1st Spell [Open Commentlog]

[taintedtalent]

[The first thing Reese notices is that this is not the road to King's Creek. In fact he's pretty sure it's a cell. The second, and currently more important, thing he notices is this achingly empty feeling he's getting. His magic is gone, completely and utterly gone, and this horrifies him.

He fights the growing panic. First thing's first, he needs to regroup with Dutch. After a quick check of his room, he tests the door. It's unlocked. Why would it be unlocked?

Clutching his Winchester, Reese slowly pushes the door open and steps into the halls.]

Dutch. Dutch you out here?

[When he doesn't get an answer he continues moving through the barracks, calling our her name. He doesn't like it but he's got little choice. This is the most vulnerable he's ever felt. Finding her is his top priority.]

Comments

[yolonceler]

[Absolutely. Catatonic. He's staring into the heart and soul of that rifle, and all it says is "you are going to fucking die". Dear God, I'm sorry for destroying everything, I love you mom, Brett and Chet you're morons but I love you too, I wish I listened to the Lorax, oh man I am going to get blood all over my suit.

When he manages to speak, it's just a slew of vowels.]

Aeeaouua.

[Look how smooth this guy is. He's the personification of smooth. The Once-ler drops his cigars and raises his hands slowly, like in the movies.]

Q-questions, sure. Whateeever you want, man. Please don't shoot me, puh-lease lower that thing.

[His heart might actually jump out of his ribcage.]

[taintedtalent]

Try usin' yer words there pal.

[This guy is scared out of his mind. Whoever he is, he's no threat. Hell, Reese is pretty sure this guy is in worse shape than he is. There's no way he'll be able to put up a fight even if he wanted to.

Reese lets his rifle drop, holding with only one hand.]

There, the gun's pointed at the ground now. Ain't no reason to fill yer pants. Now, tell me where I am and what happened to my magic.

[yolonceler]

[The Once-ler breathes a sigh of relief. He leans against the wall - he can barely stand. God, is he shaking? He's totally shaking. The Once-ler hasn't taken any of his supplements in, like, two weeks. He's surprised he can still, you know, live.

Alright. Deep breathing exercises.]

You're in a keep, like... a castle. [Inhale. Exhale. Alright, he's good to talk.] It's called Holloway's Keep, and you were brought here from another world, or dimension, or something sci-fi. Your... magic, I... don't really know? G-god, man, you point rifles at everybody?

[taintedtalent]

[Reese sighs and scratches the back of his head. Yeah he's feeling a little bit like an ass right now. He might be pretty freaked out about what's going on here but this guy is shaking in his boots. It's an easy guess that this is the first time anyone has pointed a gun at him.]

Right uh, sorry 'bout that. Just a little shook up is all.

[When he hears the name he's even more confused. He's never heard of this place before.]

So how the hell did I get here? Last I knew I was on the road to King's Creek, and I'm damn sure I still had my magic. Here I can't even feel a thing.

[yolonceler]

Apology denied. [Alright, Oncie, don't be a dick. This guy's still holding a gun, you know.

He's just... going to sit down. Give him a moment. Breathe.]

I've got about zero idea just how you got here, or even how I got here. Probably [Airquotes.] "magic". It appears that people's [Airquotes.] "magic" has been [Airquotes.] "restricted". Man, I don't know.

[taintedtalent]

[Reese frowns but doesn't say anything. Maybe he deserves that but in his defense he was just kidnapped. Like hell he's not going to be cautious. The only reason this guy doesn't have a gun pointed at him anymore is because a kitten is probably more dangerous than him.

His frown turns into a scowl at the man's airquotes though. He knows when he's being mocked.]

Alright, do ya at least know where this place is?

[yolonceler]

[Yeah, a kitten is about a hundred times more threatening than the Once-ler. He's rather handy with an axe, though.]

Nope. I'm not sure anybody does. [The Once-ler rubs at his face. Ugh. At least he didn't cry. Any longer and he would be sobbing.] Look, man: me, you and everybody else are kind of in the same boat here, so you probably shouldn't be carrying a rifle. Just a tip.

[taintedtalent]

[What a coincidence, so is Reese! He just generally doesn't chop wood with his.]

