Been Locked Inside This Cage and I Don't Think I Can Break It | Open

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Who: Darin Altway and YOU
Status: Open
Where: The Starmetal Forge and a Paladin Prison
What: Darin has been publicly arrested! Looks like he's got to get over some serious trauma before he does something about it!
Warnings: TRAUMA. Lots of guilt. Self-deprecation. Big Sads followed by Big Glads
Notes: Prompts will have their own starters which will all be open!

Comments

3/3

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[As the guards haul Zelda through the doors, they yank her into the courtyard in the center of the prison. Their destination is another cell block far away from the one Darin had been thrown in. Several dozen guards go about their patrols and a few even move to help contain the rowdy princess.]

[None of them knew what to expect when the earth itself began to rumble. When the roar of someone began to rise above the tumult. Several bark orders, not sure what was going on and guards begin to mobilize. But the rampart that housed Darin's cell begins to shake violently. Cracks begin to split up the side, tearing through like a shockwave as they begin to spiral up to wall's apex where they converge and explode like a volcano erupting. The force of the blast is enough to knock several guards and soldiers off their feet and as the debris clears...]

[There stands Darin. He stands atop the broken rampart, eyes fixed on the courtyard ahead. As if he knew where Zelda was. He raises a hand, broken shackle hanging from his wrist.]

[And thrusts it forward.]

I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!

[His booming voice cuts through the air, clear as a bell. A clarion call.]

I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF PEOPLE TELLING ME WHO AND WHAT I AM! CORSAIRS, PALADINS YOU'RE ALL THE DAMN SAME! SO CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR ARMADAS AND RULES THAT NO ONE GIVES ONE GOOD GODS DAMN ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO NEED HELP THE MOST!! SO IF YOU ALL ARE GOING TO BE SO BLIND...

I'LL BE THE ONE TO WATCH OVER THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD!!

[He turns in place and thrusts his thumb over his shoulder. To the shooting star hammer emblem that adorns his back.]

LIKE A SHOOTING STAR, I'LL CARRY THE WISHES OF THE MASSES! ON THESE SHOULDERS, I'LL CARRY THE HOPES OF EVERYONE!!

[Once more, he turns and pounds his fists together in front of him.]

AND WITH THESE TWO HANDS, I WILL WORK TIRELESSLY. I WILL BREAK DOWN YOUR STUPID SYSTEM AND FORGE IT INTO SOMETHING NEW!! SOMETHING BETTER!! DO YOU HEAR ME?! FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD I, DARIN ALTWAY, DENOUNCE THE PALADINS AND CORSAIRS!! I'LL DESTROY YOUR CONVENTIONS! SUBVERT YOUR EXPECTATIONS!! I'LL CARVE MY OWN PATH THROUGH THIS WORLD!!

I AM DARIN ALTWAY!!! AND WITH THESE HANDS I WILL FORGE A BETTER TOMORROW FOR EVERYONE!!!

[He lowers his gaze and leaps off the rampart to land with a crash in the courtyard below. Slowly, he rises, and begins to march forward.]

Now get your hands off of my Zelda. I have an oath to uphold.

[multidisciplinary]

Let me go!!

[ Zelda struggles against the guards as they try to haul her away, hanging onto the bars of Darin's cell as tightly as she can.

Darin isn't saying anything. He's not reacting to her words at all-- he's just staring straight through her, like his mind is actually thousands of miles away. Is it because of the sealing cuffs? Are they suppressing even his consciousness now?? ]

Fight them, Darin! [ Zelda pleads. ] I know you're stronger than this!

[ But he doesn't so much as blink.

The guards manage to grab Zelda's hands and pry her fingers from around the iron bars. Gauntleted hands clamp down on her upper arms, squeezing so tightly that she cries out in pain. They lift her offer her feet and haul her away. ]

I said let me go! [ She kicks her legs out, trying to trip up the guards. She can't leave Darin yet! She can't! ] Darin! Darin!!

[ They drag Zelda out of the cellblock and into the courtyard, where her commotion brings a few guards running. ]

What 'n the seven hells is all the racket?

[ But before the guards holding Zelda can answer, everyone in the courtyard feels the ground suddenly begin to shake under their feet. It feels like an earthquake, the epicenter of which is right beneath the block Zelda was just hauled out of. A fearsome roar erupts from it, something barely recognizable as human.

