[open] I was tame, I was gentle, til the circus life made me mean

[ordinar]

Who: Wilhelm & pals
When: June onward
Where: Thorne, Nocwich
What: Catchall for hot boy summer
Warnings: Will update as needed



Closed and open starters to follow. :)

Comments

[blackeyedprince]

Living things! Why they always send him to deal with living things?! That one thing that requires a delicate touch when dispensing its magic. That one thing he cannot do. Kell even won't try. After his pumpkin disaster - recovered but disaster still - he would very, very much prefer not to explode any horses this time! Handling anything living with his magic is like trying to fill a cup with a hose. A delicate, thin, tiny porcelain cup.

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.

[ordinar]

There's a second where frustration overtakes him, and Wilhelm is paralyzed by not knowing what to do next. But he forces himself to re-focus, to not fold to despair, because otherwise he'll have a lot more to be kicking himself over later.

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.

[erosive]

"Thank the Saints for that," Zoya mumbles (perhaps in a pocket of air so everyone can hear). What? She's a team player!

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?

[parce]

Later, Nikolai would swear that he could feel the magic that both Kell and Wilhelm use. He knows what Grisha magic is so the feeling of Zoya's wind is familiar but the other magic is still something that feels foreign. But, he can at least recognize it for what it is.

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.

[ordinar]

Tossing a look around the valley, he assesses that Zoya has coaxed a horse into staying — how the hell did she get it to calm down like that? Nikolai also seems to have wrangled one, already riding astride its back. And Kell—

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.