly — their joint endeavors failed. But he likes to think that things are different now.
He looks between Zoya and Nikolai. Although he's unclear on the details, he knows that they worked together in some capacity back home.
"Do you guys have a way to cut off some of the horses when they start running?" In his mind, it's more of a when than an if. "I can put up some shadows, and maybe that will confuse them enough to keep them all from getting away."
wb!!
She ignores the discomforting prickle that works up her spine at the mention of shadows. The Shadow Fold doesn't exist here. She won't let it. Asking questions about how he intends to control his shadows opens her up to the possibility of not being seen as a team player—and Zoya, for all of her faults, has remembered her friends' feedback over the years. Look at her, trying to play along without appearing like an obstacle.
Glancing at Nikolai, she jumps in, "I can control the wind. It should be easy enough to create a wall of it if needed, although I'd go for something a little gentler at first to try and calm them." This time, her look at Nikolai is intentional. "You can keep an eye and use the rope spell on the horses that split away from those I manage to cut off."
welcome back!
"I've ridden horses before, I know how to calm them so I can stay back and use the rope spell."
Even if he doesn't much like using magic, he will use it in this situation.
"I'll be fine."
🎊 🎊 🎊 🎊 got a liiiiitle carried away
There has to be some benefit to be reaped from that time when Lucifer dragged his sorry ass out of, then still his, house in Nott into the pouring rain to, as he eloquently put it, teach them to hunt. Usually, Kell wouldn't have been opposed much. He holds grudges like no tomorrow, so he remains miffed about that one time he was called useless in hunting by the white-haired girl, long ago, in the Pit.
Not that day, though. That day, week, month, he just wanted everyone to leave him alone so he can wallow in peace. But this was Lucifer, so there was no discussion, and he made it absolutely sure that Kell pays attention.
Memories of it come back, vivid as if it happened yesterday, when he looks down the valley. It's one thing to hunt to kill, but to do it with intention of capturing the target alive? There's a million and one thing that can go horribly wrong.
There's a stream running through the valley. Lush, green grass grows on both of its banks and horses roam around there grazing. The left bank opens to flat bottom of the valley, a perfect route of escape with no obstacles. No use for them. The right looks more promising. A narrow strip of tall grass separates the stream from a sparse collection of small trees, shrubs and bushes.
"We go to the right and try approaching from behind the trees. If all goes well," Which he's more than certain that it won't. "we get one horse, maybe two, and you can pick some from the rest."
Kell looks back at the rest of their group. All this strategizing can lead them absolutely nowhere, but it's better than nothing. Saints, how did it happen that he's now making plans for other people all of sudden?! This is unreal. Lucifer better be damn proud of him for that.
"Any objections?"
Not that he expects any, but Kell doesn't want to argue over any bruised egos unhappy that he's trying to take over the... ahem, reins. Most likely they go back to the castle empty handed anyway so it will just be a pointless nuisance.
how dare you utilize description in a writing hobby
He's hardly surprised that Zoya can control the wind, not when she carries herself like a force of nature. Wind seems like the perfect tool with which to manipulate the horses' movement — it's less likely to spook them than his fire, or even his shadows.
His gaze lingers on Nikolai for a second as he starts to pick his way down the slope. He remembers how apprehensively the man had approached magic, how certain he seemed that it could have nothing to do with him. He remembers because he, Wilhelm, had once felt much the same way. The good thing is that all that Nikolai needs to do is say the incantation right, and Wilhelm had tried it out enough times on their trek that the pronunciation should have stuck in his head.
With Kell, he slips through the grass toward that copse of trees. His heart is knocking so damn loudly against his ribs that he's afraid that's what's going to tip off the herd. To try to calm himself, he keeps repeating the spell in steady rhythm in his head.
So far, they've stayed outside of the periphery of the horses' awareness — the animals continue to drink from the stream and rip up the grass with their teeth, hooves trotting and tails whipping. But as they creep closer, slipping from out of the trees, a ripple of unease begins to shiver through the herd.
Wilhelm freezes, hoping to restore the calm. The damage is already done, though, and the agitated horses whinny and toss their heads. Now hoping to seize his chance before it slips away — or stampedes away, rather — Wilhelm throws out the incantation. A rope of magical energy, visible only by its faint white glow against the scenery, forms in the air between him and his target. He aims it with what he hopes is a decisive gesture—
—And misses, as the horse rears up on its hind legs to kick the air. Around them, other horses start to bolt. Well, shit.
recovered from my shock and horror
But Zoya isn't a Heartrender. She's not made for the subtle art of lowering a heart rate. She likes to make them race and pound. She's hail against window panes. A storm will only frighten and stress the horses out.
She groans when Wilhelm and Kell prove to be utterly useless. (That's not fair, is it? They'd both proven to be quite useful since her arrival here, but Zoya isn't one to give out compliments so freely, not even in her head.)
"Idiots," she mutters. Looking at Nikolai with a displeased look, she holds up her hands and acts on instinct.
She creates a soft wind, wishing to bring about a sense of calm across the grounds. If she can prevent the horses from galloping away with an invisible wall and encourage them back to where Kell and Wilhelm are, then they have a better chance of success. The grass blades sweep to her liking, fluttering in the wind. The horses appear to be about to flee, but a few whinny and pull onto their hind legs as they approach the wall of wind, their manes fluttering, and they turn around to gallop back. Some head right, some left.
