HAUNTED GARDEN: West Gate {5/5}

Sienna was surprised when she hit the girl, tackling her to the ground. Wonderful. She didn't have much of a chance to relax though as she began shaking wildly to free herself, shrieking about her presumed dead bowler hat friend. She wanted to say something to calm the girl down but she had nothing to say. He was dead and Maxwell had adorned himself in his accessories. Whether he killed him or not though was hard to say. The other guy he'd been with wasn't here so ti was possible that he'd done it. But none of that was going to matter to her. And she honestly couldn't blame her for it.

Hearing Walter trying to call Maxwell back she renewed her focus on the girl who was now writhing wildly to unseat her. She did her best to hold her down, using her weight to stifle her movements. She wasn't the strongest person by any means but hopefully gravity helped her out here.

oY2FFCsz + 1 STR = 6

8 > 6

Sienna is shoved off, a bony elbow had found purchase in one of her nasty cuts and earned a  and her small moment of being helpful was gone in an instant. Gravity had failed her and now she'd lost to a bush AND a child. She was officially the most useless person here. She was roughly shoved to the ground and tried to reach out to grab her with her flailing hands. 

A foot an arm, possibly her weapon or some of her dress  she didn't care and simply tried to grab a hold of her before she could do anything else.


+ 4 DEX = 7·

OWEN :

"….right." With the way the little girl is crying about losing someone, Lenne appears slightly torn and confused as to who really was the 'enemy' at the moment. She does, however, choose to trust you. The nozzle follows the little girl, but because of the struggle, she can't get a clear shot at her target. She clicks her tongue in frustration, frowning at the unravelling scene before her.

"…are you gonna join in the scuffle, Owen? That's your friend out there, isn't it?" she asks you, not turning her eyes from her target. "You can go help. I promise…I won't shoot…till I have a clear shot," She herself remains a distance from the scuffle, her posture tense and unmoving.

---

SIENNA, MAXWELL & WALTER :

8yu0Lu9a + 5 DEX = 21 (HOLY i am so sorry Sisi)
21 > 7 hence Sienna does not manage to grab at the little girl 

With animal-like reflexes, the girl swiftly dive-rolls a distance away from Sienna, so that the petite Apprentice is unable to grab her in time. She looks positively livid at the fact that so many people are standing between her and her target -- the Bowler Hat atop Maxwell's head. She is constantly shrieking eerily, almost as if she is an actual banshee. But you will be able to make out the following words if you are listening carefully: 

"...Bell...and Bastian...it was...Bell...and Bastian...Bell...B-bastian..."

She reaches under the multi-layers of her petticoat, pulling out a thin, javelin-like object. Uh-oh. Seems like that frilly wedding-cake-like outfit has more uses than just looking pretty... it's literally a weapons storage 'tent' of sorts. Eeps.

And without hesitation, she flings it in the direction of Maxwell. 

Rolls for the pseudo-javelin:
 + 5 DEX = 20 (guys i am so sorry OTL Fran doesn't even get such good rolls wtf)
+ 1 STR = 12 (this is for calculating HP loss)

Action for you:

• Either Sienna, Walter, or Owen are free to pull Maxwell out of the way. You will need to roll for DEX to do so.
  Maxwell is also free to roll for DEX to avoid this concealed weapon.
  If any of your rolls are higher than hers, the weapon does not land a hit. Otherwise, the weapon will hit Maxwell (or anyone else who gets in the way e.g. to shield him).
  
  
• For Sienna, Walter and Owen:
  If your DEX roll is lower than the little girl's, your OC will not be able to pull Maxwell out of harm's way in time.
  However...you may take the hit for Maxwell should your OC feel compelled to do so. ; v ; 
  
  
• The little girl is currently some distance away from any of you. If you keep this distance, Lenne will be able to have a clear shot and end this once and for all.

··

She'd missed, she'd failed. Much like she'd done all evening. Why even bother? But hey at least they'd gotten away, right? WRONG Sienna glanced up, expecting them to be gone. But they were not. They were STILL THERE! Still standing there, like idiots. What were they even doing? She was going to tell them to run. it was on the tip of her tongue. But that girl came pulling out a spear. An actual mini spear! How had she even been keeping it in there? Shaking her head once more she stood to try and stop her but she was just too slow getting up.

