Vignette Contest: September

[Revenant]

A new month brings a new vignette contest.

What are vignettes you ask? They're single post short stories written about a given prompt. Everyone can post their entry in this thread and at the end of the month all entries will be judged and the top three will be selected for prizes! Don’t worry about not winning a prize however, as everyone will receive exp just for posting.

Here's the rules:

1) One submission per character. Multiple accounts by the same author are allowed though.
2) All entries must be made during the month of September. Editing your posts, even to completely change your submission, is permitted as long as all edits are made within the contest's time frame.
3) The moderator judging the monthly vignette contest will post a vignette at the end, but will not be eligible for a prize.
4) Only on-topic vignettes will be considered for the prize. The topics are meant to be broad enough that no character should be particularly limited.
5) PCs must be involved in all vignettes. How "canonical" you choose to have the events of the vignette is up to you.
6) All participants receive 5% of the EXP they need to reach the next level. The top three finishers get 100, 75 and 50 GP respectively.

And here is your monthly prompt:

Oh frabjous day, the carnival is in town. It is truly a spectacle to behold or do the colors and boardwalk games mean something more sinister?

[Duffy]

You practically threw me the biggest bone possible here, and 5 characters with circus skills to eat it with

[Knave]

Pfft! Mark you, o Lyrical Lord, your crown is mine! Do not count this victory yours yet, for you have not laid eyes on the likes of meee!!!! Gracious muse, Aoidē, FEED ME!

[Ruby]

Many people in life disliked being seen as that person; the one who always said no. As she tapped her heels on the dusty floor of the Prima Vista’s lounge and rested her hand on her hip indecisively, she longed to be able to stick to such a gun and plant her opinion firmly in the denial category. When faced with a gaggle of small children, red cheeked and shiny nosed and bouncing up and down in a ruckus, on the other hand, the temptation to give in was too strong.

“Oh alright!” She explained, tossing her hands into the air. They had been pestering her for fifteen minutes straight, and as soon as she said yes, they gave up their young chick feeding impressions and scattered, flooding the living room with a stampede of cheers, laughter and sudden, unquenchable thirst for the glory of being. “You can go on one condition!” She added the clause just long enough after giving them false ideas to drag the sighs and complaints in with a net, and she chuckled to herself.

“You all clean your teeth, brush your hair and be on your uttermost best behaviour – there will be no ‘incidents,’ and I’m looking at you Peter,” she darted the older boy of the orphan rabble a glance and then turned halfway to smile at her sister, who stood leant against the kitchen doorway lazily. She had clearly seen and been subject to this good mother bad mother routine too many times. “You will be exemplary citizens of this good fair city, do you understand?”

The chorus of ‘Yes Miss Ruby’s washed away the brief tenseness and they ran off into the nooks and crannies and bathrooms to tend to their request; to prepare for what they had been waiting all year for. When they had departed and the silence filled the room, Lillith strolled to her sister’s side tutting and shaking her head.

“I remember when you used to be just as excited about the carnival, if not more so than them.”

“Well, those were darker days when I had to forget the ills of the world in a flurry of candyfloss, toffee stolen and vomiting on the swings with Clarissa.” She flicked her hair into place and set her apron straight, finding it somewhat lighter from pilfering fingers as she did so. She chuckled at the thought of curious hands finding leftovers and splints in the deep fabric linings, and commended their eternal dedication to the troupe’s true calling.

“I do wish you’d take a break for one afternoon and come with us, I don’t mind taking them, but the company would be good – like old times?” Lillith cocked her head in her usual over dramatized manner and tapped her chin. She half knew already what Ruby’s answer would be – what her super serious and sullen sister would say.

“There is too much to be done, too little time, and far too much to worry about over an afternoon of gluttony,” without saying anything else, she floated into the kitchen to peel the mountain of potatoes and carrots that awaited her on the side of the sink. There were many hours of cooking to tend to for the traditional Tantalum feast – it was a holiday of religious and cultural significance, after all, not just another reason to grow a belly and ruin your complexion.

