W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[strangerpeople]

W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[The national council just announced the blight to the country.

There was no sugarcoating it anymore. This was a critical time. Saving all of the vines is paramount, but what does one do when the blight hits? It keeps encroaching on the grapes, day by day. Entire clusters, entire bunches, dead and rotting, while allowing the blight to spread, and the leading botanists and viticulturists cannot identify the origin or the cause. They can't even successfully isolate the culprit in their labs; it seems to disappear like air no matter the precautions taken.

It is a catastrophe that seems to be beyond science, and it will result in the complete collapse of the entire country's wine industry. Already, embargoes on this year's crop have forced other grape-growers to close shop for the year after they'd sold their previous stock; it is all too possible that no grapes might ever be grown here again if a cure cannot be found. The tourists have stopped coming. The towns have grown silent.

You, meanwhile, are devastated. With the way your business is going, it will be on the brink of bankruptcy within the year. You will soon have no choice but to close shop and let every grapevine die, let the land go fallow. There must be a cure for this, there must be. Yet everything that can go wrong is.

Then, as you watch the news, it happens. Breaking news. The blight has been found in another country.

It is a pandemic-and it is only getting worse.


-

Well. This is...what else can can anyone say? You all know the deal. You all know what situation you're in. All that is left is to figure out what you can do about it. If there's anything that can be done.

You still feel that compulsion to distrust. To know you cannot win. To know that only the hosts have your best interests in mind. It would be easy to just do all that. But would it be the right thing to do? You can't be completely sure. Indeed, nothing is certain here, except for that damned ticking sound. If only you could stop it.

But you can't stop it. It is inevitable.


There are 15 strangers in this place.]

Comments

[comesaround]

[ As his dagger's deflected, he's already pulling it back and planning his next move. Just in time to catch sight of that kick coming his way, though Karma's definitely laughing as he pulls back enough to avoid the kick making contact.

Not far enough away that he couldn't act quickly, however. Taking that next second to grab onto Kurama's leg and pushing it away just enough to hopefully cause a disruption in balance before shifting and bringing up his own leg in a fierce kick. Any of these hits could cause some good damage and he just doesn't care as that's the fun of going all out. ]

Right. So i'll just enjoy you not having it in the meantime, then.

[ Doesn't stop him from enjoying this all the same. If the smile he's wearing says anything to that. ]

[byanyother_name]

[Making Kurama lose his balance is hard mode, he's annoyingly graceful. But the shift back in the other direction does slow him down enough for Karma's kick to graze him.

It stings a bit where he narrowly evaded the full force but Kurama's felt so much worse. And his fierce smile is a match for Karma's.

His whip snaps out at Karma's arm, clearly aiming to deprive him of his weapon (and maybe his arm if they weren't so closely matched and Karma wasn't a friend).]

Remind me to see if you're teachable after we get out. Not everyone can access their ki but...

[Let's be real none of them were chosen for being normal.]

[comesaround]

[ Even for just the slightest second he'd been able to catch that his kick had grazed Kurama, which was more than good enough for him. It doesn't mean he's gonna stop, however.

Catching the whip's movements were a little harder and as such, the whip does it's job and definitively stings but he just rolls with it. Infact, even chuckling a bit to himself as he seems to step back briefly to rub at his arm before speeding forwards as it wasn't like he was defenseless. He still had one dagger left and as such, meant he was closing in quick and aiming a fierce jab towards Kurama's left shoulder. ]

I think it'd be worth a shot. I'll make sure to remind you when the time comes.

[ Without even changing his stance or anything else, once attention is on that dagger, Karma lets go of it with the awareness Kurama could dodge it with the momentum it has. Betting on that second of distraction and having to dodge a very real weapon should be enough to focus on, he then gathered up enough energy around his right fist until it became visible before launching a fierce punch right towards the other red-head.

This power really was SO fun to have. ]