Too late. The spear sailed through the air and in a brave but stupid move Maxwell shoved Walter aside leaving himself wide open. She watched in horror as it impaled him and she blinked in shock, trying to process what she was seeing, As if she simply couldn't believe it and blinking and staring might make it not so. An awful scream cut into her thoughts and she realized it was coming from herself and placed a hand over her mouth to stop it. She couldn't let herself get too overwhelmed or she'd be useless. Not that she'd done much good thus far anyhow. Torn on what to do she finally choked down a sob and ran to Maxwell, stopping in front of her injured teammate, tears already flowing down her cheeks. She did the only reasonable thing could think to do. She snatched the bowler hat off his stupid head and chucked it towards Owen and the gun toting girl. Hopefully the frilled nutcase would go after that and leave her even nuttier teammate be.

Speaking of which she finally addressed him while still keeping her eyes on Frills and was unsure of what to do except admonish him through her tears. " MAXWELL you IDIOT!" She seethed and sobbed, livid and despaired all at once. "Moron! Twit! Stupid Little IMP! I don't know what you were still here rambling about but you had better not die or I'll bring you back and murder you myself!" Probably not the words one would expect at the moment and certainly not from the quiet maid but that was what she said and she meant it. She didn't know what to do now though and simply gestured to Walter to keep him from falling back as that might make it worse. She needed her hands free to fend off Frills if the hat trick didn't work. And if she had to keep looking at him she'd lose her composure, listening to his pained giggling was already tearing her apart.

All she had on hand was her pathetic little letter opener. Small, useless and weak. A perfect reflection of its owner. The only way they could get out of this was if the Gun Girl decided to shoot her. Normally she'd have vehemently said no to that but right now she had no room in her heart to care about her anymore. It was her or them and she'd choose them every time. For now she was playing shield. If Frills wanted her comrades it would be over her lifeless body this time.

No. Watching Maxwell tip over to the deep end of insanity was not fun. Thankfully the dangerous glint ebbed out of the crimson eyes. His friend was coming back to them, everything was going to be -

Forcefully shoved away again he stumbled and tumbled over on the ground, his roll came to a stop with his face to the gravel and the shrieking pain of the hatter ringing through the air, ripping through him accompanied by the voices he constantly kept at bay.

Little children shouldn't be working for death.

Forcing himself to look up from the dirt he saw Maxwell crumple down. Blood. Chest. Pain. His vision blurred from the water collecting in his eyes.

Children always get in the way of everything.

Shaking, his focus was solidly on the javelin, not even remotely registering Sienna pulling out her little letter opener.

Because children are selfish.

He staggered up on his feet, moving as if in a trance to drop down on his knees next to his best friend.

Selfish people get their teams killed.

This wasn't what...not fair...Maxwell shouldn't...

Yet they themselves always survive.......

Not a sound could escape from his lips, only silent tears streaming down his face.

MAXWELL, SIENNA & WALTER :

The spear is small, thin, light, and also currently stuck in the injured Maxwell’s chest.
If no move is made to patch up the wound to stop the bleeding, Maxwell will be bleeding out and losing 1 HP every turn.

Every turn, Maxwell needs to roll for CON to fight for consciousness. Please [ roll ] + your CON Stat.
If you result is 10 and above, Maxwell remains conscious till the next turn.
Once your roll falls below 10, Maxwell loses consciousness and faints.

Maxwell’s current HP = 0 / 15 (HP loss will take place next turn onwards if the bleeding is not stopped by then)

---

OWEN :

Sienna’s move to fling the Bowler Hat away from the trio is a smart one, as the little girl’s eyes follow the Bowler Hat as it glides across the air towards Owen and Lenne. She scampers to her feet and takes after the bowler hat at a frightening speed, completely not noticing that Owen is about to do the same. Her attention is solely on the Bowler Hat, and everything else has faded in importance.

