EVENT LOG: ENTER MR SANDMAN (DEFENDERS)

[inthenightmods]

EVENT LOG:
ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DEFENDERS)

characters: those who signed up as defenders for the event
location: all around Beacon
date/time: november 16-29
content: the defenders attempt to drive off a spirit invasion
warnings: lots of horror! body horror, psychological horror, gore, violence, etc.. please cw all threads where appropriate! mods will do the same

in your closet, in your head.

It all happens in a matter of moments. Your friends, your companions, and even some people you aren't all that fond of; everyone who took so much as a bite of the spirits' feast suddenly collapses into a comatose heap. Which is bad enough already, but the worst, by far, is yet to come.

Before anyone can really figure out what's happened to the sleepers, the woods surrounding the town come alive with sound. Rustling, screeching, clicking, howling, and under it all, the characteristic hoots and whistles of the forest spirit tongue. But these aren't the friendly creatures that set up the banquet in the first place, and they aren't the familiar faces (or masks) from around Beacon. As they begin to emerge, bursting forth from the trees, these spirits reveal themselves as a horrifying army of terrors. And sprinkled among them, distinguishable by the emerald glint in their sockets, are the infamous "green eyes", the dangerous spirits that appeared once before.

Attempting to talk to these spirits is a moot point, made obvious by their immediate assault on anyone they get close to. They attack with claws and teeth, with limbs far stronger than they have any right to be, and the green eyes, as they are wont to do, will try to get into your head. Somehow, they seem to know what it is that scares you most, and they don't seem too hesitant to use it. It's not clear what they want— are they here to eradicate you? To frighten you? To send a message?

Whatever the case, one thing is very clear: you and everyone else, sleeping or waking, are in serious danger. Are you ready to defend Beacon?

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Comments

[featherknives]

[She steps aside to dust off her hands and gives Bucky appreciative look. So someone was thinking along the same lines as she did. Nice.]

Hmm... it will be hard to get away as well. Maybe we should block just the second floor and above and make the first floor easier to reach.

[worthallthis]

[The Soldier shrugs, then heads out of the room, across to the next one.]

Having multiple fallback positions is tactically sound. Main room, kitchen, store room. Stairwells and only upper floors as a last resort. I can jump from the top floors easily, you and Crowley can fly, but not everyone can get out that way.

[featherknives]

[She follows after him, her ears twitching as she tries to hear if there are any sounds coming from the rooms. There's nothing so slips into the next room with Bucky to help him out (even though he probably needs no help, but she hates standing around, doing nothing).]

Well, we need access to beds if someone is terribly hurt. You can't just let them lay down on the floor. And there's no space for everyone downstairs either way. Maybe free up the first two-three rooms and blockade the rest?

[worthallthis]

I was going to haul down mattresses and blankets and put those on the floor downstairs. The main room is big enough if we keep them close together.

[Would make fighting in there harder, if it came to that, but so would watching the upstairs windows. The Soldier can't weigh which is more of a potential threat. There are pros and cons of both options. So they offer the compromise:]

Maybe a couple rooms on the very top floor. Harder for spirits to climb that high maybe?

[featherknives]

It takes too long for us to reach the top floor, not the spirits. They are fast...

[They need actual rooms to use with this many people around. She still thinks that the first floor should be enabled and constantly monitored and all other floors blocked off- even the stairs.]

Besides, if we have to run, it's easier for people to jump out of the first story window than third.

[Or fourth, or how many floors this place has. It's easy for her, she can fly- humans, however, can't.]

[worthallthis]

[There's the main level, then three floors of inn rooms. Four total. The Soldier just nods. Not everyone can take stairs three at a time like they can.]

Then we'll board up the windows of whatever rooms we use on the first floor up. So no spirits can get in.

[Though if they're having to jump out windows, the Soldier thinks they're probably shit out of luck, anyway.]

[featherknives]

[Well, jumping out might land them with bruises and perhaps a sprained wrist or foot, but better than dead. Then they'll look for some other place to hide.]

Sounds like a plan to me. I'll scour the rooms for planks and anything heavy we can use.

[She leaves the room briefly, and there's some thudding in the room next to her before she comes back.]

There's a broken closet in the room over here. We can use it.

[worthallthis]

[More that if they're to the point where someone is forced to jump out a window rather than stay barricaded or destroy any attackers, there's likely spirits already waiting for them outside... the Soldier tends towards being a bit pessimistic in outlook.

While she's gone, the Soldier also considers the furniture in the room. There's a table. That works nicely. They pull that apart, as well.]

Good. I'll come take the closet door down. Do you know how to use a hammer and nails?

[There are nails in the table, but probably not enough. They might need to get Crowley to miracle some up. The Soldier can use their metal fist instead of a hammer, at least.]

[featherknives]

[At least there will be more space to defend themselves and where to run to is how Xayah sees it. She does prefer staying at the Invincible though, even if she doesn't like human-made structures.

She inspects the nails and raises an eyebrow-]

Just shove them in the wood, right? Should be easy enough.

[She picks them up and walks over to the window to give it a shot. And she handles it- the plans are a bit askew but they do their thing in blockading the window.]

[worthallthis]

[After a moment of watching, pulling more nails from the remains of the table, the Soldier suggests delicately,]

Why don't you hold and I hammer. We only have so many nails and it should be as secure as possible. And my metal hand is probably going to make it more secure.

[Yes, she can manage it... but without the precision of knowing the exact best place to put a nail for maximum effectiveness.]

