ic inbox - Pasture / Sheep Game

[finalbows]

choose

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[ Angel Devil. ]
[  chatcube, or action. ]
[ if you're visiting the rose barn,
look for the door with the creepy bat-and-angel-wing sigil on it. Knock first! Or get zapped. ]

CODE

Comments

[finalbows]

WHO! CARES! GIVE BACK SHADOW FIEND'S STAFF!

[failsaver]

Shadow Fiend? I heard they were missing too! Are you trying to give this thing to someone who wasn't even there, after you defended the one with cat ears?

Answer the question and I'll give it back, new friend! I care.

1/2

[finalbows]

<sub>[ heavy breathing because he's a noodle.
god. he's right.

he's the shepherd. this isn't shadow fiend's staff.

it's his staff. he's the goddamn shepherd. he's the one with the absolute power to shatter and crumble. he's the one who didn't even tell anyone in his flock he was compromised except for the goddamn cat who's gone missing. why? shadow fiend would have tried to help. apparently even goddamn pondie would have tried to help. this isn't the warriors of chaos. this isn't where he was. this is the pasture, and he's ruined everything about it; opened, as he always does, a seal on the evils of the world. ]</sub>

2/2

[finalbows]

Because.. Blossom said. And because the Snake had in the past taken dominion of death, and let Her Grace vent her pain and rage upon us.


That's it.


...Give me back my staff.

[failsaver]

Haha. Do you believe everything she tells you?

[finalbows]

No. She's a secretive little witch who decries responsibility for her actions through emotional theatrics and promises that she has it, "all under control."

[failsaver]

[ giggles ]

Weellllll, I'm sure she has her reasons! That doesn't tell me why the Snake intercepted her summon though. Why did you believe that we have to cause problems for flocks, if all you had was Blossom's word? You're not stupid, Angel Named Devil! There's more, isn't there?

What did the Snake tell you about the Weeds? What did the Weeds tell you about the Snake?

[finalbows]

I. Don't.
Know.
Tumbleweed.

And I don't care what any little barn animal tries to charge anyone here to do. All I want is...

_{[ to live here, circa peaceful early yesterday morning, with his brother safe in Gaia far, far away from him. ]}

I don't HAVE your answers.

[failsaver]

To disrupt the harmony of the pasture. That's what I was told. No instructions, no guidance. Just that.

[ blinks as the staff flies back and hits Angie in the face. ]

Ah.

[finalbows]

_{[ no reflexive response. no sound. no outward sign of pain. it hits him, and he just seizes his hands upon it in an iron grip. ]}

[failsaver]

Haha, that's a relief. I intended to keep it safe, but like I said -- my accuracy sucks here! If you'd startled me at any point, I could have split that thing in two.

How long have you wanted someone else to be shepherd?

[finalbows]

_{[ tail swish. he bows his head forward, furrows his brow. why is he still doing this? to whose benefit is the show of feelings on this canvas? he's tired. ]}

...Since I got the staff. I knew... it would go terribly.

_{[ Every scrap of power he's had, he misused. ]}

[failsaver]

Wow. A whole month?

[finalbows]

...

Since two days ago.
That's when our real--
Our second shepherd suddenly fell into a unwaking sleep.

1/2

[failsaver]

Wait, you mean...

[failsaver]

You were totally posturing when we first met! If it was two days ago, hadn't you just become shepherd?!

[finalbows]

Yes.

[failsaver]

...

Tell me about the Rose you know. Not the one everyone thinks you guys are after the game.

[finalbows]

...

Unpredictable. Passionate. Full of fire, even if it's banked low into coals. It would be fun. Just talking, with everyone's distinct voices, knowing no one's going to seriously try and destroy each other afterwards. Usually, Shadow Fiend would offer some clear reasoning that I could understand to do things another way, when I'd say something cruel. I could just say whatever cruel things ran most easily through my mind, because I knew we were cloistered to ourselves, and...

...
And that there would be a firm, dissenting voice.

_{[ there'd been one, though. Azdaja. Again and again. But Azdaja couldn't press things to suit her will the way a shepherd could. ]}

[failsaver]

[ Edgelord impression ]

"Shadow Fiend's real practical... she's missin' some of 'er emotions, apparently. Blood Fiend's been through a worse ringer than this place, and will do whatever's gotta be done. Pond Fiend's doin' some brewin' for me, he'll do stuff when there's somethin' in it for him. Makin'-Faces Guy might actually be the most bloodthirsty of the rest of 'em, but he justifies it as bein' thirsty for justice."

[ Your Name impression ]

"Rose is the craziest team there is! Even Azdaja is dangerous!! Watch out for the one with cat ears."

That's what I heard so far. But I don't believe everything I'm told anymore.

You're the one I'm most inclined to believe. Because you care.

[finalbows]

...
Any other member of Rose could be just someone, on another flock. People are just people. You put them in a different context, they change. That's what's miraculous about them.

[failsaver]

You're doing the thing where you reject the idea of being a person yourself hoping someone will convince you otherwise! I've heard that one before too.

[finalbows]

No, I'm not. I don't want convincing. I-- _{[ need this. or I can't do what needs to be done. it's always the same story. ]}

I just know myself. True colors out.

[failsaver]

Are you a literal bomb with an artificial heart?

[finalbows]

I have no biological relatives and can cause towering conflagrations on demand. My genetic sequence was put together in a laboratory to fit a calculated design. Yes, I'm a bomb with an artificial heart.