[Open]

[hornedomen]

Date & Time: June 24, during the day.
Location: Within the city.
Characters: Ico, OPEN.
Summary: A group of children bully Ico and a fight begins.
Warnings: Violence.


[Five children surrounded Ico. Their ages varied though they were all near his age. They teased him for his strange clothing and especially for his horns. Ico was smaller than they were and he had a tendency to wander alone, which made the children feel in control. He tried to understand for as long as he could. The recent attack along with the sudden change in the citizens' mood made it obvious to him that most citizens were only looking for someone to blame.

The event escalated quickly when they began to grab his Mark and pull his horns. Within seconds, it turned into a bitter fight. Children, Ico included, shouted at each other while punching and kicking.]

Comments

[got_it_memorized]

Axel couldn't really think of a reason why anyone would wear false horns either, but hey, whatever floated your boat. The fact that they were actual horns was interesting to him, because just as he couldn't quite figure why anyone would wear fake horns, he had a hard time conjuring what sort of biological necessity would cause an otherwise visibly human boy to evolve horns.

On that note, what would make this boy alone evolve horns? If he got picked on back home as well, that indicated they were an anomaly.

"So other people don't have them where you come from?"

Curiouser and curiouser.

[hornedomen]

"Only Sacrifices have horns," he said calmly. "We're born once every generation. Sometimes it's longer than that."

He ran his nail over the tip of his horn. It did not bother him to mention the fact that he was a Sacrifice. He was born into the role and he accepted it.

"My horns weren't always like this. It only grew out once the Time of Sacrifice came."

sorry for the wait!

[got_it_memorized]

Axel blinked, looking a little startled. Sacrifice? This kid was a lamb for the slaughter where he came from? Something squelched behind his sternum at the very idea.

'They'll skip right past that and destroy you outright.'

Shaking his head, Axel frowned.

"So what does, ah... what purpose does this Sacrifice serve?" he asked, genuinely curious. He wasn't the sort of person to condemn someone for their culture, but it seemed terribly unfair to him. More than that, it seemed this boy had just accepted his fate, which certainly would have made him sad were he capable.

It's okay!

[hornedomen]

"We kept Yorda in the castle. She stopped time there."

Now he looked distant. It was difficult for him to talk about Yorda. "The more time passed, the more of us were needed. They put us in stone coffins so our spirits stayed in the castle. There's enough to line a hall with them. We were all trying to keep her mother in so she wouldn't destroy everyone."

He shook his head. "It doesn't work."