“Suit yourself,” Lillith said politely, rolling her eyes behind her sister’s back and turning on a stiletto to round up the congregation before their pilgrimage to see the lights, sounds and wonders of the exuberant streets of Scara Brae. It would be nice, she thought, as she put on her coat and pulled out her parasol from the bucket by the door, if our lives could be our own for one day - one day of normalcy, one day of dreary repetition. Whilst Lucian was alive, however, the Tantalum Troupe would never rest, and only the children they protected would be harboured from the servitude.

"Come, children, we're leaving!" She opened the door and tapped the tip of her parasol onto the decaying floorboards with a hallow thud. The brisk air of the alleyway rolled in, and a gaggled of suddenly ready and visible children rolled out into the beyond.

[Silence Sei]

The Radasanth carnival was absolutely bustling with activity. There had been games, food, and fun to be had for all who would attend. Sei Orlouge stood amongst the crowd, his daughter Anita by his side. The last time Sei had went into anything similar to a carnival, Cassandra Remi had almost been killed by a mime that could make its invisible objects real.

Such things did not deter the mute away today, however.

Anita's eyes darted back and forth between all of the attractions. Alerar had done a good job of providing more mechanical wonders to the event this year. The grinding of gears, the screams of terror followed by fits of laughter, and the obnoxious vendors selling their areas to anyone passing a glance. To Anita Orlouge, these things were what was fun about carnival in Radasanth.

"What would you like to do first, Anita?" Sei asked his daughter as if she were a child needing a chaperone. The girl wickedly grinned as she darted from attraction to attraction with wondering eyes. Sei kept the pace behind her, enjoying the smell of cotton candy fused with the combined sweat of a large group contained in an area. The telepath's eyes went upward, a weird kind of circular machine raising its passengers into the air. The contraption then stopped, and sent its victims plummeting to the ground, stopping only feet before leaving a large stain on the sidewalk.

Every instinct in the Mystic had told him to rescue those people. He hesitated, as this event was supposed to be all in good fun. Despite what his natural instincts were telling him, the mute would have to keep his body at bay. Sei's thoughts on that false death trap were driven off by the rush of wind in his face. Looking eastward, the mute saw another rickety machine, slinging many giggling people by swings attached high in the air. Just looking at the scene made the mute nauseous, and he found his feet attempting to take off to stop the mechanism.

Sei once again stilled his motions. This was a place of fun, not a carnival of cruelty. Nobody was in any real danger here. Sei's head turned once more to the sounds of guns being fired. Already, the winged warrior was en route to the location of the blasphemous sounds. Sei paused when he reached his destination, finding himself staring at kids trying to completely obliterate a small red star with a limited amount of fake bullets.

Sei paused to breathe for a minute. He was letting his warrior mentality get the better of him. There would be no bodily injury to anybody here unless it was of their own accord. Surely Aleraran elves would not give blessings to machines that were questionable in their safe nature? It would be irresponsible.

Sei snapped out of his trance by Anita, who had grabbed her father's arm and dragged him along the crowd. While the lithe girl easily ducked through the people, Sei found himself brushing against one person or another every so often. Anita quickly placed her and her father in line for another strange ride. This one seemed to be a dance floor of some sort, but Sei was too busy noticing how quickly the area had changed within just a few steps.

Children were laughing freely as they rode around in tea cups that spun in place. His eyes went to a man swinging a hammer in an attempt to make a weight hit a bell, a large crowd of people cheering him on. His attention was diverted quickly by screams coming from people falling down a hill in a log, water splashing the passengers of the ride. The Mystic closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, finding this area much more suited to his tastes, his anxiousness starting to subside, his fears leaving his form.

Sei opened his eyes to find himself being lead by Anita onto the floor. The girl quickly stopped in front of two small contraptions. They were carts of some sort, with a long pole connected at the back that attached to the ceiling. Anita quickly dived into the blue one, motioning for Sei to get into the orange one beside her. The telepath nodded as he climbed in, the space feeling rather cramped. There were two pedals at Sei's feet, and a wheel just above his legs. The object reminded Sei of a miniature version of Travis Mills' 'Blue Blur'.

