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The Royals are preparing for a large event. The assigning of pages to their knights is possibly the biggest ceremony the Kingdom of Ruddilia celebrates, after all. Everyone is invited, and it is happening later in the evening.

Fortunately for the Wasteland, this means that they have a large crowd to get their message across to.

wow what an interesting prompt for the beginning of the rp omg

anyways, please remember to read the rules in the sign-ups before we begin! otherwise, lets get started!

(It is currently daytime. The ceremony happens in the evening.)

Noah sighs as he pulls his leg through one of the legs of his dress pants. He hates dressing in restrictive clothing, but he doesn't have much of a choice. He doesn't want to get lectured by his mother, after all. Besides, it's his turn to conduct the ceremony this year, so he needs to prepare himself well for the Kingdom. He pulls the other pant leg up and turns to the mirror.


Tasha is seated at her favourite spot in the castle: the plush seat next to one of windows in the Royal Library. She flips the pages of her book eagerly as she reads them. She loves reading fantasy stories about elaborate wars. Surely this would never happen to her kingdom.


The Wasteland Leader carefully walks up the steps to her home. The wood from Wasteland trees make for surprisingly sturdy homes. It was well constructed when it was built, and is still holding up. She opens the door and hears the familiar creak of it. She then closes it behind her, takes off her shoes, and walks to the meeting room. She sits at her spot and waits for her Second in Command. They have an important event to attend to later in the day, after all.


Twig silently watches the Kingdom from the cover of a tree large enough to peer over the Kingdom's walls. Why the tree hasn't been cut down, they have no idea. They attentively watch so that they can report back to their leader if anything serious occurs.

Queen Lamonia just finished applying her elaborate makeup as she gets up and sighs. She always gets ready for big events by herself, as NOBODY else can seem to do it to her liking. Is it really that hard? Shooing the thought away, she glances at herself in the mirror one more time and puts on a perfectly fake smile. How she despises these events and interacting with people. On the bright side, she gets the attention that she craves, so why not put herself through it? She finally leaves the room and starts making her way to the event hall.


Damien sits in his makeshift study, the best that he could craft up in the Wasteland. He scribbles down spells that he's able to pull from his memory in preparation for tonight. He doesn't have much to do right now, and is passing time until he gets called on by the other members of the Wasteland.

Riesbyfe,somewhat bothered by all the commotion,turned to look outside the window leaving the broom he was holding rest on the wall. He shook his head,as if he was waking himself up,upon remembering that today the pages would be assigned to their knights and headed outside. He was lucky enough to have a cozy place for himself rather than live in the barracks,but it was a mild inconvenience during occasions such as these where he had to move from one place to another. After a few minutes of walking,he reached the castle but turned and went to the side to reach his barracks where his armor was kept.


Enzo grunted as she crossed her legs while laying on her bed. "Why they gather without me,huh?" she asked Hadeed,not really minding the fact that they could be busy with chores in the little hut they lived in. "The leader can't be afraid of me...right?"

Clef

Mumbling quick 'good morning's to whoever they pass by as they stroll through the kingdom, Clef runs through the schedule of today in his head yet again. It's a big day, after all. Forced to be quiet at the dinner table and listen to their father ramble on and on about this very ceremony, the one that changed his life forever... or something like that. Truth be told, Clef only remembered hating the taste of mashed potatoes of that dinner and the strained smiles when their dad looked at them.

They hope this ceremony will be just like their dad said, or at least they guess they do. Arriving at the castle doors, they turn and walk in the direction of the barracks, seeing a familiar tall face.

"Hey Riesbyfe, you ready for the evening?"

David

"Yep! It's a biiiig day for everyone today, so you have to be extra polite to all the adults, okay?"
Seated in the middle of a half-circle with children to her left and right, David strategizes a plan to not get the Wasteland kids all too riled up. Maybe they know, maybe they don't, but children can for sure sense uncertainty in anyone, no matter how well you are at hiding it. They need to know not to be afraid.
"Now! Everyone, look at Steven over here..."

