The Newcago Court

[Guest]

Snoopy jerked his arm back just in time as Voidus appeared in the sights of his gauss gun. "Seriously?!" He Said as the shot ripped into the ceiling, "I was at 100% accuracy for the first time, and now you blew it for me!"

[Voidus]

Voidus eyed the gun warily, if there was one thing you learned after surviving what should have been lethal wounds over a dozen times it was just how much getting shot hurt.

"Hmm... seem to have been a few alleys off in my calculations. Sorry about that, Tia can be a bit annoying and I er.. may have been busy finishing something when I was adding the modifiers."

He thought back to the delicious taste of that last taco.

"Anyway we may be having some guests soon, from Newcago. It seems things got interesting after the party, and Winter seems to have vanished off somewhere again."

[Cheese United he/him]

"Well you see your majesty" Cheese began, mind racing as he thought of all the horrible deaths he would have to suffer agian. "I was all out of zucchini, so I couldn't use my powers to move around like I normally do. So I stuck myself to your horse, so I could see what was going on. I have to make sure Winter doesn't die, as if she does then soon Armageddon will be upon us. And it won't even look cool." Cheese finished, knowing his excuse made little sense but not really caring. If he had to die again, at he would die stuffed to the brim with pizza. However the Queen didn't exactly hear it,cas he was stuck in the extra bag. He was a bit on the slow side sometimes.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Cheese United

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

Everything seemed to be in a bit of a blur. The horses raced like there was no tomorrow and two sisters and the guards fought through the Parshendi like it was the end of the world.

 

Just before a Parshendi was about to strike a final blow on Winter, four guards stopped him in his tracks. Winter was covered in blood and extremely weak. Sir Brandon, one of the queen's guard struck their sword into the Parshendi. They lifted Winter onto their horse and wrapped a blanket around her. 

 

Coming down the platform, they fought through more Parshendi, the Parshendi resisted, but were no match for the shard blades and Queen Elsa's powers. The Queen had made an ice cannon and was shooting at double the speed, with the shard blade, the ice cannon, and her powers, She was unstoppable. 

Edited February 22, 2015 by Queen Elsa Steelheart

[Brightness Random she/her]

"Of course. "She created an ice cloud for the duchess to ride on.

 

"I look forward to hearing what you find out."

 

As she cloud traveled, Brightness reflected on the mess she had gotten herself into. She didn't want to fight parshendi, so instead she volunteered to visit the Dark Alley? Alone?

 

"Fantastic," she muttered to herself, "I've been in Newcago a week, and now I'm going to the DA." She felt less then qualified, but then again, she had volunteered for the task. The ice cloud began to slow, and Brightness realized that she had reached her destination. Nervous, she summoned her shardblade before allowing it to puff back to vapor.

 

Before her, there was indeed a dark alley, though some of the buildings around her also seemed rather suspicious. And was that the smell of chocolate chip cookies in the air? "What a strange place..." she said, peering into the blackness.

 

Just as she finished speaking her thoughts, she heard a crack and a frustrated exclamation from behind her. What had that been? A bullet against a wall perhaps? The duchess shivered, but knew she had promised to bring back news as quickly as possible. She turned to the building the sounds had come from. It was a grey, sunlight building not two doors down from the alley. 

 

Feeling glad for her armor, she walked over to the building. "Hello?" she called, nervous. The door hadn't been closed properly, and hung open a fraction of an inch. Warily, she pushed her way into the building. The front room was empty, but she could hear voices further down the hall. "Hello?" she called again, a little louder. "I'm here on behalf of Newcago's Queen Elsa Steelheart, and I need to speak with a representative of the Dark Alley. Hello?" Brightness winced internally. Why did she get so formal when she was nervous?

[Guest]

Snoopy and Voidus looked at each other. Simultaneously, they both started laughing. "Who would'a thought this day would come?!" Snoopy gasped between giggles. "I think," Voidus managed, "that they just came here for the tacos!" Of course, that set them laughing again. They finally managed to control themselves and stood up, sides hurting from the laughter. Snoopy slipped on his aviators and said solemnly, "What up, emissary? You want a cookie?"

[Brightness Random she/her]

As she waited nervously for a response, Brightness examined the room around her. The building seemed high tech and well cared for, unlike the exterior seemed to suggest. Well they do seem to always talk about being scientists, I suppose it would make sense for them to keep a professional-

 

There was giggling coming from down the hall. Giggling. She thought for sure she must have had heard wrong, but that was definitely giggling. You know what? she thought to herself, I don't even know what's going on anymore. Perhaps it would be best to give up any thoughts of understanding the DA.