All of the sudden, the stone building explodes, sending dust and debris clattering through the courtyard. The guards all raise their arms to shield their faces, squinting as they try to make out the figure standing in the wake of the wreckage.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!"

Zelda's heart stumbles in her chest as she hears Darin's voice cut through the dusty air.

She stands motionless, captivated as he makes his declaration before anyone and everyone in the courtyard. A few guards fumble with their shellphones, some to call for backup and others to record the scene unfolding before them. But Zelda doesn't even notice them. She barely even thinks to breathe. The din of the courtyard and the guards and prison walls, it all sort of falls to the background for a moment. There's only Darin... and where minutes ago his spirit was little more than smoking coals, now he is ablaze. A polar star. A guide for the lost.

This is his answer to her question. This is who he is.

He... he really is a hero. ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[The shock fades as the guards realize they have a catastrophe on their hands. The sealing shackles— he broke them. Shackles meant to suppress his powers fall away from his wrists like they were rusted iron. They don't know what to do. If he can rip apart a cell block, he'd make short work of them.]

[But they're Paladins, dammit! They have a job to do! They have to contain this! And what's worse, any prisoners in the now wide-open cell block are using this as a means to escape as well. All it takes is one Paladin to move.]

WHO CARES HOW STRONG HE IS! IF HE DOESN'T WANT TO MAKE HIS WHOLE CREW LOOK BAD, HE'LL HAVE TO GIVE UP!!

[Weapon drawn, one of the captains leads a charge as a dozen armed Paladins rush Darin down.]

[The whole time, Darin marched forward with little urgency, eyes locked on Zelda. But the declaration that he'll simply give up to protect his loved ones and crew? That causes a flash of righteous anger to erupt from him.]

You're gonna put the weight of my "crimes" on my crew?! Fine then! Just who the hell do you think I am?!

[Unarmed, Darin steps forward as the soldiers and guards close in. But he's not raising his arms or settling into any sort of stance...]

[He lets them get in close. Lets them attack him.]

[For as long as anyone has known Darin, he's always been reluctant to show any martial skill. When he fights, it's sloppy. He's like a brawler, always inviting the first strike, giving the impression of a counter-fighter. But Darin was trained by the Captain of the Arclight Knights. For years he studied the forms, the stances. Part of the reason Darin excels in his craft is because he's worked with knights almost exclusively for most of his life.]

[These Paladins might as well be moving in slow motion.]

[He side-steps casually as a sword swings down. A blade which he smacks aside with the back of his hand, specifically choosing a point where the metal on the flat of the blade was tempered too thin, snapping it. He twirls as an axe swings by, reaching out and striking the shaft, causing the axe head to clatter to the ground. He pivots and weaves between the rest of the soldiers, arms flashing with pinpoint strikes as he makes his way through the throng to the other side.]

[Behind him, a tumultuous clatter rises as the weapons and armor of the Paladins break apart. The straps holding their armor together are split. The bolts and seams cracked. Even the clasps on their belts have been removed, causing several of their trousers to droop as they're completely and irrevocably disarmed, leaving them with nothing but broken shaft, shattered hilts, and wounded pride.]

First crimes at the top of your list should be indecent exposure and trusting a smith more interested in coin than quality. When this is all over, I'll give you folks a discount.

[He barely looks over his shoulder as he humiliates them, instead focusing on the guards holding and flanking Zelda as he closes the gap with a casual but determined stride.]

Sorry about the wait. Looks like I needed some time in the brig to sort myself. Orders, Captain?

[The guards aren't even on his radar. If they move to do something stupid, he can stop them at any time. The only person in the world right now is Zelda.]

I expect there's gonna be some disciplinary action in the future~

[Said with all of the smug charm he's come to be known by.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Zelda watches in amazement at the way Darin effortlessly weaves between the charging Paladin soldiers. His movements are not dissimilar to how she has seen him fight in the past-- he moves with fluidity, eschewing traditional stances for a style uniquely his own-- but this time, he exhibits a level of precision that she hasn't seen from him before. He retaliates against the Paladins' attacks not with brute force behind all-out punches, but controlled strikes at the weak points in their weapons and armor. He ends the fight without a drop of blood drawn by either side.

Is this the result of his training? Zelda knows that Darin has been dedicated to training his body and honing his skills ever since the confrontation with Ganondorf that nearly cost him and Ranma their lives. Being unskilled in any sort of combat beyond archery (and even that skill would be considered passable at best), Zelda has not been involved in Darin's training. She has no idea what he has learned.