"No, you may certainly not do some 'crazy cool stunts' during my routine. You have your own moment, do you not?" Heart sighed as she walked down the hall alongside her comedic partner Ava, both in full performance garb. They were discussing today's (or tomorrow's, or after tomorrow's, they are very flexible) show, very important business stuff of course. Ava frowned and whined in reply to their sibling's rejection. "But. Cerys. C'mon! You're no fun, seriously." They crossed their arms, "Anyways, I bet I can make the Queen laugh first. You wish you had my lyrical genius."
"Yes yes, clearly. Until you fail and they fall for my impressive sound effect skills. Can you make a realistic honking noise using only your vocal chords?" She wasn't exactly expecting an answer, it was a brag before it was a question. And yet. "Cerys I don't know what those are." She sighed yet again. "...I know, I know." She gave their sibling a pitiful pat on the back and paused. "I feel like we are forgetting something quite important today..?" Heart looked to Ava, who just replied with a shrug. "Well that is encouraging, isn't it. I suppose we shouldn't worry about it for now." Ava threw an arm around Heart's shoulders and grinned. "Truly, worry we need not!" They continued on their merry way, simply terrorizing the halls before they end up bumping into someone or something.

---

There are many, many benefits to being an early bird, Hadeed believed. They get to prepare things without worrying about them later, finish up their little chores before noon, and maybe even find some free time to stare at the very scenic Wasteland nature. It's a perfect and productive schedule. Or, well, it would be. They looked over at Enzo and halted their search for the Best Belt Of The Day to reply to her.

"Whaaat? No, no. Not at all. Why would they be scared of you? I mean, look at you. You have a big heart, you're kind, and you're super... friendly!" It's not like they really mind Enzo's antics- in fact, they are a big fan. But so early in the morning? This time is really not Brain Time for Hadeed. They can barely formulate a thought, let alone translate thoughts into spoken words. However, it is Enzo. They try their best to smile at her. "I'm pretty sure they're just taking their time with it all. If they were scared, they'd call me instead of you, right?" He tried his best to rationalize it in simple enough concepts for her to grasp.

Riesbyfe instinctively turned his head at the direction the wind carried the familiar voice,his eyes meeting Clef's. "Good morning! The question you should be asking is if you're ready for the evening." he chuckled. "Yeah,I suppose I'm mentally ready,I'm heading to the barracks to clean and polish my armor for the occasion." he properly replied. There were also a few knights that Riesbyfe could recognise heading there as well,most likely for that very same reason. He humored the idea that the armors were collecting dust due to their lack of use which only meant that they were living peaceful times. "I'm sure you've already been lectured about the ceremony so I will spare you the talk and just add that everything will go smoothly." he added.



"Guess so..." Enzo replied under her breath. "Doesn't help that everyone's yappin' about today's event..." she stood up and looked around,trying to find something to occupy herself with,trying to supress the thought of just barging in the meeting. She didn't exactly know where it was but that was nothing yelling and maybe some intimidation couldn't solve. "Tch,need any help?"

(I am going to be doing timechecks in every post I make so that theres no confusion about major events : ]
It is currently still daytime.)

Noah stares himself down in the mirror. Good enough. He thinks as he looks at the clothing he's wearing. He grabs the stack of papers on his desk. They all are about how the ceremony is going to work. He will be introduced by his mother, the Queen, and from there he will be put to the test. He walks into the hall and stumbles into the Comedy Duo, causing his papers to fly everywhere. "Sorry about that!" He says as he starts to collect the papers.

The Wasteland Leader realizes she forgot to invite the Head Fighter and the Mage to the meeting. She quickly leaves the meeting room and puts her shoes back on. She walks down the stairs of her home and walks over to the Mage's home. She gives the door a knock in the Wasteland combination. It is important that every citizen of the Wasteland does this, so that if anyone tries to infiltrate their ranks they can be found out through something as simple as a knock.

Tasha continues to eagerly read her book. The story unravels in front of her, and she smiles as one side wins over the other. She wanted them to win anyways, they needed the resources. She flips page after page as the war concludes.