Well ain't that just fantastic.

[He lifts his Winchester and rests it on his shoulder.]

Sorry pal, but just because we're all in this same boat don't mean everyone wants to play nice together. I think I'll keep my rifle.

[yolonceler]

[The Once-ler freezes when Reese so much as moves his gun - but nope, he's still safe. Probably. He leans forward and grabs for some of his fallen cigars. Wow, he needs one right now.]

I guess pointing a huge gun at people will get them to talk. Yeah, man, let me know how that works out. [He's only being half-snarky. As a sort of peace offering, he holds up one of his cigars.] Just rolled it.

[taintedtalent]

[Reese would put his gun away but he doesn't trust this place nearly enough to do that. Instead Reese just keeps it pointed as far away from the Once-ler as possible so he doesn't soil himself.]

In my experience that works out pretty well.

[He waves his hand at the cigar.]

Appreciate it but I can't smoke.

[In fact that will kind of kill him.]

[yolonceler]

[If the Once-ler could hear that last bit of narration, he would say it was the absolute saddest thing he has ever heard. Being unable to smoke, how can anyone survive? We just don't know. He shrugs and fishes in his pocket for his lighter.]

Tragic.

[When he finds his Zippo, the Once-ler bites off the end of his cigar and lights up. Ahh, sweet toxins.]

I'm the Once-ler. [Pause.] That's my name.

[Clarifying is so annoying.]

[taintedtalent]

[The moment Once-ler lights up Reese takes a step back. He might have taken his pill for the day, but if he inhales enough of that smoke it will send him right into an attack. That's the last thing he wants to happen here.]

So I've been told.

[Even after he clarifies, Reese still assumes that it's a title of some kind. No way anyone would name their kid that.]

Name's Reese. So ya got any idea why they brought ya here?

[yolonceler]

[That's the general consensus. It functions just like a title, so it might as well be one.]

Uhh. [He counts on his fingers.] Kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping for the fun of it, kidnapping to get me out of the way, bad reality show, the absolute worst practical joke ever... to name just a few of my ten billion theories.

[taintedtalent]

So ya got no real clue then huh?

[Kidnapping doesn't make a whole lot of sense to Reese anyway. If they were being kidnapped why would they be let out of their cells? Either they're really bad at this, or far more likely, they have something else in mind.]

Ya said there were others here. Any clue how many in total?

[yolonceler]

A lot. I haven't met everyone.

[Something occurs to him.]

Didn't you check the journal? The book in your room? [If he weren't scared shitless by a big ol' rifle, the Once-ler would have asked this first.] It's really unassuming, you probably missed it.

[taintedtalent]

Journal?

[He's genuinely confused now, not that he wasn't before.]

Really wasn't thinkin' much about writin' anything down when I showed up here.

[yolonceler]

[The Once-ler gathers his cigars and stuffs them in his pockets. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9! He stands up slowly, which takes a lot more effort than it looks. Super wimp.]

Didn't even check your surroundings. Really? [Stop right there, sassypants. Be nice.] Look, check your room, find the journal. It's got more info than I can so generously provide, and you can use it to talk to people. Magically.

[taintedtalent]

[Reese just rolls his eyes.]

Escape was a little more pressin' to me then lookin' at a room, but I'll head back there and check things out.

[He'll just ignore the magic comment.]

[yolonceler]

Great plan. You do that while I go the opposite way and don't get guns pointed at me by -

[STOP. This guy has been kidnapped and is confused and you are no longer the most powerful man on the planet. The Once-ler drags on his cigar and exhales through his nose like a cartoon bull. It takes a moment, but -]

... Sorry.

[taintedtalent]

Right, me too.

[This guy has clearly had enough of Reese and he can't blame him. After all Reese did just point a gun in his face and scare the holy hell out of him. He'll do the Once-ler a favor and turn to leave. Reese doesn't want to stick around that smoke anyway.]

[yolonceler]

[Yeah, it's best if they part ways, what with all the smoke and the Once-ler's generally ornery disposition. He glares at the back of Reese's head but says nothing more, opting to turn the corner and take the stairs on the other side of the floor.]