TrippyNightmare

𝚂𝙸𝙶𝙽𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙳

This is too niche to run, I wrote it while shopping for designer clothing.

It's also close to the holidays and I'm a responsible GM, I can't host a RP that players will flake.

Burn Notice Style rp

Tentative, Monarch 101 is taking tf off so I might not have time but I like burn notice.

Death of the genre

I'm excited for the summer when RP will return along with new GMs, players and ideas.

I too just got the dreaded "silly 1st post on" about my avatar I feel obligated to March forward holding hands with affects parties into introduction threads to protect the innocent and attack the cold callers of this forum.

Profile pic complimenters consider yourself on a red notice.

Death of the genre

Yeah really good point silly, unfortunately the only community that has historically survived on the guild is The Recollections Universe. I really wish the mixtape ghost note would weigh on how the does it so GMs of today can learn and adapt their RPs because most will just drop dead especially after new years the cracks appear.

Death of the genre

The golden age of the guild is over, we're in our mad max era where RPs are scarce like water. GMs are ruthless warlords and everyone is fighting for scraps and there is not enough to go around.

When it comes to keeping it alive, hold the line and keep posting. Never flake or give up as a GM or player, roleplay cliques die with complacency and history repeats itself.

Shadows Over Alaska - Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Soundtrack


♫~𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛
𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎
𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢
𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎?~♫
𝙰𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚞𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙, 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 - 𝚗𝚘, 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎. 𝚂𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚝. 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚢𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚘𝚏 - 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢.

"𝙼𝚛. 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚆𝚘𝚕𝚏, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚜?" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚔 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚙𝚞𝚙 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚙 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚙'𝚜 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚖𝚋𝚛𝚊 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. "𝙸𝚝'𝚜.. 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞!" 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚛. 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚆𝚘𝚕𝚏 𝚐𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚓𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠.

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏 𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝙴𝚟𝚒𝚕 𝙺𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝙻𝚢𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝟺 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝, 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝙵𝚘𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚝 𝟷𝟷𝟷 𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚔𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙴𝚟𝚒𝚕 𝙺𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝙻𝚢𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝟻 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝟸𝟿 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚝, 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶 𝚍𝚊𝚢 - 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚍, 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚛, 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛, 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚢, 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚙 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚛, 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 - 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚜𝚜!

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢, 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍-𝚋𝚢𝚎 (𝚌𝚢𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚜) 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚋𝚢𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚜.




"𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚎𝚠𝚍...!"
𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍.

𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 '𝚋𝚊𝚍' 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚎-𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚗𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚊𝚝-𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚖𝚋𝚛𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚏 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 (𝙰𝚕𝚢'𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢), 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚋 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢, 𝚠𝚎𝚝, 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚑𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝙼𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚢𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝙻𝚒-𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚗𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛.

𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝙰𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑, 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜.

"𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜.. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝!" 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 - 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚑 - 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚑."

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙷 𝟷𝟶𝟷

Edgar Schmitt

Soldier - Fortress - Remorseful
"I didn't know, alright? How would I of known?"

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙷 𝟷𝟶𝟷

Wow. How are you changing the text font like that?

Oh, I see. The entire text is unicode.

@Einherjar 906

You like that?

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙷 𝟷𝟶𝟷

Schmitt, some time ago.

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢, 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜.

𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝙹𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚖𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘, 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎-𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚕.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚌 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜? 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 - 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍-𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙱𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗-𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?" 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎. "𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍𝚢." 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.

"𝙻𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘'𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚠𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚋!" 𝚂𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍-𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝙰𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗.

"𝙽𝚘, 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔!" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑.

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙷 𝟷𝟶𝟷

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚒𝚐' 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚕?"

𝙲𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔.

𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗' 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎." 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛-𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚕𝚎. 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡'𝚜 𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗-𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛.

"𝙾𝚑𝚑𝚑𝚑... 𝙾𝚑𝚑𝚑! 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚝 '𝚔𝚊𝚢? 𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝!" 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚘, 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙰𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛. "𝙶𝚊𝚑! 𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚙𝚎!" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍.

𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 '𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜' 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 - 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚐𝚞𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛/𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚘 - 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝'𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝙽𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 - 𝚠𝚑𝚢? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚖𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜-𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎, 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚝. 𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚙, 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙.

"𝚈-.. 𝚈𝚊𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚗!" 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚌𝚘-𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚐𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝'𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛.

"𝙳𝚎𝚢' 𝚠𝚞𝚣 𝚐𝚞𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚢𝚊𝚕 𝚢𝚎𝚠 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗 '𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠?" 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚣𝚎𝚍. 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕. 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 - 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.

"𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 - 𝙸'𝚖 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜." 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕, 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝙷𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚎.

"𝚆-.. 𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚢! 𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 - 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜!" 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘-𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎-𝚠𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜. 𝙰 𝚐𝚞𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜.

𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚑𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 - 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎, 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚞 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚙 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗.

"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚘-𝚓𝚘𝚌𝚔." 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚐𝚞𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍.

"𝙷-.. 𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗' 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜." 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝'𝚜.