Or could the source of this be something else entirely? Something not learned, but innately known. Something that had to be discovered or awakened... not unlike the princess's own sealing power.

Darin has said himself that he has no idea the limits of his power.

The two guards still gripping Zelda's arms are just as awestruck as she is, frozen in place watching the escaped prisoner make a mockery of their comrades.

But Zelda has basically forgotten that they're there. Her attention is still solely locked on Darin, with the rest of the Paladin prison relegated to an out of focus blur on the peripheries of her vision. She can only gape at him, her jaw hanging open, as he reaches her. Everything about this moment doesn't even feel real... So when he asks for orders, all he'll get are big green eyes staring up at him in utter disbelief. ]

Darin... [ She breathes his name like a prayer, as if this was all just a dream and speaking any louder would shatter it, returning the princess to the waking nightmare where the man she loves is broken and imprisoned.

But this is real... Darin is really here, standing before her, free from the chains both on his wrists and in his mind... grinning down at her with that smug look she's fallen so completely in love with.

His teasing remark about "disciplinary action" is what finally breaks her out of her stupor. ]

We- We'll have to see about that later. [ She tries to respond with the same levity, as is the game they so often play, but the emotional toll this whole situation has taken on her heart makes her voice come out strained. ] I trust you know your duty, Mr. Altway.

[ He is oathbound to her now, after all. It is his duty to see her safely freed from capture, just as any knight of Hyrule would be bound to do. ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

My duty...

[He echoes her words as he lifts his gaze to the guards. Guards who are, understandably not exactly sure what they can even do at this juncture. Darin just disarmed a whole platoon. And that was after he tore open the building from the inside. The suppressing shackles didn't stop him the way they were supposed to. Were they just not strong enough?]

[Darin's gaze hardens and the paladins jolt nervously. Immediately, they unhand Zelda, one of them even pushing her towards Darin as if to try and stop him from chasing them down as they scatter. Fortunately, Darin was more than prepared to receive his captain— a strong arm catches her around the waist and he reels her in protectively against his side.]

You know, I've been thinking about that. A lot of times when someone speaks of doing their duty, it's because it's done out of obligation. And the more I think on it, the more I realize I've done a lot in my life out of obligation.

[As he continues, more guards swarm out of their respective blocks, all armed. No longer is Darin facing down a platoon, now it wouldn't be inaccurate to say he's facing a small army. The entire barracks seem to be emptying out to try and contain the breakout. And somewhere, there's the hope that maybe they can overwhelm him with sheer numbers.]

[With his hand on her hip, he casually slides it up to his dao on her back. He grasps the hilt firmly and draws it in a fluid motion.]

I hid my strength because I believed it was my duty to keep myself hidden.

[He takes a step forward, releasing her.]

I worked hard to establish myself because I thought it was my responsibility to the world to be something other than what I was born to be.

I swore an oath to you, Zelda, but what I do, I don't do out of duty.

[His eyes catch on a discarded shield by his left foot. No doubt dropped by one of the guards before they fled. He slams his foot down on the edge so that the shield flips straight up onto his arm. And with dao in hand, he assumes the posture of a trained fighter. Shield raised. Legs squared apart. The picture of knighthood. For the first time, Zelda's seeing the part of himself he dared not show. The truth of who he is.]

[And that's when he glances over his shoulder, that smirk turning into something more mischievous and boyish. His grin widens, and he winks.]

I do it because you're my world. And hey, I've always wanted to save the world.

[He turns back to the oncoming swarm of guards.]

But if I'm being honest...I still don't know what I want to be or what form that'll take. All I know is that I want you to watch me. Never take your eyes off of me. Because I know that if you keep your eyes on me...

[Before he finishes his thought, he pivots and sends the shield flying like a disc. It bangs and ricochets off of several guards who were unfortunately too slow as it continues to cleave their charge in half. And that's when Darin adopts a different stance. One far less rigid— turned to his side so that his sword arm is extended to the front, almost as if he were fencing. His posture is relaxed but devoid of openings. A stance that's so decidedly Darin it would be comical if it wasn't so refined.]

[This is the strength and skill he's hidden his entire life. A power that could have made him the greatest knight of his kingdom. Of his world.]

[A power he reserves solely for her and her alone.]

[He pulls her in again. Hand at the small of her back as he finishes his declaration.]

If you keep eyes on me and only me...I'll never fail...