Wiping the floor with our faces

[edseel]

JD sits up and lets Sally finish picking up.

He pulls the Ram skull out of the bag. One of the horns has been broken off a short way from the base. The piece of horn comes out of the bag shortly after.

“Damn thing was broken when I got back. Must have been … “ JDs sighs and lets his should slump

“ Must have been all that excitement last night. My fault really, should have mixed up some more mud as soon as we got here and properly set the thing.” JD pulls over a trash can and begins to scrap dried mud out from the inside of the skull. Primitive designs can be seen inside the skull before JD takes the spoon to them. “Big old … something blew right through it, but I think the shell is salvageable.” His eyes dart to Leslie without meaning to.

JD nods at Henry “Its true, so often these days the words “do not try this at home” get turned into “hey lets try this at home!” when its bottle rockets and bike stunts you just end up with a few broken bones … seems like around here it may have gone a bit further than that.”

“On the up side …. That game that the locals play? With the big old skull. That was a lot of fun.”

[HecateSkivvy]

All color drains out of Leslie's face. He fidgets a little, but remains silent.

The hat goes back on.

[Shar]

*As Sally raged Pandora slept curled up under her tarp cloak. She was dreaming of the events of the weekend battles, trying to make them make sense. It was difficult now in the after times, because her brain didn't work precisely how it used to. When the bottle hit the floor and exploded she jumped as though she had been kicked, then upon realizing what had actually happened she slowly sat up, then stood in the corner. Nobody seemed to notice her except Vic, but that kid noticed everything. Pandora looked at Vic who was wearing a wide, mischievous grin, her hair sticking in all directions and a puddle under her hand from... a bag of melting ice?

She waited for the lull in the action to be over and when Sally returned with the broom Pandora slipped out the door onto the deck and disappeared silently into the shadows*

[Merana33]

Bob looks up at Sallys rant and waits for him to finish his head of steam before commenting.

"Y'all aint all wrong son. Thing is, there allways were folks like us, in some way shape or form. Way I figger things, we is at the edge of the ol' map. way out where they write 'here there be monsters'. Cept these days they dont write that on the edge of the map, they just put this nice pretty border so folks forget the monsters exist."

"See, most people these days are sheep. They go where they're told, do what they're told, like what they're told. And they're happy for it. Ignorance is bliss and all that."

"Then there are the wolves, who prey on the sheep. Who chase them and use them for their own gain, because they're scared of the wolves. Sometimes the wolves even look like sheep themselves, but the true sheep know them for what they are, even if they cant quite put a finger on just why."

"And then there are those who by choice, fate, happenstance, or just dumb luck end up as sheepdogs. They're the ones who keep the wolves at bay. Who stand watch at night so the sheep can sleep quiet in their beds. George Orwell put it simply: People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. Them 'rough men' and womenfolk these days are sheepdogs. Some of 'em were sheep that decided enough was enough and decided to make a stand."

"The most dangerous ones though, they the ones that look so much like wolves, that the wolves mistake 'em for their own kind. Take 'em in, let 'em run with the pack. Sure, those sheepdogs scare the sheep, cuz to them, it's just another Wolf. And that's fine, because fear 'kin keep y'all alive. But see, that pretty black border on the maps these days.. that's the Sheepdogs, keepin the wolves at bay. And sometimes, it's the Sheepdogs just waiting for the time to strike."

[HecateSkivvy]

Leslie listens intently to Bob's extended metaphor. He is comforted, just a little, by the idea of protection from the wolves of the world; the actual, or the metaphorical. He thinks for just a moment, looking deeper, trying to distinguish his own species in any of these scenarios.

Shadow men, sheep. Definitely sheep.
Fae, sheep-dog.
Demons? Wolf? Sheep-wolf?

He saw a dog on a field trip once. The thing looked like a mop with legs. Real vicious. The farmer said it was raised among the sheep, nursed by them so it thought it was one of them. Was that dog a sheep? Can you be more than one at once? -shrug-

Extended metaphors make my head hurt. Things need to be more cut and dry for a change. All this talk of thermite, whatever that is, and who is a protector and who is a-

"Wait. The Dragons!" Leslie blurts out. "The dragons are sheepdogs for sure! I just realized, all this talk of killing dragons, and being in ire with the fey, and thermite and stuff... We can't be killing the dragons. We want these things to fall back into balance, with no side winning over the other and even change of power. The dragons' power, as a friend of mine put it, does not wax and wane with the change of seasons. If we lay a finger on either one of those beasts, we're robbing that side of its sheepdog. Which means that, in the off-season, that side is helpless and open to genocide by the ruling class! That's why it was such a big deal that the dragons even got involved in the first place! They, and those of us who were conscripted, the described half-fey, are the only thing keeping the balance of power in check. Without them, the waning court is as good as dead.

Hell, with that in mind maybe that's why there was an article in the paper about an increase in metal allergies. The courts are afraid of the rising conflict, and so they're putting more insurance out there just in case. Either way, we can't touch the dragons if we want this whole ordeal to pass by smoothly."

Leslie pauses for a second. "I realize the topic came and went, but I just had that thought. Also, hooray for togetherness and unity and whatnot." He says, with a little less enthusiasm. He needs to be careful how close to the center of this knot he gets. JD's broken skull over there is proof of that.