 

She tapped her foot impatiently as the giggling started another round.  So much for professional... she thought with a sigh. And why did it smell like tacos? Was the Alley branching out? Did she even want to know?

 

Finally, a voice called, "What up, emissary? You want a cookie?"

 

The serious tone was slightly offset by a snicker, presumably by the other giggler.

 

"As a matter of fact," Brightness said in exasperation, "I rather think I do not. Not unless you've started an actual bakery, rather than simply doing your best to make sure I cannot find a single snickerdoodle in this whole city. You've ruined cookies for everyone, and I hope you know that." she let some of her frustration boil out in her voice. It was probably a mistake to take out her irritation out on these hemalurgists, but storms, she was exhausted, Winter was in trouble, and these people had no respect whatsoever for the queen's emissary. Newcago endorsed them. Shouldn't that mean something? Frustration built inside her.

 

She was aware that she was taking things too seriously, but she really didn't care anymore. Pulling off her helmet, the duchess regarded the room disdainfully. "I am Brightness Random, Royal Emblem Mistress of Newcago, and I have been sent by the queen to collect information." she announced, summoning her shardblade, "Winter Cloud was taken by a group of parshendi who we now suspect were working with Odium. If you care at all about your dignity, denizens of the Dark Alley, I suggest you step forward and stop giggling long enough to tell me what you know of the matter." She nearly spit out the last sentence.

[Guest]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be taking an indefinite hiatus from 17th Shard. I will be trying my level best to keep up with PMs. So if anyone needs to talk to me, that's the place to get in touch. Sorry to desert you all; it was a surprise to me.   Life. It happens.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Snoopy

[Left he/him]

What do you mean by that? You're part of this guild and the Baron and Head Scholar

 

My soul and brain were sucked into the NC when you reconstructed it and no one's figured out how to get me out.

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

(Oh right. Sorry. I was thinking maybe you could show up at the battle and a icy blast brings you back?)

[Cheese United he/him]

"You know, someone should really tell the Queen that Left Vash is a castle. Oh wait, no one but me knows. Sure is a shame I'm in this bag. And I don't have any pizza. And the Queen is angry at me."

[Voidus]

Voidus stepped out to meet the Newcago Emissary.

"I'm sorry? Ruined Cookies? We've made cookies available for everyone and we've discovered the most delicious recipes in all the cosmere. Is a small tiny piece of your soul such a large price to pay for such delicacies?"

Voidus took a calming breath.

"On the matter of Winter all we know is her location, she's been growing increasingly unstable for a while now. All I can say is that Winter herself should be able to deal with almost any problems that confront her, certainly she should be able to deal with some lowly Parshendi. I would suggest that there is something preventing her from doing so."

Voidus quickly began sketching a figure in the air with one hand, a large Aon Tia.

"This can take us to where she's been held. Well hopefully anyway, Investiture around the Newcago Court has been, odd lately. I have a certain vested interest in seeing her safe myself actually. So, Emissary, shall we depart on this daring rescue mission?"

[Brightness Random she/her]

Brightness dismissed her Blade immediately, sheepish before Voidus' annoyance. "Um, yes, please, sir! Getting Winter to safety is my priority right now." As she stepped up beside him, watching him draw the Aon into the air, she said, "And... sorry about that cookie comment. Please don't take it personally, I just haven't been able to find non-spiked cookies since I arrived here and... Wait a minute, what do you mean, "hopefully"?!"

[Voidus]

Voidus finished the Aon, specifying the targets and placed his hand at its centre to activate it.

A bright flash of light and he stood with Brightness Random in a swamp.

"damnation. Well, this is what I meant by hopefully, some serious Shardic intervention around Newcago has caused things to go a bit.... off. It's ok, this one should work, and at least we didn't end up in a wall this time. I tell you, trying to get out of a wall is really difficult when you've forgotten all your pewter."

He finished off a second Aon Tia, this one adjusted for the interference and they both appeared amid the warring Parshendi and forces of Newcago. A stray blast of ice destroyed half of Voidus' face, he grimaced as muscles slowly re-knit themselves.

He pulled out a paper bag from one pocket and handed it to Brightness Random.

"Don't tell anyone else from the Alley, it's got a connection to our unspiked stockpiles of cookies, should automatcally refill for around a year. Just uh... don't tell anyone I accidentally landed us in a swamp, it's bad for the reputation you know?"

[Brightness Random she/her]

"Hey," Brightness Random said pulling out a chocolate chip cookie with a wide grin, "you gave me cookies, I'll keep whichever secret you want!" she averted her eyes as his face continued to put itself back together, no longer feeling up to eating that cookie. "Well, I suppose I should probably put my helmet back on now, seeing as I don't have healing powers..." she remembered who she was talking to. "Not that I want any," she assured Voidus, "I'm perfectly fine with just this bag of cookies. Not to- EEP!"

