forum The Crimson Lantern Festival | Chinese and Japanese Influenced Roleplay | Closed

Started October 20, 2019 by @CasiCasino group

tune

Upon the arriving at the ninth court, the eighth judge opened the door. The doors made a deafening creaking noise because of the rust and possibly its age… however, it seemed as if that was part of the experience of entering the court.
There were a total of three figures inside; all males, one of which was Kaito who was in a uniform with the same design as the one on Ryuusei except for the fact that Ryuusei’s was gray and white while Kaito’s was gold and white.

”Dushi, come in” one of the other figures in the room said to the eighth judge as the judge in purple pointed to the figure who had called out who was in a silver uniform.

”That is the ninth judge and the owner of the court, Pingden” the eighth judge introduced the other judge to Ryuusei before he gestured to the other figure who was in complete white except for his hair which was all black.

”…and that is Diancheng, the sixth judge and your ‘friend’s’ advisor” the purple uniformed judge introduced his colleague.

The ninth judge, master of the court they were in, had a wide pair of green eyes, medium-lengthened asymmetrical shiny silver colored hair which reflected light, a teasing smile with dimples, and a chain blade strapped around his waist.

The sixth judge who accompanied Kaito had, as mentioned, black hair which was short and neatly set, a completely white uniform with sharp golden shoulder pads and elbow pads. The uniform of the sixth judge had one accessory which definitely stood out which was the uniforms illuminating pair of white, angel-like wings which were actually moving.

Upon hearing the eighth judge’s voice, the figure turned around and revealed a ridiculously young man’s face who had mystifying black eyes which went well with his hair and a pair of rectangular glasses with black edges. Unlike the ninth judge, the sixth judge did not have a single hint of a smile on his face. His facial expression was serious, sharp, and determined.
”Good evening…” the sixth judge greeted as he pushed his glasses up.

Kaito was the only one who was not standing, he turned his face just slightly towards the voice of the eighth judge but didn’t turn far enough to see Ryuusei.

Ryuusei bowed respectfully to the other two judges, greeting them as well, in a slightly lower tone. "Good evening, my lords."
The first thing he noticed as he bowed was the chain blade strapped around the ninth judge's waist, which made his eyes sparkle for a few seconds - he'd heard a lot about weapons like this, yet never saw one in person, and he found chain blades to be quite fascinating. Next, his eyes moved to the sixth judge, stopping on the angel like wings, wondering if they were actual wings capable of flight - and if they were, was this judge a tengu?

He also noticed Kaito, but the other did not notice him yet

”Well… shall we begin the next trail?” the ninth judge asked before the eighth judge raised his hand slightly.
”What’s the next step again?” the judge in the dark purple uniform asked as the one in silver giggled.
”We’re testing you both on two things at the same time; your endurance and the capability to stay silent” the ninth judge told the two visitors as Kaito looked up to him with a concerned look.

Endurance and ability to remain silent. He was okay with the first thing but the second one was a little weird. He turned his eyes towards Kaito, noticing the worry in the other's gaze.
Just what exactly were they going to do now?

The ninth judge snapped his fingers once as hundreds of chains revealed themselves to be hanging from the ceiling, tangled up and with blood trails along some of them.

The eighth judge’s eyes turned to an amethystine color once more as the two visitors started to float up, being carried by purple smoke and inserted into the chain maze.
”Your task—“ the ninth judge announced as the purple smoke released the two men after they’ve been safely put into the tangled chains, both in different places ”—is to make your way through the chains to reach the other side without making a sound louder than a wind blow… otherwise, the chains may pierce you…” the judge warned before he waved his hand nonchalantly then announced again…
”…and remember one thing, you are not allowed to give up because…” the ninth judge stepped on the ground loudly once as the floor turned into a spiked one with the spikes being taller than the judges. The judge giggled sinisterly as he and the others made their way to the side before looking up to them and…
”Good luck”