As he hears the special knock upon the door, Damien puts his writing utensils down and stands up. He runs a hand through his hair and adjusts his glasses as he walks down the hall. He sees the Wasteland Leader as he opens the door. "Good morning, I hope you're doing well today." He smiles genuinely and does a little bow. "How may I be of service?"

"Ah!!!" "Oh," Ava and Heart exclaimed in unison, a bit too shocked about getting bumped into. Despite them clearly not paying attention to where they were going. Heart, very embarrassed about this, apologized in an immediate fashion with multiple "sorry"s and bowed after regaining their footing. Ava made an acknowledging 'O!!!' noise and grinned before Heart put an arm behind their back and forced them to bow too. They gave her a look that communicated a 'we don't need to do that!' and she rolled her eyes in response. Ava finally straightened their back and faced a Noah collecting his papers. "Sorry about that, bud!! You seriously need to invest in a bag for your papers or something, though." They giggled and, without really thinking about it, went in to help Noah gather everything. "Are you good? Nervous about something?"

Heart could never wrap her head around how casual Ava is with the royals, and especially Noah. Are they supposed to be befriending the enemy this closely? Or is this all just part of the plan? Ava isn't the best at communicating these kinds of things and the way they treat Noah makes it almost seem like they just don't consider Noah an enemy, despite him being the Queen's son. Strange. Ava wouldn't be that stupid, though. She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts. "Oh! Where are my manners, I should assist your highness as well."

---

Hadeed's smile grew bigger. "Actuaallyy, yes I do," She picked up two belts and displayed them for Enzo. "Which one do you think looks better on me? For today, I mean. Very important event and all that." The belts looked... pretty much the same. One less than a shade darker than the other. No other differences to be seen. "Oh, and, after this, we can definitely go figure out why they didn't invite you. Lecture them, even. Don't worry. I got your back."

Enzo smirked upon hearing that 'I got your back',bringing back a lot of both pleasant and less pleasant memories with their various encounters with the wilderness that is the Wastelands. "Both look good." she quickly snapped back. After some hmming she pointed at the lighter one. "Maybe they'll invite us today. It's still early." she added as she cracked her knuckles. They were aware that the meeting was today,just not when. Enzo has threatened and talked back to the Leader a couple of times but she hasn't laid her hands on her out of fear for her magic and the fact that everyone's loyal to her,meaning they would make themselves the enemy of the entire wasteland.

(Time: Still daytime.)

Noah laughs. "No need to be so formal. I'm not like my mom." He continues to collect the papers. "Well, today's the day of the huge ceremony. I'm hosting for most of it this year, so I'm pretty nervous. These sheets contain pretty much the entire event and how it's supposed to go." He counts the papers in his stack and realizes he is a few short, so he paces the hall trying to find the last few.

The Wasteland Leader ensures that her hood is down. Nobody is to see her identity except her Second in Command, after all. "Come to my home at noon. We are going to discuss the plans for tonight." She says quietly. She gives the Mage a nod, then begins to walk towards the Fighters' Hut.

Tarin nodded little greetings and hummed little "excuse mes" as she pushed her way through the streets on the way to the meeting room. She choked down her panic. It was unlike her to be late, but she had run into some disturbances this morning that made her lose track of time.

Now though, as she arrived at the meeting room, fixing her hair as she moved, eyes carefully scanning the chair before sitting down on it, her worries quieted a little. She took a deep breath, relieved to find that she seemed to be the first person there. She had an image to uphold, after all, between her appearance and her punctuality. She was the face---literally---of the Wastelands, since no one knew what their leader looked like.

She smiled at the thought. It was strangely comforting.

*~*~*~*

Leo might have been having a small breathing fit, even though the ceremony tonight was worlds away. Anxiety pricked at him from head to toe---what if his knight didn't like him? What if he just wasn't cut out for this, like his family said?

He shook it from his thoughts and straightened his uniform a little bit, trying to look as nice as possible to quell his burning thoughts. "Hey, Jill... How're you feeling?" He decided to ask, plastering his best 'I'm doing great' smile on to try and hide his crisis a little bit better. "This is so exciting, right?"