A bell rang to insinuate the start of the ride, Sei slowly starting to press his foot down on the pedal that allowed the machine to go forward. As he did, he felt his body jerk from something suddenly slamming into his cart. Looking to the left of him, he saw Anita, a sadistic grin plastered on her face. As Sei looked around he had seen the evil plans his daughter had concocted here in the carnival.

Each cart had one of his nine generals in it, with the exception of Duffy Bracken being replaced by Jensen Ambrose. Slowly, the nine other carts surrounded Sei. The mute's eyes widened as he thought about the toll his body was about to take. He had let his guard down in the most simple of the carnival's areas, and now he was to pay for it. As all nine carts went at full ramming speed towards the mute, Sei closed his eyes, a smiled forcing its way to the surface. Despite Sei's happy demeanor, one thought struck him as he was hit simultaneously from nine sides at once.

Carnivals are wicked.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla stared at the flashing lights that filled the world around her. Dozens of colors filled the air and the shouts of the workers running the games reached her ears a deafening levels. The flashing and the noise were enough to drive a person insane, and Kyla loved it. She'd never seen anything like this before. She walked through the booths slowly absorbing each site, and that's when she heard it. "Hey cutie, wanna play a game?"

Kyla turned her head in the direction of the shout. There before her stood a handsome young man. He stood a few inches taller than Kyla, with sandy blonde hair and light brown eyes. He had a noble chin, and great cheekbones. His smile lit up his face and a single dimple adorned his right cheek. Kyla smiled as big as she could and walked towards him slowly. "Don't mind if I do."

"Alrighty, will only cost ya two copper coins." He held both hands out, one holding two white balls and the other waiting for payment.

"I think I can find a better deal to play with some guys balls thank you very much." Kyla turned to leave, making it only about five feet before the man behind her spoke again.

"Wait, I'll make it one copper. Just get back here." The boy laughed.

Kyla stood still for a moment, gathering energy in her right hand. "How about if I use by own ball?" She turned as she spoke and threw a ball of light energy directly at the bottles stacked on a stool behind the young man. It hit perfectly at the top of the middle bottle and they all crashed to the ground. "And here I thought they'd be glued or something, what do I get for that?"

The boy smiled at Kyla, his dimples caused her heart to flutter. "Well m'lady, for that you get this teddybear, and of course...a kiss if you want it."

Kyla blushed as she took the teddy bear from him. If Sei could see this he would flip. She looked around to make sure none of the knights were about, then leaned in. "I'd like that very much."

As his lips reached hers Kyla felt hers tingle. It was not the kind of kiss one would write novels about, but it was quite nice. Her heart raced as she pulled away and smiled at the boy. "That was...nice," the mystic stammered, unable to think of anything cool to say. From within the croud a voice called out, "Kyla where are you?" Kyla's head turned at the sound of her name.

"So your name is Kyla huh? Who's looking for you, a boyfriend perhaps? Should I be worried?"

Kyla grinned, "No, nothing like that. It's just my uncle Steppenwolf."

"Steppenwolf Orlouge?" The boy muttered, red flushing his cheeks.

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"Um..."

At that moment Steppenwolf walked up to the duo. "Well Rod, it sure is good to see you. I didn't know you two knew each other."

Rod blushed as he looked at the giant half-mystic. "Yeah, we just met actually."

"What on althanas are you two talking about?" Kyla looked to Steppenwolf with frustration.

"Kyla, this is Rod Orlouge. He's Razak's kid. Lives with his mom, he's your big cousin."

Oh yes...sinister indeed.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen walked along the boardwalk with Stephanie in tow, hands held tightly as the wind brought towards them the raucous laughter of activity and fun. The rides sparkled, the booths hustled, and the fall air was crisp and cool. The immortal’s trench coat flapped behind him in the breeze, trailing at his knees like a small puppy, nipping at everywhere he stalked. His arm hairs raised, but the tender warmth of his love kept his body from freezing.