Ryuusei felt his stomach drop as soon as he saw the spiked floor and heard the judge's conditions - this was insane. These chains already made plenty of noise just by sitting on them. How on earth was he supposed to make his way through them without making a sound?
He suspected the chains would hurt him for real this time, judging from the sinister giggle of the ninth judge - clearely this man was more extreme than the eigth judge.
He searched for Kaito with his eyes, eventually finding him and making sure he was ok

Kaito had his eyes locked on Ryuusei — no, his eyes were locked on the exit behind the man. He nodded to Ryuusei once, mouthing…
I’ll try

With that communicated, he shook the chains, creating loud clanking noises which did not result in any damage whatsoever. Kaito nodded and mentally remembered this and he started crawling through the chains.

Upon the third time he moved, he failed to grab the chains which resulted in him cursing to himself after managing to grab another.
”Damn it…” two seconds after that, another sound covered the first… a scream.

The chains that were surrounding the man had grew sharp extensions, piercing the skin of the man before retracting back into their chain form. There was now blood dripping from the man and to the spikes below they fell.

This task seemed insanely difficult and with that judges standing to the side of the room, he realized something. There was enough space, barely enough for a person to stand to the side without getting pierced by the spikes.

That would be possible if he was able to make the fifteen feet leap that is…

Ryuusei hadn't moved at all during this time, observing Kaito's actions. Just as suspected, the chains did pierce the other when he failed to remain quiet. This test really wasn't gonna be easy.
He inspected his surroundings, discovering the exit behind him; he then took a moment to calculate his trajectory and the movement speed of the chains when they attacked. He had a small chance of making it, but it involved a lot of risks.
Walking on chains wasn't like walking on rope, it made a lot of noise and it was nowhere near as flexible, yet he had to try, if he wanted to get out of this.
He crawled through the chain maze like a snake, sweating constantly as he struggled to make as little noise as possible. Halfway to the exit, one of the chains rattled a tad bit too much, triggering the sharp extensions to appear again.
In a moment of extreme adrenaline rush, he dashed forwards, grabbing one of the chains ahead of him, using it to swing towards the exit. He felt the sharp extensions pierce his hands, the sharp pain making him bite his tongue as he swung forwards, letting go of the chain and reaching for the exit.
His bloody hands grabbed on to the edge, his body hanging above the spiked floor. He had to gather each and every single last drop of strength he had to pull himself up and roll over in the safe space of the exit

An officer was by the exit, assisting Ryuusei when he entered the opening.

”He’s quite brave there that one” the sixth judge turned to comment on Ryuusei’s performance as the eighth judge nodded in agreement.

Kaito managed to escape as well but… he used a much more extreme method.

The wall behind the judges was clearly too far for him to jump to without landing on the spikes… at least that was what he thought. From where he was, traveling towards the exit would take forever so he went to the ends of the chains, untying them. Once one of the longer ones was untied, he grabbed onto it and used it as a rope, swinging himself towards the wall and sliding down from there. He panted and struggled to breathe normally but as he looked up, the reaction from the judges was worth the effort.

Ryuusei remained sprawled out on the ground for a few moments, waiting for his adrenaline levels to calm down. He rose up when the officer showed up, and while his eyes were still on the ground, he noticed he had left bloody palm prints on the edge of the exit and on the ground.
After noticing the palm prints, he looked down at his own hands, only to find a bloody mess - they weren't kidding when they said the extensions were sharp. He took another look behind, just to make sure Kaito made it out.

The spikes lowered themselves beneath the floor as the officer guided Ryuusei down to the bottom floor. This court… wasn’t as straightforward as the others that came before it. The judge’s table was clearly not in the same room as the chains.

When Ryuusei arrived back at the first floor, Kaito can be seen on his knees in front of the judges, his face was bloody and darkened except for the blue character on his cheek.