As the Wasteland Leader walks away, Damien nods and shuts the door. The plans for tonight... yes. There is so much to talk about and prepare-- best get started now. He walks through his home and into his bedroom, changing into his 'formal' attire. There is still time to kill, so he starts gathering all his notes that the others at the meeting may need.

Her Majesty continues on her way to the ceremony area. It's been awfully quiet today... at least for her. It seems everybody is occupied like usual. It is a big day, however. Not that she cares. Knights and their pages.. what's even the difference? They all obey her anyway. No-- that's such a rude thing to think! She at least tries to remember all their names. Best to be on their good side when she'll need them the most.

Clef

Clef puts a hand to their chest in an offended motion. "Me? Not being completely up-to-date ready-to-go ready? Oh Ries, you wound me!" They aren't actually annoyed, made clear by the smile on their face, but it's not like they were telling clear-cut truth. Clef has a vague idea of what was going to happen, sure, but indicating that they weren't quite sure about the act of being assigned a page - to suddenly have a responsibility over someone's life and training - it wasn't a comforting thought. He opted to repress these excessive emotions.

Riesbyfe's addition of the fact that it'd all go smoothly did soothe Clef though, if only momentarily. "Sure it will! I bet everyone will be praying their hearts out to be a page for Sir Riesbyfe." He chuckles.

David

"Hm? What was that, Steven?" David looks over at the fox plushie in her hand with feigned confusion. She hears the children around her waiting in suspense. It's not exactly a surprise on what's going to happen next, but setting a routine for them has proven to be quite succesful. "It's time for free play? Why, thank you for reminding me. Guess I better say that to everyone then!"

Of course, the 'them' in question had already heard this verbal conversation, and announced that to David in excited voices. Waving her hand, the children took this as a sign to go out and play. Different games were already set in notion, varieties of tag and hide 'n seek ongoing, so David was all alone to her own devices.

She looks at the fox plushie, suddenly looking more defeated than ever, no longer held alive by the imagination of children. She takes a quick glance around to make sure no one's looking, then hugs the plush. Please let everything be alright.

Ava shot Heart a look that said 'I told you so' and she rolled her eyes again, deciding it is no time to deal with Ava's strange Noah related friendliness. While Ava was too busy speaking reassurances to Noah ("You got this buddy, seriously, your charms? crazy levels." "You'll totes kill this whole ceremony thing." and some others Heart didn't care enough to catch), Heart seemed to perk up at Noah's mention of a "huge ceremony".
She held back her urge to ask Ava if this here is where, when, and how they die.
She took a deep breath and looked at the prince. "Huge... Huge ceremony? I apologize for my silly question here but, I seem to have. Forgotten. About such an important event," She gave Ava a nervous smile before looking back at Noah. "We seem to have forgotten about such an important event. When is it, again?" Ava pretended not to hear any of that. Cerys will definitely deal with this.

---

Hadeed wiped a tear that wasn't there and sniffled. "Enzo, you save my life every day. Did you know that? Thank you." They grabbed the ever so slightly lighter belt and started pondering on where to wear it. "Also, yes, most likely! It is a bit early in the day, you're right. As I said, they could be taking their time with it. Well." They straightened their back and exhaled a little. "Until then, do you have anything you need to do?"

(Time is still daytime.)

The Wasteland Leader paces herself as she walks to the Fighters' Hut. She had to use a bit of her magic the other day to practice for tonight, so she was slightly tired. But she was prepared to send a message to the Kingdom, no matter what she had to do. As she walked, she could see small Wasteland children pointing at her from the corner of her eye as they played. The overworked caretaker seemed to be holding a plushie. She only smiles (although none could see it because of her hood) and continues her path. As she reaches the Fighters' Hut, she knocks at the door in the Wasteland combination.

Noah smiles towards Ava and thanks them. He finds a paper from his stack wedged into a door and gently pulls the paper out. He still has a few more missing papers to find. He pauses his search upon hearing Heart's question and turns to face them. "Well, the ceremony is happening tonight. I thought someone would have told you two since you have a small performance scheduled during it."