Stephanie was clad in a white sweater and light brown pants, tucked into her boots that were heeled at two inches. She had stressed to the immortal that she wanted to look nice and not threatening, and had asked if he would change for the occasion. So the immortal, ever loving boyfriend, agreed. He wore his fedora hat. A light slap, a tender kiss, and they made way for the carnival.

They looked at different activities, each pointing out oddities like incredibly large men lifting items that no ordinary man could lift, contortionists that bent in such awkward poses it made them both stop and stare, and fire eaters who bent their knees and arched their back high like a wolf and howled out to the night a strip of flame. There was a few booths with games, face painting, and mystic portents of the fortune tellers. There was a stall that had a tattoo artist, working on some of the Ixian Knights younger members as well as other Coronian natives who were attempting to scratch art onto their bodies to look tough.

Further down the path they found a large open concession area filled with several long white tables and benches. Parents fed their children, children giggled loudly, and babies made a mess of their food, all in time to the next wave of laughter. They had food from every corner of the planet it seemed. Salvarian Ice Cream, exotic Fallien fruit apples dipped in caramel, Scara Braen steak sandwiches, Lavinyan Ale, the works. They stopped to each grab one of the Fallien caramel apples and after paying his gold for them he walked with her off towards the back of the carnival.

“Such a beautiful night,” Stephanie cooed as she leaned on his arm heavily, sighing as she took in a deep lungful of the air. Jensen did likewise, smelling the trace scent of fallen leaves and hint of grass. The back of his neck tingle and moved down his spine all the way through his body. It was infectious as Stephanie giggled, feeling it too as her body straitened. They looked to each other, eyes meeting and slowly they moved in for a soft kiss.

“You taste like apples,” Jensen teased.

“Oh, you taste like caramel,” Stephanie retorted. They smiled and kissed again.

“Delicious,” Jensen licked his lips as they both walked onwards. They looked back at the carnival, seeing Sei chase after Anita, the girl giggling as they moved to get into line for another ride. Across the way Jensen spotted the trademark pink afro of William Arcus’ current mentor, Steppanwolf Orlouge. He seemed to be moving elsewhere at the current moment.

Jensen followed Stephanie’s hand as she grinned, pointing out Tobias Greenleaf nodding to a carnival worker as she was pocketing gold coin after gold coin while he ranted to her and pointed to her hair. Ta’gaz was standing behind her, eyes narrowed as he studied a weightlifter who gave him a challenging glare, the legendary warrior debating on joining him in a contest of strength.

“Can anyone within the Ixian Knights go anywhere without making complete jackasses of themselves?” Jensen mumbled in high spirits, rubbing the back of his head. Stephanie nodded to his point, linking her fingers with his as she walked forwards.

“Do you remember the first time we met?” She asked, her words gently carried to his ears on the wind. He smiled to her, squeezing her hand twice.

“Nope,” He widened his smile as she quickly turned and lifted a hand, slapping him on the chest pretending to be hurt. When she looked back at him, saw his shifting eyes, she realized the immortal had forgotten. This in turn stopped her joyful expression, stopped her playful beating, and she turned, her fingers still holding his, but with less intensity that if they had let go the world would have ended.

“Oh, I suppose that makes sense,” She whispered, her feelings hurt. Jensen stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She let him nuzzle her neck as she began to think about that day.

Four and half years ago

The wind ruffled the leaves upon the ground, sending the small petals of the Akashiman trees around Stephanie like little children who greeted a parent home. She nimbly moved around them, letting the spirit of nature guide her. She had just reached her destination a day ahead of schedule and she was looking forward to one of the bath houses to rest her weary feet and lift her spirit up for her mission at hand.

There was a carnival in the land of Akashima, her eyes taking in the different lanterns and sights. It was so different from a normal carnival, and several people wore masks of leering foxes and other foul creatures. She could tell the people were in good spirits, though, as they all danced around and had a fabulous time. She felt like joining in, a whim of a thought, as she forgot all about her feet and the aching pain they had. She smiled entering the area, smelling all different kinds of spices and incense. A few samurai walked in pairs, keeping an eye out for trouble, but Stephanie was more than positive they were just for show. She had heard Akashima was so steep in lore and moral codes that any danger would be so taboo to their society that it was rare. Besides, everyone was happy, who would want to ruin that kind of fun?

