Deactivated

is anyone still out there?

I'm going to assume we're waiting for Val?

Dusk grunted as he was tackled by the EVA soldier, Chainmail. His dagger was knocked out of his hoof and the wind was knocked out of his lungs. With his body racked by panic, fear, breathlessness, shock, and simply being weaker than others, he could do nothing about his assailant. He tried to force him off, but to no avail. Chainmail, in his EVA armor, was far too heavy. So Dusk simply covered his face with his hooves and did his best to avoid any sort of injury. Luckily and rather surprising to Dusk, the Prince of Ravens came in to stop Chainmail. As the soldier got off Dusk, he quickly sat up and looked himself over for any sort of serious injury. He was glad to find that he was in rather good condition. Once he was done checking himself, he looked up and around. His dagger was out of his reach, the Black Knight was still standing there, and the Prince of Ravens was still doing whatever it was he was doing to stop Dusk from using magic. Now he was even more helpless then before, he didn’t even have a weapon. He had calmed down a bit, though. With his thoughts straightened out a bit, he was able to think a bit more clearly. He saw absolutely no escape route, and dying pointlessly didn’t really suit him. He started getting up to his hooves, and as he did so he came up with a solution that would let him keep living, hopefully long enough to escape, and maybe even take some revenge, even the slim chance of completing his goal. There was just one problem with it, but his desire to survive, and the chance of power and revenge, outweighed it, if only slightly. Once Dusk had his hooves under himself again, he dusted himself off, readjusted his cloak and saddlebags, grabbed his hat and put it back on his head, then kneeled before the Prince. [colour=#996633] “I understand that I have very few options here, and many of them result in me having less skin and being a lot less lively. So, I’ve come to a conclusion, the only one that ends with me being alive, and having a chance at freedom again,” [/colour]he then took a deep breath, and lowered his voice a considerable amount[colour=#996633],” I, Dusk Umbrosa Verenae, offer myself as Tov’kin to the Prince of Ravens. I will serve him till he releases me, or till he dies, or till I die.”[/colour] He looked about a bit, then walked over to his fallen dagger, picked it up by the blade, and went back to kneeling in front of the Prince. He then took the dagger in one hoof and placed it against the soft center of his other hoof. “I swear this,” he then pressed the dagger in his hoof and pulled it down, cutting himself and letting blood flow out of his hoof, he then slammed his cut hoof on the ground, letting the blood slowly spread from it[colour=#996633],” in my own blood, which I would never betray.” [/colour]He then looked up slightly, so he could see the Prince past the brim of his hat, waiting to see how his offer would be taken.

You need to do something to get your character involved.

I did, I'm currently backed up against a wall, threatning the Black Knight, Chainmail, and The Prince with a dagger. I was waiting for someone to respond to that.

So, who is planning on posting next?

[colour=#996633]“Chainmail,”[/colour] Dusk repeated once the soldier told him his name. He pondered on it for a few moments, then returned his focus to Chainmail when he asked him what he was doing. Before he could say anything though, a husky voice directly behind him spoke up. Dusk turned about to see a great, black armored stallion. Without thought, he tried to take hold of the magic source, but before he could, the black armored pony struck him with an amazingly strong hoof, sending him across the corridor to strike the wall. He gave a grunt as the hoof hit him and another when his back hit the wall. He sat there, catching his breath and trying to focus his thoughts again as the Black Knight, apparently, went on a tirade about his combat prowess and all that would happen to Dusk. He didn’t really listen; he was busy trying to figure a way out of this. Once he started to formulate a plan, it was shattered when another voice spoke. Dusk lifted his head and turned it to see who the voice belonged to. His breath caught and his heart raced. The Prince of Ravens was standing there, ordering the Black Knight to stand down. He continued to look at the Prince until he, for the first time, heard the word ‘Bel’Rahmane’. He reached up and groaned when he realized his hat was missing. So, all the ponies surrounding him knew he was a unicorn, one that used magic. He started standing again, thinking on what he should do. Maybe if he caught the Prince off guard, he could escape. He once again tried to take hold of the magic source, but found he was unable to do so. He tried again, and again, and after his third failure he knew that, somehow, the prince was stopping him, or at least, making it harder for him to use magic. Whatever it was, Dusk wasn’t able to use magic. He started to hyperventilate, his pulse racing, his eyes rolling this way, then that. He pushed himself flat against the wall, reaching into his saddle bag and pulling out a small dagger. He could see all of his exits, all of his plans, come crashing down right on his head. He started pointing the tiny weapon at all of the ponies surrounding him, panic taking his senses and throwing them out the window. [colour=#996633] “No, you won’t take me. I’ll find a way out, I always do. I can’t be trapped, I’m Dusk Umbrosa Verenae!” [/colour]he started to babble. He kept trying to get a hold of the magic source, each time he failed causing him to try harder. [colour=#996633]“You won’t kill me, you filthy, soft hoofed Blood!”[/colour] he shouted, pointing his dagger at one after another of the ponies around him.