"I'm going to try and box them in," she says. The wind doesn't follow its natural progression as it should; one comes from the north, another from the south. It requires a level of control that Zoya's fortunate enough to have. She starts to create a box with Wilhelm and Kell inside. "But a soft wind can still be broken through." Nikolai surely will know what to do next.
no subject
He watches from a distance as Wilhelm tries to corral a horse and it slips free which means it's now coming at Zoya. He watches as Zoya puts her hands up to try and keeps the horses in one place but he knows that horses are temperental and don't always do what they're supposed to do.
Which is why he starts moving towards them, trying to cut off the angle where he thinks the horse might run if he breaks free so he can grab on and try and climb on to calm him that way.
It's an almost brute force way of doing things but if magic fails, you have to fall back on what you know.
no subject
Of course, he could just trap a horse with his vines. They're mildly poisonous so it would definitely slow the animal down. Only if they wouldn't have slowed it down forever by means of a heart attack. The vines are everything but subtle, and horses are already close to panic. Both from Wilhelm's failed attempt and from the strange wall of air that has cut their one escape route, which Kell suspects was Zoya's handiwork.
He could change the ground to mud, but that's creates a risk that one of the more spooked horses could trip in their panic and brake a leg, or worse.
Kell kicks a tree root poking from the ground and moss in front of him. Then an idea hits him. The moss is green, soft and probably very tasty for horses. He turns to Wilhelm.
"I want to try something. If it works, look for an opening, but try to be very careful."
He sneaks to the very edge of line of trees. As far as he can while staying hidden in the shadows. The horses split into two groups, but he only needs one or two to catch his bait.
Kell closes his eyes and sends forward a gentle breeze. The wind carries with it scent of fresh, spring grass still covered with morning mildew, of sun-bleached hay drying under clear, summer sky, of light rain that softens the ground and gives all plant-life the much needed moisture, of meadow thick with flowers and a faint suggestion of the bee-hives somewhere far away brimming with honey. Isn't that tempting? Why try an ambush if they can lure the horses to them.
Now, it's Wilhelm's turn make use of this trap.
If it works, a big if. Illusions are no more Kell's specialty that handling living organisms is. A single time it worked it was to give an aggressive goose a vision of its gruesome death, and he was very angry, so none of it was intentional.
no subject
As he surveys the fleeing horses, assessing which one might make the easiest target, he feels the winds shift. Within minutes, it's like he's standing at the center of a large tornado, one that's twisting in every direction at once. Then, a fresh scent suddenly pervades the air. Wilhelm can read the confusion in the animals' expressions — they want to come toward the enticing scent as much as they want to avoid the strange winds, but they also want to avoid him.
Slowly, he carves out more space between himself and the trees, moving along the margins of Zoya's wind. That way, the horses have what they think is a safe path forward. And, thank god, they do start to pour in that direction.
This time, when Wilhelm throws out the incantation, he throws into it all the conviction he can muster. The shimmering loop of magical energy cinches the horse's neck. The animal, aware that something is hindering it, starts to toss its head and pull against the strange force it feels.
It's a weird sensation — he can feel the horse's resistance, as if he really is holding a rope. He takes a few involuntary steps forward before digging his heels in and concentrating on the magic he's created — which, fortunately for him, is stronger against the wild horse than his arms.
"I got one!" he yells.
no subject
She doesn't release the wind to allow the other horses to escape. Keeping it as gentle yet firm as possible, the breeze plays with her hair and tickles her nose with a familiar set of invisible fingers. While Nikolai and Wilhelm may have gotten a horse each, there are still more horses than people.
Again, how she wishes for Nina. Blood is water, isn't it? Saints, she has no idea what the fuck she's doing, but— The one closest to her slashes its tail against the air, whining softly as it backtracks to try and find an escape so it can flee. How did Nina ever slow a heart? But it's not the heart Zoya wishes to try to control. While her winds grow softer, the blood in the horse slows with it. Eventually, it seems to settle until it's standing, its heart still thumping but not in panic anymore.
Does she need to call out that this horse has been claimed, too?
no subject
Nikolai manages to steady himself on his horse, calm it enough and then he sends it off towards another one of the horses to try and catch it before it gets too far. He cannot ride two horses of course but he wants to try and keep them all corralled and calm.
He reaches the horse and tries to match it's speed before turning it back towards the other horses all the while using soothing words to try and slow it down.
no subject
Kell isn't standing at the edge of the trees anymore. The rest of the horses that fled in his direction, toward the pleasant scent of good things to eat, must have clipped him and knocked him down, because he's flattened to the grass.
"Kell!" Wilhelm shoots toward him, dropping to his knees beside his prone form. Kell is breathing, but though his eyelids flutter once, his eyes don't open. Worry cuts into Wilhelm's voice. "Fucking dumbass, making them run right toward you."
Signaling to Zoya, he calls, "Drop the wind! Let the rest of the horses go!"
They'll have their hands full enough with the ones they've managed to ensnare. Wilhelm's is still pulling against the force of the magic cord running between them. Belatedly, he remembers his plan to use his shadows as a means of controlling the horses, and he manifests a small curve of darkness around the sides of the animal's head, like blinders. Only, with the thing moving around so much, it's hard to keep his shadow in place. He grits his teeth, trying to maintain his concentration on his magic while at the same time dabbing at the blood trickling down Kell's forehead with his shirtsleeve.