She moved inwards, watching the people celebrate a day of the dead, or some champion, she wasn’t sure. She knew very basic Akashiman, enough to get her information but to hold a real conversation would have been a miracle. She stopped at a booth, ordering a cup of rice wine and paying for it out of her pocket. She sniffed the warm concoction, smiled and slammed the drink down her gullet with a satisfied smack of her lips. Her cheeks flushed red and she returned the glass, the tender smiling behind his veiled screen.

When the knight turned around she was face to face with a rather ugly looking an, his eyes looking to her with a snarl on one side of his face, and a grin on the other. She tried to mimic such a feat, but only got her face muscles angry with her. When she realized the man still looked to her she stepped aside to let him pass. He stepped next to her and started chuckling.

“Sorry, can you move?” She asked politely. He started going off a million miles an hour in his native tongue. The words she picked up on were ‘lost’ and ‘girl.’ Stephanie shook her head, deciding to walk away when the man grabbed her arm and shoved her down an alley. She tripped on her own feet and lost her balance sprawling to the ground as the man continued to shout at her, lifting a small sword from his side. He raised it high and Stephanie quickly pulled one of her daggers, but her fingers faltered and she slipped on the grip, losing the weapon to the side of the alley.

A few samurai warriors came running down, and they looked to her and shouted as the man held his weapon, not moving. Stephanie gave him a cruel smile as she saw the authority show up. They asked her something, and pointed to the man, but she shook her head. At last one of them spoke up,

“Who home you live?” He asked in broken trade speak. Stephanie shrugged.

“I’m not from around here, pal!” She said hotly, as if that should have been obvious from the lack of squinting eyes. The samurai lowered his hand from his sword.

“You no married?” The other asked.

“Ha!” The very idea was ludicrous.

“Then Ronin within rights. No married, no home, no rights.” The samurai bowed to the ronin, but only half way as he wasn’t much better than the knight at the current moment. The Ronin turned to her and smiled, rubbing his belly as his hands moved to her shirt and gripped it tightly, attempting to rip it off. Stephanie fought off his grip, but his other hand slammed her upside the head with the hilt of the sword and she woozily collapsed. He managed to cut her shirt open and move to her pants when she gained control of her body again and she balled up screaming for help. The hands fought with her, smacking her and hitting her as the Ronin continued to talk.

She prayed to the horsemen for a savior, willing everything to be saved from the bad man, but he managed to pop her button and et her pants down to her knees. That was enough fro him as he moved his hands to his own pants.

“Baka, Ronin… Baka Baka Baka…” A voice said in the shadows, a deep dark chuckling coming from the depths like an insane demon. Their was a soft sound of metal bringing drawn across leather, and in the blink on an eye a throwing knife clattered off the Ronin’s arm, cutting him shallowly. His eyes widened as he began to shout at the darkness, but a cruel laughter drowned him out.

Stepping forward was a man with long brown hair, died red at the tips. He had a trench coat, but the arms were cut off and th ebelt was stripped. His baggy pants were tucked into his boots, his tight shirt lifting up over his stomach as he yawned loudly, before going into another fit of giggles.

“I said you were stupid Ronin…Idiot Idiot Idiot,” Jensen moved forward. “Honorless dogs like you getting tricks from pretty little red heads like this,” The man looked down to her and winked. Her cheeks flushed as she did her best to cover herself.

“Begone!” He shouted, his accent thick. The man laughed again and moved in on the guy, and the Ronin lifted his pants up to stop this man from denying him his treasure. As he took his sword out the man grinned more before he softly slid into a weird groove, his body moving side to side as his hands begant o flow around him. The Ronin lifted his hand and charged, but one slight dash to the side, a maniacal laughter that pierced her skull, and the Ronin felt a stiff boot in his stomach. The laughter seemed to grow louder as the man continued his assualt, laughing wildly as he beat the Ronin in the ground. He laughed for five long minutes, never faltering or losing his breath until he came up and twirled to look at the woman on the ground.