Dusk froze as he turned from the door. There, standing right in front of him, was an EVA soldier. The soldier was standing with a spear in his hooves, looking straight at him. At first, Dusk thought he was dead; no doubt this was the first of a whole battalion of soldiers sent to find him. [colour=#00ff00]“H-h-halt!” [/colour]the soldier said in a shaky voice. This gave him pause, and caused him to look at the soldier again. This time he noticed that the hooves holding the spear were shaking, and that the soldier didn’t look very confident. So, no back up, no great warning call going throughout the palace, and best of all, no Rahmane. Knowing that no soldiers, or Rahmane, were coming after him, and that it was only this one soldier that had found him gave him more confidence. Not to mention that this soldier seemed rather scared. Dusk tilted his head and gave the soldier a smile. [colour=#996633]“Now now, no need to shout. My name is Umbrosa Verenae,”[/colour] he said, his smile getting a little bigger[colour=#996633],” and I’d really like it if you stayed silent.” [/colour]Once he finished, he stepped a bit closer to the soldier. [colour=#996633]“Now, I’ve given you my name, care to give me yours?” [/colour]he asked, tilting his head to the other side. [colour=#996633]“Oh, and don’t even think of using that,”[/colour] he pointed at the spear with one hoove.

Dusk wandered deeper into the palace, staying to the servants’ corridors. He avoided other ponies as best he could, which was rather easy since it seemed all of the servants were located somewhere else. He occasionally passed doors, but he didn’t dare open them. He knew that if he was caught, he was dead. He was fairly certain that he could get to his goal and get out without being caught though. Despite all of his certainty, he was still lost within a few corridors. That did little to diminish his confidence though, so he continued to wander down corridors, getting ever deeper and deeper into the Palace. After several minutes of walking, Dusk finally decided that simply walking and trusting to luck wasn’t getting him anywhere. From what he could tell of his surroundings, he was in a storage area, quite possibly a pantry since the last few doors he had passed had the distinct odder and sound of bustling kitchens. He was actually rather nervous, all it would take was one servant heading out for or returning with ingredients and he was caught. He stopped beside one door and leaned against the wall with a sigh. [colour=#996633]“I should have planned this better”[/colour] he said to himself. He tilted his head slightly to the side as he started thinking on what he should do. He didn’t get very long to think before he heard the sound of hooves coming his way. He jerked his head up and turned it to look down the hallway behind him. He didn’t see anything but he didn’t wait around. Without hesitation, or thought, he opened the door closest to him and slipped inside. He closed it as softly as possible and placed his ear against it. He didn’t let loose his breathe until the tapping of hooves had come and gone. [colour=#996633]“That was a close one”[/colour] he said to himself. “Huh, what’s that?” a somewhat dusty voice said from further in the room. Dusk spun about, his cloak swirling with his movement. His eyes jerked about the room until he found the source of the voice. It was a rather old looking pony. He might have had a rather vibrant mane once, but it was now gray with age. The old pony was sitting amongst several sacks of flour, and he was wearing a well kept servant’s uniform. He was currently struggling to his hooves, squinting at Dusk as he lifted himself from his makeshift bedding. “Who are you? Have you come to get some flour for the kitchens?” he asked. Dusk shifted nervously. The old pony didn’t seem to be any threat, but looks could be deceiving. [colour=#996633]“Um, err, no”,[/colour] he stammered[colour=#996633],” I was just… checking to make sure everything was… good… in here.” [/colour]He thought as quickly as he could while he blundered through the sentence. [colour=#996633]“And it would seem everything is. Um, what are you doing here, anyway?” [/colour]he asked. [colour=#000000]“Me? Well it’s my job, I’m supposed to make sure that there is no unauthorized taking of flour”, [/colour]at that point he gave a loud snort, a somewhat startling sound[colour=#000000],”In truth, it’s just a nice way of saying ‘stay here old one, no need for you to get in the way’[/colour]. Ah well, it at least gives me plenty of time to catch up on my sleep” he finished with a rough laugh. Dusk gave a halfhearted laugh along with him, edging slightly towards the door. [colour=#996633]“Well, I won’t stop you from your rest, I’d best get back to the, err, kitchens”[/colour] Dusk said, half turning and reaching his hoof toward the door. He stopped in mid-reach though. A thought had struck his brain, and he turned with a slight grin to look at the old servant again. “But, before I go, do you think you could give me directions?” [colour=#000000]“What? Directions? Don’t they teach you new servants how to get around here anymore? Ah well, where you need to get to?”[/colour] he asked. [colour=#996633] “To the quarters of the Prince of Ravens, I need to get some dinner to him.”[/colour] [colour=#000000] “Well well, a rather important job, even if it is just his dinner. Come over here, I’ll tell you how to find the way”[/colour] he said. Dusk’s grin had become much wider as he stepped out of the store room, giving his thanks to the old servant pony as he gently closed the door behind himself.