 

She ducked behind Voidus to avoid a parshendi spear. "That was a little two close for comfort. So, um, what now?"

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

The battle was still in full swing. Swords and shard blades clanged against each other, ice cannons boomed and the gallop of horses was deafening. For a moment, the Queen turned her head and saw the duchess and Voidus, ducking to avoid a Parshendi spear. 

 

Still holding her shard blade, she beckoned for the duchess to join the battle. She needed to find out what was wrong with Winter.

 

Winter, however, was now on the back of the Queen's horse. Queen Elsa had removed her cape and it was now around Winter.

 

In the middle of the battle, a odd ice blast hit the Queen's crown and bounced off it onto the ground. There was a massive flash, and to everyone's surprise, was the Baron standing where the blast had hit. 

 

[Left he/him]

Well hello everyone

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

"Greetings Baron. Nice to see you again." The Queen snapped her fingers and LeftVash was in his armour and the Queen reached into her extra weapon bag, almost accidently pulling out Cheese United, and pulled out a sword for the Baron to use for self defence.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Queen Elsa Steelheart

[Cheese United he/him]

Curses! So close. Ah well, at least the Baron is out.

[Brightness Random she/her]

After spotting the queen, Brightness ducked between parshendi and Newcago soldiers to reach her. It took a few minutes as the battlefield was continually changing, but she eventually made her way over. "Where's Winter?" she asked. Before anyone had the chance to respond, the duchess noticed what, Or rather, who, was on the queen's horse.

 

She ran over, inspecting the still form of Winter. "Is she going to be alright?" Brightness asked, noting all the red stains in the white fur with concern. Winter seemed to be muttering to herself, even as she sat slumped on the horse. The duchess leaned in closer, but wasn't able to make anything out over the general racket of the battle. Was the wolf sleeptalking? Could wolves even do that...?

 

Remembering where she was, Brightness turned back to queen Elsa. "I went to the DA and found Voidus," she explained, "He said something about how Winter's growing more unstable and that something must be blocking her from protecting herself. I wasn't able to get more details, since we came straight here, but from what he said, it seems that something is very, very wrong with Winter." She paused for a moment before hesitantly adding, "Do you think it has something to do with her spiritweb? I know she's had dealings with the DA before..."

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

The Queen looked at the Duchess with concern.

"I'm not exactly sure what a spirit web is, but I'm quite worried about Winter. I hope Voidus can tell us a cure."

Queen Elsa was interrupted by screaming. The Parshendi had surrendered and were retreating. The Newcago Court had won the battle.

A massive ice cloud appeared under the horses to take them back to Newcago.

As soon as they got there, they rode back into the stables. Winter was immediately taken to the castle infirmary. Queen Elsa leaned over Winter as her wounds were tended to. She hoped everything would be okay and Voidus knew how to fix it.

Not forgetting about Cheese United, the Queen reached into her extra weapon bag and pulled out the cheese.

"Now, tell me, why were you stuck to my horse?"

[Cheese United he/him]

"Well your majesty, you may have noticed Idon't have legs. I usually tend to just my Allomancy to get about, being a Steel and Iron misting (Lerasium iron). Not to mention my Zuchinni born powers. However, I depleted my stores, and was forced to Push myself to your horse to get to the battle. Also Left Vash was a castle" cheese said this all in one breath, and promptly fell back, exhausted and lacking pizza.

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

"So you tried to get into the battle because you were lacking in zucchini? Did the Baron really become a castle while I was away?"

[Voidus]

Voidus dispatched the last of the Parshendi with a coin, bullets would have been more efficient but he liked to observe the traditions of those from whom he had taken his powers where possible.

The other Parshendi had retreated, Queen Elsa had taken Brightness Random, Winter and the others somewhere, back to the palace presumably.

Deciding not to risk using Tia again this close to whatever was warping the Investiture around Newcago, Voidus opted to use coins to Steelpush his way back to the city and Elsa's palace.

 

He followed the weak Bronze pulses from Winter, sorting through the myriad other pulses of unknown origin, until he found her in an infirmary, being attended too.

"Does anyone know what's happened to her?" Voidus asked Elsa. "Something's interfering with Investiture all over this place but no one else's spikes have done anything like this so far."

[Queen Elsa Steelheart she/her]

Elsa looked at Voidus.

"I'm not sure what happened to her. Maybe she was already weak and was captured by the Parshendi. I'm not sure what they would want from Winter, though."

 

"Do you know if spikes could have done this?"

 

Queen Elsa looked back at Winter. Her wounds were quite severe.