gilded cage 1

[06:56 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve is standing outside the door to the room Simon was sleeping in, smirking at Pliskin in the most condescending manner possible. "So, Sir Pliskin...why don't we start this new arrangement of ours off right? Go wake up Sir Blackquill."
[06:56 PM] Simon-Blackquill is totally sleeping in there and his loud snores prove it.
[07:01 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin tailed after Dycedarg, hands in his pockets to make himself less likely to strangle the piece of shit in front of him. And of COURSE Dycedarg's already starting on an even bigger asshole foot, giving him an order with a smirk that makes Snake want to punch him. "On it." He growls, before heading into the room, calming a bit at the hilariously familiar snoring. He strides over to the bed, bending and taking a hand from his pocket to gently shake Simon's shoulder. "Hey... Simon. Wake up."
[07:04 PM] Simon-Blackquill's snores continue for a second before sputtering then stopping abruptly, his eyes fluttering open in response to Pliskin's shaking and nudging. "Nnngh... hmngh?" He asks groggily, yawning as his eyes fully open.
[07:11 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve follows. "Good morning, Sir Blackquill. Are you well?" The look in Dycedarg's eyes was a little more like the distant lord than the friendly drinking buddy he had been up to now.
[07:16 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin has a gentleness in his eyes as he watches Simon wake up, one that vanishes as soon as Dycedarg opens his mouth. He takes his hand off Simon's shoulder, straightening up. "We need to talk. Something came up."
[07:20 PM] Simon-Blackquill shakes himself awake with a groan, realising that if the matter is important, he needn't take ages to wake up. He'd need to address the situation immediately, and so he springs into action as if he wasn't asleep at all. "I'm as well as I can be. What has come up?"
[07:30 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve sits at the end of the bed and looks Simon in the eye. "There is no easy way to say this, so I shall simply be blunt: it would seem the portal by which you have arrived has disappeared."
[07:39 PM] Simon-Blackquill just... stares at Dycedarg blankly. Wait a moment, [b]what[/b].  "...The... portal. The one we go through to get here. The very same portal required of us to enter in order to go back home. I am not mistaken here, yes?" He... has a hard time believing this, okay.
[07:41 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin can't look at him. He lowers his head, clearing his throat a bit. He's long since finished his last cigarette, but he's already wishing for another. "... Yeah. That one." He says quietly. "It was just... gone."
[07:43 PM] Simon-Blackquill pauses... and stares at Pliskin next, in pure disbelief. "...Nonsense. Bollocks. Poppycock. Show me, right now."
[07:44 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: I can take you, if you want.
[07:44 PM] Simon-Blackquill: Yes, do so.
[07:44 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin glances over at Dycedarg.
[07:49 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve nods. "Perhaps that would be best. Sir Pliskin, have the chocobos brought around to the front of the manor. One of the guards will tell you where the stables are." He gave Iroquois a significant look as he said this
[07:53 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin grunts in response to Dycedarg's orders. He pauses to give Simon a ling glance, brow furrowed in worry, before he hurries off to find a guard to tell him where the stables are. And from there, fetch two of those horse-birds to be saddled up and brought to the front of the manor.
[07:59 PM] Simon-Blackquill doesn't even care about the chocobos right now. He just wants to get up and /get moving/. Which is what he does -- he stands up and starts to leave the room. He's probably going to be stopped.
[08:04 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve holds a hand out to block the way. "Sir Blackquill. Know that whatever happens, you must remain calm." This one will take a softer touch to break in, give him just enough rope to hang himself. Then go in for the kill.
[08:08 PM] Simon-Blackquill growls, and draws his hand back, leaning forward. He's ready to strike, shackles be damned. "You'll get out of the way unless you want to lose your head. I shall investigate this matter posthaste."
[08:11 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin is pretty interested in seeing how the saddles and harnesses and things are put onto the chocobos, having not actually seen this done yet. It also reminds him of when he would suit up his huskies for the sled. He decides that, if he's gonna stick around for a while, he might get a chance to deal with these things a bit more.
[08:12 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve narrows his eyes, looking very unimpressed. "As you like, Sir Blackquill. I shall not stop you." With that, he turns and leads the way to the front of the manor
[08:14 PM] Simon-Blackquill follows along, boots stomping into the floor. He's not happy. At all. There's no way this can be true... is there? He'd never get to see Bobby, or Taka again? No, there has to be something he can do. There has to be something the others missed. This needs an investigator's eye.
[08:17 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin is waiting outside the front doors, two chocobos beside him, with him holding onto the reigns. Aside from the noises of the birds, it's quiet, and in that near-silence his mind is racing noisily. What's he going to do? What if it doesn't open again soon, or at all? What's going to happen to Philanthropy? To Mei Ling and Nastascha? ... To Otacon?