[featherknives]

[She's no expert at building anything, but she's willing to help when needed. So when he instructs her to hold the plank instead of hammering, she does that. He looks like he knows what he's doing and she's not gonna argue it.]

Okay, I'm holding it.

[worthallthis]

[The Soldier gives her a small smile, then plucks one of the slightly-bent nails from the remains of the table, straightens it idly with a couple metal fingers, then sets it to the wood and uses the side of their metal fist to hammer it swiftly in as far as it will go. They admit, maybe a little shyly, which feels weird,]

I think I used to build things. Or help build things. A very long time ago.

[featherknives]

[This... might be the first time she ever saw this Soldier guy smile. Huh... it's not bad, actually. She wasn't sure if he was capable of it or no. She figured that death took a toll on him and nothing gave him a reason to smile; that's how she felt.]

You think? Did you forget what you used to do?

[worthallthis]

I forgot everything. HYDRA took my memories, before and after every mission. I have a few back now.

[Most of which are horrible, but you know, still theirs. They select another nail for the opposite side of the window.]

But sometimes I know things that I don't remember, like how to build things. Or what coffee tastes like.

[featherknives]

[She stares at him for a long time, feeling a chill run through her- and it's not the draft that this room has. How cruel can humans get when they end up treating their own like this? There's so many layers to their insanity.

Maybe she was wrong before. Maybe some of them aren't as bad. But how do you tell...? How do you recognize a monster that takes all of your precious memories and feelings away? Without her memories of Rakan, Xayah feels like she would be nothing and no one.]

The memory of the senses and muscles, [she says quietly.] They can take images from your mind, but some things remain only yours.

[worthallthis]

Since the machine they used targeted my brain, that makes sense. They didn't want my training to be wiped away. My protocols. Just my history. My. Self.

[And without a history or sense of self, there's not a person. They shrug a little, bending to collect another board, offers it to Xayah to arrange and hold in place. Until Beacon, they'd thought pretty much the same thing about humans. All pretty much terrible.]

It's better here. Even when we're under siege. For me, it's better.

[featherknives]

[That's understandable. He's getting to build his sense of self here. It might be from scratch but it's better than living in a shell. She wishes she had some magic that could help him but sadly she doesn't.

Dusting off her hands, she steps away from the boarded-up window.]

I think you're a pretty okay guy.

[And that says a lot from someone who dislikes humans a lot.]

[worthallthis]

[She gets a frankly but subtly skeptical look, then a shrug. They've learned not to argue with people about that kind of thing, whether or not they necessarily agree. Hard to believe you're an okay guy when you're a murder machine.]

Guess you'd know better than me. I'm not even really a person.

[And with that, they heft the rest of the wood and move to the next window, expecting her to follow along and help some more.]

[featherknives]

[She does follow after him. And she knows about murder machines- she was one too. A war criminal, they'll mark her, once peace is achieved. Humans will despise her, the same way she wishes doom befalls them all. So killing is not beyond her.]

You have a name and you make decisions on your own, even if said decisions are small and appear insignificant. All of that already makes you someone.

[worthallthis]

I don't have a name. The word I give people to call me means "Soldier". It's what my first handlers called me.

[The rest is true, they suppose though tactical decisions when on a mission or organizing standard idle activities do not a person make, either. They're not really right about that, of course, and are in fact ignoring a lot of their own day-to-day little decision-making. But it's as much defense mechanism as programming at this point, and so a little tough to get through to them about.]

Will you hold another board for this window?

[featherknives]

It's still a name. If you don't like it, you can always change it. So long you decide for yourself, they won't take you from you.

[It takes time, she figures, and this place doesn't offer a lot of it. But he can at least try and see how it goes.]

Sure.

[She takes one of the boards nearby and steps closer, pressing it against the window and wall. Giving him a critical look, she hums.]

'Atall' is a nice name. It means 'fierce'. I knew a Vastayan, tall and broad as a mountain. The family named him "Lind" for he shielded everyone.

[worthallthis]

[The Soldier winces. It's better than the full body flinch they get, sometimes, when the subject of names comes up, but it's still visible.]

Please don't try to give me a name, Xayah. I don't want one.

[One nice thing about using a metal fist as a hammer, it's not quite as loud as a real hammer. They bang a nail into the board, but it's not so loud that she can't answer them.]

[featherknives]

I'm not trying to.

[She gives him a long look and a shrug, shifting attention to peer outside of the room through whatever's left of the window.]

I'm just saying, whatever name you present to people, it's what you see yourself as. It belongs only to you.

People I mentioned I knew once. They lived their names in the full. [Her gaze briefly drops to her hands and then she focuses back on the window.]

[worthallthis]

[When people start giving names and looking at the Soldier like that, it usually means they're considering ones for them. They dip their head in apology for the assumption, then shift to hammer the second nail in.]

Well. I would rather be a soldier than an assassin, I suppose. Soldat is fine.

Were those other people your friends?

[featherknives]

[There's a bit of silence on her part, as if she's trying decide whether to tell him things or no. With a shaky breath, she nods once.]

Lind... he used to carry me on his shoulder like I weighed nothing. I was kid, so I probably wasn't heavier than that of a pebble. [Her lips twitch into a smile very briefly.]

They all disappeared... I went to travel and learn and when I came back, my tribe was completely gone. My father, my mother, not a soul left behind. [She hoped she'd see them again once she dies but, so far, nothing.]