The sixth judge and the eighth judge were leaning against the wall while the ninth judge was in front if Kaito…
Crack!!
The ninth judge kicked Kaito’s face so hard that his jaw cracked. The eighth judge had his eyes widened before he pulled the ninth judge away. The ninth brushed the eighth’s hands away as he went into another room. The sixth judge shook his head in disbelief.

Kaito on the other hand, got back to a straightened position and tenderly touched his face, sliding his finger down where the judge had kicked him.

(So I died over the weekend, I'm just going to have Koki wander around for a bit.)

(Sounds good to me)

Koki peaked her head out of her room, blinking a few times to get her sight back to normal colors. She rubbed her eyes and decided that it was clear enough to go to the kitchen and get some water and ice for her eyes, which were swollen from crying. But just in case, she called out a quiet: "Hello?"

The fourth judge peaked her head out.
”Yes darling? Anything I can help you with?” the judge was no longer in such an elegant dress but rather in quite a comfortable looking light blue sweater and black shorts. She still had her circular glasses on, confirming her eyesight problems.

Koki jumped back, she hadn't expected anyone to be out. "Sorry." She muttered, looking down. She seemed to have lost all her bounce from earlier and was dragging her feet. "I didn't mean to bother you."

The judge tilted her head before asking…
”Is everything alright?” she pushed her glasses back to readjust them after asking. In her hand was a cup, presumably filled with tea.

Ryuusei was just as shocked as the other judges. Why did he kick Kaito in the face? And when he was down no less?? Was he some kind of sadist??? Just what was going on?
"Hey, are you alright? How bad is it?" he asked, approaching Kaito with his arm reached out, ready to help him stand up, totally disregarding the bloody mess his hands were.

Kaito looked up and accepted Ryuusei’s hand.
”Yeah… yeah… I think so” Kaito touched his face again.

The sixth judge sighed.
”Pingden is a man who hates when people outsmart him… so by you untying the chains and using it as a rope to swing here… made him… whatever that was” he explained the reasonings behind the ninth judge’s action.

”So he wants people to play by his rules?” Kaito asked, rubbing the bruise the ninth judge left on his face.

”Exactly” the sixth judge answered simply.
”As you may see, the ninth court lack colors and has fewer officers than the other courts… you should be able to guess why” he continued as Kaito slowly nodded.

The eighth judge turned to Ryuusei before nodding in agreement to what the sixth said.
Be careful
He mouthed to Ryuusei with a shrug and a small smile.

The judge tilted her head before asking…
”Is everything alright?” she pushed her glasses back to readjust them after asking. In her hand was a cup, presumably filled with tea.

Koki nodded shakily. "Yeah." She bit her lip, she was lying. That was obvious enough. The nightmare just kept haunting the back of her brain.

The fourth judge knew well that the young lady was lying, her expression showed it clearly. Perhaps it was something she shouldn’t interfere with.
”If you say so dear” the judge slowly nodded, sipping from her cup.
”Oh yeah, someone wants to meet you. She’s waiting in the garden through the backdoor” the judge mentioned.

Koki nodded, rubbing her eyes again. "May I go to the kitchen to get some ice? My eyes are a bit swollen…" She trailed off, noticing how weird and distant she sounded.

Ryuusei's red flag sense had kicked back up again; if the ninth judge was capable of such an inappropriate reaction to someone outsmarting him, then he better be extra careful. Right now, he was no different than the lord he once worked for and therefore, he had to behave. A sore loser who is also probably a sadist was no joke at all, he could be very dangerous and unpredictable.

He nodded in agreement to the eight judge's warning, making a clear mental note to avoid the other man as much as possible, or if he had to, find a way to beat him at his own game. Oh and, to stay permanently vigilant and out of his reach - you might never know what he might do next.
He inspected Kaito's face a little bit, trying to make sure the other's jaw hadn't popped out of its socket or worse, got broken. The bruise already looked kinda nasty so he might need to have it checked out, just to be on the safe side