[08:27 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve waved off the guards and climbed aboard his chocobo, Rydia. "We leave as soon as you are ready, gentlemen. We shall investigate for as long as it takes to satisfy you, Sir Blackquill."
[08:28 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: ... Didn't realize you were comin' along, Dyce.
[08:28 PM] Simon-Blackquill: I will walk.
[08:28 PM] Simon-Blackquill says as he starts stomping by.
[08:29 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: Simon. It'll be faster on the birds.
[08:29 PM] Simon-Blackquill: ...Nnngh.
[08:34 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: He is right, you know. It would be faster mounted. Sir Pliskin, you will share with Sir Blackquill.
[08:36 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve rides off without another word, Rydia moving at a brisk trot towards the portal site
[08:36 PM] Simon-Blackquill looks over to Pliskin. "...Well?"
[08:36 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin nods, and doesn't he take orders so well? "Got it." He says, turning towards Simon as well. "... You wanna drive, or me?"
[08:37 PM] Simon-Blackquill: I care not. Let us mount and be off.
[08:38 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin shrugs, and climbs first up onto the chocobo, scooting forward to make room for Simon, and then offering an arm to help him up.
[08:39 PM] Simon-Blackquill doesn't take the arm, he just climbs up himself, with a bit of trouble due to the restricted movement of his shackles.
[08:45 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin rolls his eyes at Simon being difficult. Then he pauses for a few seconds to recall the instructions given to him by the stablehands, before urging the bird forward after Dycedarg's. What was normally quite a walk turns into a much shorter ride, and it doesn't take much time for them to arrive at the location just beyond the treeline of a local wood where, normally, the tear in reality resided.
[08:45 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve stops ahead of them and waits for them to catch up. Best they all arrive at the portal site together, lest he be thought to be behind it. It's the first conclusion that a man like Blackquill would come up with, cutting through to the obvious conclusion.
[08:49 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve dismounts upon seeing their arrival. "Here we are, gentlemen. Let us begin our search for answers."
[08:50 PM] Simon-Blackquill dismounts immediately, stomping over towards Dycedarg, suspicious. "Someone tell me where this portal is ordinarily located." He... doesn't remember, not being an expert at this sort of thing.
[08:54 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin slides off the bird after Simon, striding quickly to a well-trampled spot of grass between a tree and a small bush. "Right about here."
[08:56 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve nods. "Sir Pliskin is correct. That is where the tear was located. Ask me anything you like, and I shall do my best to answer."
[08:58 PM] Simon-Blackquill starts combing through the bush to no avail, before starting to climb the tree next, looking over every branch he can -- he's not even physically fit enough to really be doing this, but he has no other choice. This is vital. "How long ago did it disappear, to your knowledge? Was there a circumstance that surrounded it? Has any portal ever appeared anywhere else?" He asks from the tree.
[09:01 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: It disappeared between the time we arrived, and when Tori, Jeb, and I tried to go home a few hours ago. I'm not aware of any odd circumstances- the place looks just like we left it, just... without the tear.
[09:02 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: I dunno about any other portals, though. It was only ever this one we went through.
[09:06 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve counts the points off on his fingers. "To your first question, I heard of this only a few hours previous, when Tori, Jeb, and Sir Pliskin were attempting to make their way home. The second, the circumstances surrounding the portal were always odd, but it was never studied in-depth. Quincy Blastbody was the only one I ever even considered informing about the thing, and..." He shrugged. "Well, I never got around to it. To the third, the only portal I am aware of is the one in Eagrose. There /could/ be others in Ivalice, but I am as of yet unaware of them, and I doubt their existence anyhow. They have been described as holes between dimensions, yes? Too many holes in something and it falls apart."
[09:07 PM] Simon-Blackquill: Then we are going to locate the other one.
[09:07 PM] Simon-Blackquill: Right now.
[09:08 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: This /is/ the one in Eagrose, Sir Blackquill. Eagrose is where the manor is located.
[09:08 PM] Simon-Blackquill: ................
[09:08 PM] Simon-Blackquill: I will search this land high and low.
[09:08 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: ... We're hoping this is temporary.
[09:09 PM] Simon-Blackquill: I will not lie back and wait for a miracle. I take action.
[09:09 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: Simon, how do you plan on doing that?
[09:09 PM] Simon-Blackquill: I will walk! I will travel anywhere I please!
[09:09 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: Do you know the local geography? Linguistic differences? The written language? The customs?
[09:10 PM] Simon-Blackquill: I care not. I am only here to search for a way home.
[09:10 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: You're not listening to me.
[09:11 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve made certain his face did not betray the pleasure he felt at seeing Pliskin do his work for him. Always count on a pragmatist to drag down a bull-headed charge.
