20 Jul 2024, 11:25
Mending Fences, Breaking Walls Pt.1
Roleplaying as Casey Stone from Ilvermorny
July 20th 2024 - During Summer Camp
Casey's Speech: Bold #257379
Thoughts: Bold Italics
Today marked the day. One year. It had been one whole year since Nick Stone had gone missing. No leads. No hints. No explanation. Only the complacency of those who knew and a brother who was beyond furious over their seemingly blissful ignorance to his disappearance. A whole year of denying the fearmongering, the speculation, the rumours. Nick was alive. He couldn't feel it any more powerful than he already did in his heart. Why others couldn't have that same hope was beyond him.
Said brother stood at the edge of the stadium in between large slopes of snow gathered in the corner near him, aggravatingly spinning his diabolo across his orange string between his black metal sticks. He tapped it faster than he ever did in all the months he'd been doing it. He was upset. He was livid. The faster the diabolo spun, the more his pent up emotions began spilling to every nerve in his body.
His diabolo grinded along the metal. Still angry. He tried body rolls. His temper didn't shake. So he tried a whip catch. His finishers were always flawless. But alas as he tossed the yo-yo up in the air and with his wrists angled to catch it between his sticks, he missed the catch as the diabolo sailed back down, landing onto the snow in a spectacular fail. His anger boiled more as he tried again. Only this time he caught it, though getting tangled as it landed.
As his fingernails pricked at the string that ensnared his diabolo, months of frustration began relaying over and over again in Casey's head.
"There's no sign of him..."
"Casey, have you ever considered that he might be...?"
"Sorry boy, but your brother isn't coming back. Not if he's been gone this long..."
"I think it's time we..."
"NO!!!"
Between the tangled mess of his equipment not getting any better as he struggled with the tightly wound string around his yo-yo and the screaming well of voices fuelling his anger reaching beyond the dangerous level of his temper, he tossed the bloody thing across the field. With an agonising yell he kicked the barrier of the stadium before sinking defeatedly to his knees, the cold instantly seeping through his jeans. Tremors from his aggression shook throughout the barrier until it calmed down now that Casey was on the ground.
Tears spilled over and peppered the snow under his face with his grief. How he managed to go a whole year was beyond him. He wasn't dead. Nick wasn't dead. People have gone missing for longer and have turned up alive. Nick is no exception. He had to be. He had to be. He had to be...
Conposing himself, Casey lifted himself off the ground and went over to retrieve his diabolo. He took measured breaths as he finally freed it from it's snared state after a few silent minutes of detangling. The string dipped back into its usual form to Casey's relief. Tangled diabolos were the bane of his time.
Diabolo on string he rolled it until he got it spinning. He did a few Cradles and under the leg, using his breathing as beats to relax his temper. He was disappointed he even got to this level of hate in the first place. The hell had he become since Nick's vanishing act? For the first time he got a taste of what others saw at the other end of his tether, and he had to agree with what they would say... It was a bad taste for sure.
His diabolo ran smoothly along the string as he tapped with his sticks. He'd go for another catch. Moving his right stick over his left, underneath and back over he went to whip it. Except he managed to throw it too high and the red diabolo got wedged in a nook in a branch. Casey stood blankly to even process such a feat.
"Oh for the love of-"
He slung the sticks around his neck and hopped onto the barrier before beginning to climb the tree. As he went to grab it he heard a familiar voice call out his name softly. His head darted to below him and saw who it was.
Her.
Word Count: 785
For The Know-How (Le Plot)
@Scout Fu-Hai - @AngelFyre McCubbin - @Ruby Night - @Danielle Alden - @Renelle Dalton - @Simon Kincaid - @Colin McCoire
Stats: Stamina: 8 | Strength: 7 | Evasion: 7 | Wisdom: 6 | Arc Power: 6 | Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Fearless |Poison Resistance
Last edited by Emily Shephard on 21 Jul 2024, 02:35, edited 1 time in total.