“What in the horsemen’s name is wrong with you? Aren’t you a jester?” Stephanie blinked twice, looked into his gorgeous eyes, and felt foolish as she realized he was a Knight of Apocalypse as well. She quickly lifted her pants, attempted to tie her shirt over her breasts, and stood up. “Nice rack, by the way.” He added with a grin. Stephanie backhanded him and he twirled to the Ronin looking down upon him.

“Baka,” He said in a yawn before punching him again and twirling back to the girl. Stpehanie was on her feet now, looking at the Ronin.

“He tried to rape me…” She whispered. She felt all her blood boiling to kill the Ronin, but she refrained. She was on a mission, and if she killed him that was a body that she had to explain away, and she already knew two people saw her face.

“So let me do it,” The man said as he watched her think. She looked to him, registering what he was saying, but she shook her head.

“No, I’ll get the fucker back. Thanks,” She offered her hand out, and the man took it before dragging her in and laughing, looking at all her body. He tapped her ass, ripped her shirt open, and then dipped her before bringing her up and tossing her into the wall. When she turned around to beat the crap out of him, her face was hit by a heavy fabric.

“Keep it until you get a change of clothing,” The man said. Stephanie looked to him, and then with a swift motion put on the jacket. Her body got a deep warming sensation, like as if a lover was placing arms around her shoulders in a gentle way.

“Who are you?” She asked.

Present Day

Stephanie sighed as she recalled the events, feeling the warmth of Jensen around her shoulders as he held her tightly. The sun had set already and the night was getting cold. She welcomed his warmth as she lifted her face up and nuzzled her nose under his chin.

“Thanks,” She whispered again to the immortal. Jensen let out a sly smile, laughed as he grabbed her arm and twirled her, parading her body around as he slapped her ass, examined her chest, and dipped her before tossing her against a carnival booth. She laughed as she turned, and found his jacket in her face once again.

“Who am I you ask?” Jensen laughed wildly as he held her hand in show, just as he had done in the past. “I am the man of your dreams, the fire of your passion, the savior of people who are so stupid they get themselves raped by slant eyed fish heads! I am Jensen Ambrose!” They both laughed as he chased her back to home, the woman happy to have at least one good memory of carnivals.

[Revenant]

The carnival was in full swing by the third night. It was the first night of the weekend, but oddly enough the last night that the carnival would be setup within Radasanth Park and the walkways between the various booths and show tents were packed like cattle guards. The carnival master’s decision to pack up and depart just when the city’s working population was most available had raised a few eyebrows back in the Ixian Knights stronghold. Orders had been given to all available Knights to look into the reasons why the carnival master had chosen to cut his faire short, partly because the organization wanted to make a good showing by rooting out some hidden conspiracy which would allow the people of Radasanth to praise them and enjoy the carnival longer, and partly because the Knights wanted to keep tabs on things that happened, quite literally, in their backyard. William Arcus believed that the real reason that all available hands were being assigned to this mission was because Sei Orlouge loved carnivals.

“Just leave it to the ‘Hero of Radasanth’ to expend resources on something so random.” William grumbled, pulling his cloak more tightly about him as he leaned against a tree and scanned the nearby crowds. It wasn’t that William didn’t respect Sei, on the contrary he held great respect for the man who had saved him from eternal life as a mindless savage, but he felt that such a waste of time and effort for the Knights at a time when they were growing rapidly was a fool’s errand. William was one of the highest ranking members of the organization, and though there were no monsters currently threatening the populace at the moment, he felt that something like additional training would have been far more in order than trying to find evidence of some carnie being blackmailed.