Twig carefully hops between multiple trees that border the kingdom walls. They keep wondering why they haven't been chopped down yet, but shake the thought from their head as they concentrate on hopping quietly between trees. They stop at a tree close to a window at the castle. What a great find. They think as they settle into the cover of the tree while watching the window. They can just vaguely see someone dressed up in royal garments. That must be the prince. They slowly get further into the cover to make sure they aren't spotted as they continue to watch.

Tarin yawns, taking out her shortswords and sharpening both of them, one by one, waiting for a knock, something, anything. She bit her lip and thought again about how little time they actually had. It's fine. Everything will work out fine. Still, she had a looming sense of dread hanging over her that made her stomach tighten with every breath. Something would happen tonight, and it all depended on how prepared they were.

She gulped. It will be fine. Tarin just had to believe that it would all work out with the proper amount of planning.

"Ahh you flatter me too much." Riesbyfe always enjoyed Clef's company. He admired how much more expressive they were and how many times he has made a fool of himself trying a burrow even a spec of their charisma. Both their skills and honor are commendable,making them a fine knight. "Already calling me Sir?" he chuckled,harmlessly punching their shoulder since it was clear Clef was messing with him. "It'd be an interesting change,having to take someone under your wing... It doesn't feel like much time has passed since we were also training under the care of others but now we have to make our teachers proud by putting what they've taught us into good use." he paused for a second. "You'll make an exemplary knight and master,I know it." he added.



Enzo smiled and pridefully crossed her arms thinking her decision was more impactful than it actually is due to the praise she received. "Heh,what can I say?" she scuffed. "Hmmm,I-" she said as she tried to think of something she had to do before a particular knock on the door interrupted her train of thought,which was eventually about to derail anyway. Her head snapped at the door before she realized that there was a set rhythm the knocking was following. She quickly walked towards the door and opened it wide open. "'bout time you damn-" she yelled before noticing the cloak. Infuriated,she glaced to the side muttering something before turning to the Leader again. "What'd you want?" she asked,with a much more quiet tone. She was going for a friendly one but couldn't exactly hit the mark.

(Time: Still daytime, a bit late into the morning.)

The Wasteland Leader chuckles quietly. "Come to my home at noon. We are discussing tonight's plans." She whispers, before turning and walking back to her home. She paces herself again, but feels considerably less tired as she begins to think about plans for the evening. She soon passes the same group of children again, and watches as a child follows her from the corner of her eye. The child begins to pull at her cloak, and she turns to look at them.

Jill shed her warm jacket and tossed it over the post of her bed, reaching instead for a plain cowl that she reluctantly tugged over her curly hair. A squeaky voice interrupted her ever-running thoughts and she turned to see her fellow future page, Leo, fiddling timorously with his uniform. The poor kid looked like he was about to have a conniption.

"You look like you're about to have a conniption," she bluntly informed him, before giving him a reassuring grin. "I'm nervous, too, believe it or not. I mean..." Jill's usually confident tone shifted slightly, her shoulders drooping a fraction of an inch. "I know I'll do great, and all, sure, but...well, I know I can be a bit... much." The young girl gave Leo a small smile and a tiny, sad shrug. "I guess I just hope I don't drive my knight up a wall to the point he'd rather have someone else...so, yeah, I'm nervous too, like I said."

---

Metal clinked against metal as Mev placed his goggles down on the table, fussing over a small gadget in his hands. It was meant to be a sort of capturing tape, but something simply wasn't measuring up properly in his design; rather than being able to manipulate it like a giant lasso, the specially invented electromagnetic fabric just kept getting attracted to the charge he put out and wrapping around him instead. It had taken the twelfth time in a row of him ending up having to forcibly unwind the cloth off of his arm and shoulder before he decided that it might be a good idea to take a break.

Donning his copper headgear once more, the young mage apprentice wandered in the direction he suspected his mentor might be. It was always incredible to see Damien at work - his skill was unmatched, and was one of the reasons Mev had sought him out in the first place. As expected, the mage could be found poring over detailed notes, and curiosity sparked. "Good day," he said, quietly announcing his presence.