If Owen decides to up his pace and reach for the hat before the little girl reaches for it, Owen to do a [ roll ] + DEX Stat. If your roll is higher than the Little Girl’s, you reach the hat, and manage to grab it before she does. Although…is it really a good idea to do that….?

oMT0FMbS + 5 DEX = 22 (holy crap how does this keep happening OTL)

---

In the meanwhile, Lenne is trying to get a clear shot at the girl, but the speed at which she has taken off at after spotting the Bowler Hat coupled with her zigzagging running trails renders her unable to get a clear shot. Her grey eyes flit over to where the bleeding Maxwell is, before shifting almost instantly back to the approaching pink and white blur. She wonders why none of the Apprentices have taken out their yellow flower thingies to open those weird portals back to their homeland or whatever. One of them looks badly in need of medical help, what with all the blood on the ground right now. 

She can't be caught up in that now, though. She has a job to do.

She takes a deep breath, and waits. 

Roll for Consciousness
s41Vn24Q + 0 CON = 7


The loud maniacal laughter that shook Maxwell died as quickly as it had escalated. His voice stifled to meek giggling by the ....strange sound in Sienna's. What a strange sound. He tried to laugh at it, but his laugh felt stuck in his throat. Stuck, like by a pain in his chest--oh...wait.. Wait, that's right. There was a...pin in his chest. Gosh, that didn't belong there. He was leaking everywhere. A pale hand touched the slender rod jutting out of him, grinning stupidly at the thing.

"Least it's red....Ha....Ahhs....sorry, Ssss-s-sisinina--ha--" 

He little more than touched the rod than he drew his hand away to touch the ground. His head felt light as a feather, but his eyes as heavy as rocks. Maxwell struggled to keep them open. He couldn't close his eyes now of all times! This was a crucial point in the game! If he fell asleep, he'd loose! 

When Walter appeared in his line of vision, Maxwell drew up a big, trembling smile for the boy, but furrowed his crimson and pink eyes. That look....There was that look again. He reached out to touch Walter, nearly missing the boys shoulder, but grasped the bunny firmly as he swayed unsteadily against the one hand that held him up. He tried to touch Walters face. Maybe if he....If he poked him? Pinched his cheeks? Maxwells bloody fingers merely smeared the wetness pouring from under Waters eyes and he forced out a painful chuckle. "Heee-e-e-y, Bunny. Where'd y go? Crack me..... sssmile, would ya? Could...go for some ssssugar....'bout now. Real...needle in my...ssside----"

His smile widened into a sleepy grin, limbs shaking as he tried to hold himself steady and fight off the ebbing darkness behind his eyes. Until he simply slumped over like a dead weight onto Walter and the ground.

Stanley clung on to Zel, something he normally wouldn't have allowed himself to do. If he didn't do this, he ran the risk of injuring his leg further, though... So he buried his face in his forearm and simply let Zel drag him. It still hurt, but at least it wasn't as bad as it would have been if he'd walked the rest of the way. He made a sound of confirmation at Zel's question and closed his eyes. The ruffling earlier on felt nice... It almost felt like he could fall asleep like this, but he stayed conscious to keep Zel company, and because he simply cannot allow himself to pass out just yet. 

As per usual, Zel began to talk. He liked it when Zel spoke. There was always... something earthly about it. A quality in it that always managed to catch his attention no matter how loudly or softly she spoke. While he had gotten used to hearing the upper ranges of her voice, listening to the gentler tones that she was speaking in made him want to tell her he wanted to hear her talk like this more. That would ruin the moment, though... It would be oh so rude. His grip tightened slightly when  she brought up the matter of being chased again, "He's not going to get you... Not anymore..." he growled into her shoulder quietly.

The talk about near-death moments... He wondered... Did he ever figure anything out for himself? If he did, he couldn't remember what he wanted to do. How sad. Hearing her talk about seeing something in the center of the maze piqued his interest though. Turning his head slightly, Stanley murmured near her ear, brushing his mask against her skin,

"What... did you see...? In the center of the maze...?"