Trust Yourself - Love Yourself - Be Yourself
iNPC = Casey Stone
21 Jul 2024, 02:32
Mending Fences, Breaking Walls Pt.1
Snowfall... Quite Literally with Casey Stone iNPC
Emily's Speech: #cfa120
Casey's Speech: Bold #257379
Thoughts: Italics
The summer so far wasn't anything like Emily would've pictured. She always knew it wouldn't be a typical camp away from home - as if the snowy décor in a summer camp wasn't proof of that to begin with - but with everything going on she didn't expect it to be so hectic. There was Casey whom she met back home and their first encounter wasn't exactly built on friendly foundation, unless he counted pushing others until they fell to the ground as "friendly."
Then there was his fight with Scout, their scuffle still weighing heavily at the back of her mind. She was still downcast that it happened simply because she tried to return Casey's photo and asking about it - of all things to get upset over in this troubled world - but the fact that their fight seemed painfully symbolic to the social situation that Emily was set on trying to improve. Had Casey known beforehand that Scout was a dhampir, who knows how that would've escalated, assuming he harboured the same tensions as the rest of the world. Emily had a hunch it was a sign from the universe telling her about the work that's cut out for her if she's wanting to help people see beyond what she's read in the textbooks.
She walked about the campsite with her arms folded, her head swimming in thought as she stared absentmindedly at her own footsteps across the crisp snow. She never imagined summer camp to start off this way. As she sauntered along the edge of the stadium past the tents and the concessions, she heard a bang from across the way, almost startling her. She looked ahead of her where it came from and followed in pursuit of what it was.
She reached the far end of the stadium where she caught Casey up the tree as he went to grab his stranded diabolo along the branch it was wedged in. At first she scowled, getting tired of her numerous run-ins with him and the consequences to them, but seeing him reach for his diabolo on his tippy toes along the wicker branch as his fingers graze the yo-yo above him looked... strangely entertaining to watch. From how she was looking at it, he was like a little kid reaching for the tin of biscuits on a high shelf.
Time to be brave.
"Hey...!"
Her voice caught his attention and he let out a mixed sound of impatience and surprise. "It's you-"
At the same time, the branch he had been holding onto snapped and Casey slipped to the next branch down below. A duet of gasps left each others' mouths as Casey managed to cling onto the branch, his lower half dangling in the air before his strength gave way to the cold air and let go. Emily stood stunned as she watched Casey unceremoniously fall out and land flat through a pile of snow, a starfish shape indent left behind him as he came down as the diabolo fell after him, rolling down the slope of snow to Emily's feet.
She hurried over to where he landed, stopping when she saw him re-emerge from the snow pile. He was covered head to toe in white, snow in his hair and the whole way across his chest. When he managed to stumble out Emily could see more patches of white along his knees and his backside. Casey shook his hair like a dog to rid himself off the snow between his locks.
A flicker of a smile flashed on Emily's face. She then stifled a giggle which only got louder until eventually she collapsed laughing. On one hand she felt satisfied seeing him "cool off" after the days of nonsense between them. On the other hand she couldn't help but have sympathy for the boy, who glared daggers back at her for finding the whole thing funny.
When she was finally able to stop laughing, she picked up the diabolo, brushing it off of the snow that covered it and walked over to him, handing it back nicely. Casey looked at her, reserved but not hostile. After everything that had been going on, she was still being nice to him.
He flinched a little when Emily patted some snow off his shoulders. She raked over his form and could see the snow melting into his clothes, soaking them.
"Come on," she said softly. "You'll catch a chill unless you get into something warm."
She bravely brushed her hand against his arm, encouraging him to follow her. Casey just stood there confused. It wasn't until Emily urged him further with a nod that he mustered courage to follow suit.
He had been feeling a right wreck for the last several days yet seeing her was weirdly a saving grace. He couldn't think why after being a right twit to her. But a tiny part of him was telling him to follow her. Perhaps after a year, someone had finally managed to slip through his cracks.
Word Count: 901
For the Know-How (Le Plot)
@Scout Fu-Hai - @AngelFyre McCubbin - @Danielle Alden - @Simon Kincaid - @Ruby Night - @Renelle Dalton - @Colin McCoire
Stats: Stamina: 7|Evasion: 6|Strength: 6|Wisdom: 8|Arcane Power: 7|Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace
Trust Yourself - Love Yourself - Be Yourself
iNPC = Casey Stone