[09:13 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: [i]How [/i] do you plan on doing that? Without running out of steam and dying in some backwater bog somewhere? Or getting your ass arrested for acting like a crazy person? If you've got a plan that'll work that I haven't already considered, one that won't get you uselessly killed or worse, please, fuckin' tell me.
[09:17 PM] Simon-Blackquill growled, balling his hands into fists. "I'll die trying. I'm a dead man walking anyway, remember?"
[09:20 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: And what'll that do? Fucking nothing, that's what. You'll waste your time, waste your life, and then what? If you don't care about living, why're you trying so hard on the first place then, huh? Or are you bullshitting me, because you have things you want to go back to? You can't if you're dead. And they can't ever have you back if you're dead.
[09:20 PM] Simon-Blackquill: I will die regardless. I'd rather do it trying to find my way home than lying on my back [b]waiting.[/b]
[09:21 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: That does not mean you need to throw your life away needlessly, Sir Blackquill. You serve no one that way.
[09:22 PM] Simon-Blackquill: Who said I served anyone regardless? I am without master.
[09:23 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: Put it another way, then: So long as you live, there is the chance that you may return, that the portal will re-open or that a new one will be discovered. If you throw your life away, you shall never be able to return. Never again to see Sir Fulbright.
[09:24 PM] Simon-Blackquill: ................
[09:24 PM] Simon-Blackquill: Then what do you expect me to do?
[09:25 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin finally snaps, raising his voice in a snarl. "You think that's what I'm doing?? I'm not happy with this either, Simon! I have people waiting on me, counting on me, I have a whole fucking world out there that could fall into chaos fueled by war machines worse than anything else!" He takes a breathñ struggling to calm himself. "I'm trying to say, Simon, is try to be smart about this. Don't be an idiot and let hope for a reunion die with you. We can try and learn what we can here, fogure something out here. Dyce's place is close, it's convenient."
[09:26 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve nods and steps towards Simon. "Sir Pliskin has the right of it. Until such time as a way back to your homes is discovered, you shall always have a place within my home and within my service."
[09:27 PM] Simon-Blackquill: ..........I mean you no disrespect, Lord Beard, but I don't trust you.
[09:27 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: You don't have to trust him- I know I don't.
[09:27 PM] Simon-Blackquill: Yes I do.
[09:27 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin shoots Dycedarg a look. "But he has resources we need."
[09:29 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: I'm afraid you do not have the luxury of trust. I am the only means by which you may survive in Ivalice. That is but simple fact.
[09:29 PM] Simon-Blackquill: Which is precisely why I don't trust you.
[09:31 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: The facts of the matter, Simon, are that we knock fuckall about this place. Dycedarg is obviously well informed as a native. And at his station, he has an information netowrk we can exploit. But we can't interact with or interpret this world and its people without his help.
[09:32 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin: (( know* not knock ingot ahead of myself ther e))
[09:36 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: Indeed. I can only wonder how swiftly you would cause offense to lords, knights, and clergy until all sought your blood with equal fervor. With me, you are safe, protected, and have eyes watching a full third of the country. Without me, you will either die in the wild or be impaled upon a sword. Now, again: Can you still afford the luxury of trust in this circumstance?
[09:39 PM] Simon-Blackquill growls, spitting at the ground... before leaping from the tree and examining the bush again, as if he hadn't already done so before. ...And then examining the tree again, climbing up into it once more, and staying put there.
[09:43 PM] Iroquois-Pliskin doesn't stop him- in fact, Pliskin starts to do similar. He didn't have the chance to check the surroundings as thoroughly as he'd like, not when Tori was falling ill. He keeps his attention closer to the ground, and low-lying foliage, looking for signs of traffic aside from himself and his companions. "... Doesn't look like much wildlife passes through here. Do you think there's something about the tear that drove them away, Dyce?"
[09:43 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve leans back against a tree, content to wait this out. He'll come around in time.
[09:50 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: That seems likely, yes. It is a large tear in the fabric of reality. Most of the local wildlife would be frightened off by it, and what few investigated would be taken to another world, doubtless scaring away the others as well. Over time, they would simply cease to enter this place altogether
[09:50 PM] Dycedarg Beoulve: Or rather, they did. Until the portal vanished.
[12:15 AM] Simon-Blackquill listens to them and remembers their words. Simon is determined to keep watch of the area for as long as he can, so he makes himself comfortable in the tree, and parks his butt on a branch. He's not going to move unless he's forced to.
[12:38 AM] Dycedarg Beoulve sits underneath a tree at the edge of the clearing, determined to wait Simon out, or at least wait until concerns of food and shelter drive him back to the mansion. He can do this all night, Simon