On the positive side of things, William was relatively unbothered despite the swollen crowd. The demonic nature of his soul bond gave him plenty of problems to deal with but had certain advantages; like being able to radiate an aura of intense heat at will. He had watched as the child sized Talen Shadowalker, another of the Knights’ Captains, had been swallowed by the milling crowds and dragged helplessly into the current of humanity. Talked was more than capable of handling himself in a fight, but his shadow powers would be much less useful here.

Hours passed while William motionlessly observed the passing of humanity. He had long ago given up on any attempt to actually track down any sort of culprit in the carnival matter, deciding to just bide his time until he could reasonably return to the headquarters without drawing knowing stares from the others. It was well after midnight by this point and the crowds had considerably died down by the time William noticed a singular carnival worker beckoning to him. The Revenant briefly mulled over whether or not he should respond but ultimately decided to check it out. It was a long shot, but perhaps he could root something out.

“What do you want?” William asked, sizing the man up for any potential threat. It was unlikely that the man could beat him, and even more unlikely that he could do any permanent harm to him should he actually be lucky enough to win, but William was the cautious sort.

“Seen you standing over there for hours now,” the carnie answered in reply, flashing William a slimy grin.

“So?” The man’s smile faltered slightly as the burning coals of William’s eyes locked on him.

“Oh jeesh, no offense intended man,” the carnie backed up a step, suddenly sweating. William didn’t know whether it was from fear or the heat that he exhuded but he knew that this man didn’t have any information that he could use. “Listen, I was getting bored myself and was just wondering if you’d like to give my game a try?”

“Your … game?” The word came out of William’s mouth as if it had left a foul taste on his tongue.

“Yeah,” the carnie stepped back and gestured to a stack of metal cans set up into a pyramid shape, “toss a ball and see if you can knock over the cans.”

William looked at the cans, watching them rust and degrade before his enchanted eyesight before turning back to the carnie. “Why?”

“Well you knock them all over and you get a prize.” The carnie waved towards a pile of dolls, drawing William’s attention to them. They were incredibly cheap little bobble dolls but one of them in particular caught William’s attention.

“Do I get to choose which prize I get?”

“Sure man.” The carnie’s smile returned now that he had William’s attention and he pushed a throwing ball in William’s direction. “Normally it’s a copper a ball, but like I said I’m bored. Give it a try.”

William took the ball and turned it over in his hand, examining it. His enchanted vision instinctively sought out the weaknesses inherent in the ball, peeling away the lairs to show him its composition. The ball itself was weighted oddly, and combined with the odd composition of the cans that he had noted earlier told the Revenant that the game was rigged. Fortunately, he grinned to himself, I’m rigged as well. William gripped the ball tightly, as he looked down the range for what he wanted. Beside him, the carnie smirked, confident that his ruse would dupe the cloaked man as it had duped so many before him.

It was over in the blink of an eye. One second William stood still as a statue, looking at the cans on the other side of the booth, and the next the entire back end of the booth was crashing down. The carnie’s face fell in horror as he watched a part of his booth fall apart, cans and wood planks scattering everywhere.

“Huh … buh …. Wha …” he stammered, looking back and forth between William and the wreckage.

“You had a loose bolt in the corner,” William said, shrugging, “and I believe that I get a prize now that all of the cans are down.”

The carnie made no reply, still in shock. William shrugged and reached over the counter, grabbing the plush toy that he wanted. It was a kid’s replica of Letho Ravenheart’s famous gunblade, ‘The Lawmaker.’ William grinned at the toy and walked out of the carnival before the carnie could regain his senses. It was late and he was finished looking for Sei’s criminal mastermind. Besides, he was really keen on showing Jensen that even he had a gunblade now.

[Revenant]

September is over and this vignette has come to a close. Thanks to all who participated.

This month's results are in:

1 - Amber Eyes (100 gp)
2 - Enigmatic Immortal (75 gp)
3 - Silence Sei (50 gp)

Experience for aprticipation is as follows:

Ruby La Roux - 200
Silence Sei - 750
Amber Eyes - 250
Enigmatic Immortal - 450
Revenant - 350

As always, let me know if you have any vignette prompts that you would like to see.

[Taskmienster]

Exp and GP added.