world gone mad — open .

[EDMUND.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Nothing can pull you back once you’re stood at the edge. No morality or laws, no fear of war or loss or death. Once you’re standing at the edge, there is nowhere else to step if you only wish to move forwards. Either you falter with your toes hanging over the ledge, or you take the plunge and only hope that you make it through the fall.

Edmund felt trapped. Eyes were sharp as they observed the crate of wheat feed. Barely rearing their ugly heads sat a handful of explosives, partly buried in the feed. In a matter of hours, a man who once thought he’d had things under control now stood with a heavy pit in his gut. He released a shaky breath. In the room which he stood outside of, the sound of the day watch guards were gruff as they dealt with their culprit. A child. A fucking child.

Slowly, his head tipped upwards as he stared up at the sky, deep in anxious contemplation whilst his face sat ever-so-stoically. In these few hours, Eddie was pushed right towards the edge. If he were to try to take steps back, he’d only be met with the wrath of the deranged man of the prairie. Whilst Edmund was certain that he could take on anyone and anything, knowledge was his power. If he could barely predict the actions of a man of unsound mind, how could Ed possibly ever have the upper hand?

Brock was particularly dangerous in that way. Unpredictable, unlike past enemies, and certainly merciless at that. Tensions were already at near breaking point after Eddie’s attempt to assassinate the right hand man to the delirious chief, but that was not in the name of politics but in the name of reorganising family affairs. A Darrow didn’t fit into the Stirling family - never did Ed anticipate his own brother to drop the family name instead.

He teetered on the edge, with nowhere else to go but forwards. But, with that leap came a risk. He’d choose to imprison the child because it would be the closest thing to having the upper hand that he was scrambling for in such perilous times. This was no time to question his own morality, no time to linger on the thought that he was holding a minor against his will. Would this anger Brock even more?

Something told him that Brock would be livid regardless of what Eddie did. This was the only way that Eddie could potentially keep his group safe. Brock wouldn’t wish to burn the lodge to the ground with one of his own trapped within.

The crate was eerily suspicious.

Why did it not detonate upon opening? Were the explosives still a liability? If Eddie were to touch one, would it end his life? He worked his jaw, then crouching down to observe the work of the Bluestem deviants. ❝ The kid’s restrained now. What should we do next? ❞ A guard stopped nearby, Eddie’s gaze shifting up to search the man’s features.

❝ You know how to defuse explosives? ❞ He questioned curtly, the guard looking down to the crate before looking back to the captain. ❝ Yes, Sir. Well… I think I do. ❞ Eddie looked back down to the explosives, nodding his head towards them. ❝ Will you defuse these? ❞

❝ Sir- ❞ The guard slowly extended both hands out to reveal the blood of the child he’d recently beaten. Red dried upon his skin, flaking away slowly with every movement - but, the blood would still remain. ❝ I’ve got blood on my hands. ❞ Eddie watched the guard stoically for a second or two, until he responded softly, ❝ Me too. ❞

He looked back down to the crate, reaching out immaculate, blood-free hands as he hovered over the explosives. God, he wished that Dominik was still here. His older brother was highly skilled in explosives, far greater than Eddie could ever hope to be. In his own weakness, Eddie faltered. Then, he slowly retracted his hand again with a sigh. ❝ Give the kid some water and a meal. ❞ Eddie then spoke, the guard nodding before heading back towards the lodge. He left Eddie crouched by the explosives, hanging onto the edge for as long as he could until Brock would hear of the events that had unfolded.

The cogs were already grinding in the back of Eddie’s mind. What would he need to do to protect his people?

// for those who aren't too sure what is happening, a teenager from bluestem prairie arrived to flintlock lodge with explosives which were meant to detonate and harm those in flintlock. the teenager, jessie, is now a prisoner of flintlock and eddie is trying to work out how to defuse the explosives. he knows that regardless of whether he lets jessie return to bluestem or keeps him imprisoned, brock will want revenge for the guards hurting jessie, so eddie has chosen to continue to hold jessie as a hostage so that flintlock has the upper hand.

[spoiler=tags ― updated 08/08.][size=6pt]◜BASICS ┊ SO THIS IS WHERE WE ARE◞
&. ❝ edmund theodore stirling ❞ | ed, eddie | male [he/him] .
&. 25 years old . | seventh august ; leo .
&. currently the captain and official loyalist of flintlock lodge .
&. currently the boss of the stirling's notorious irish crime family .

◜PERSONALITY ┊ IT'S NOT WHERE WE HAD WANTED TO BE◞
&.  ambitious . brave . calm . disciplined . honorable . intelligent . leading . logical . patient . reliable . skillful . trustworthy . wise . aloof . cynical . detached . flirtatious . harsh . jealous . lustful . pessimistic . quiet . ruthless . secretive . stubborn .

◜ APPEARANCE ┊ IF HALF THE WORLD'S GONE MAD ◞
&.  five foot eight & one hundred and seventy one pounds ; reference .
↳ dirty blond hair kept very short and neat .
↳ stocky and well-built frame , lightly freckled skin .
↳ muted blue vacant eyes , unreadable , somewhat frowning expression .

◜ FAMILY ┊ THE OTHER HALF JUST DON'T CARE , YOU SEE◞
&. alfred stirling x leonora moray | both deceased .
&. four older siblings and two younger half-siblings .
↳ dominik stirling , 32 , shot and killed by alfred .
↳ thomas stirling , 32 , caretaker in flintlock .
↳ alfonso stirling , 28 , enforcer in flintlock
↳ franklin darrow , 25 , estranged in bluestem .
↳ henry stirling , 11 , resident in flintlock
↳ ida stirling , 9 , resident in flintlock
&. also lives with four cousins and his aunt .
&. father to thomas , charlotte , kieron and louis .

◜ RELATIONSHIPS ┊ YOU DON'T WANNA FUCK WITH US◞
&. bisexual, biromantic ; mongamous | tends to have a wandering eye .
&. ex-husband to blake kegan
↳ marriage fell apart after he cheated on her .
&. ex-lover to mickey serge
↳ he learned about his bisexuality with him .
&. lover to maxine van doren
↳ a rekindled flame where their relationship is kept a secret .

◜ INTERACTIONS ┊ BRITISH TO THE VERY LAST ◞
&.  [ 9/10 ] physically  |  [ 7/10 ] psychologically .
↳ difficulty w/ guns [ very difficult ] | difficulty w/ melees [ difficult ] | difficulty w/ hand-to-hand [ difficult ]
&. [member=2919]truce.[/member] | dm for any major plots .
&. friendly or nonviolent actions may be powerplayed .[/size][/spoiler]

[cygnus]

[div style="width: 425px; margin: auto; text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; color: black"]how does one know when they've gone too far? where does the line draw itself? what is the difference between protecting others and sheer self destruction? wren intended on finding out. her past gave nothing except leverage for the idea of self destruction. being given an unprepared mother who did not care that she was unprepared gave wren a wavering sense of emotional independence. of course, having an unidentified father can't hurt. how can something you've never had hurt you? since victor's death- no, disappearance, wren found herself taking more risks. putting more on the line. after all, what else does she have to lose?

eddie.

eddie relied on wren, that was true. even in her occasional violent outbursts, eddie still deeply cared for her. he trusted her. their families went back a long time, and eddie was truly the only person who could understand the place wren came from. it was times like today, though, that wren feared he would put too much trust in her. the ashy blonde came into the room, but halted in the doorframe. her steely gray eyes watched edmund hunched next to a wooden crate on the floor. "eddie? what the hell is going on? what is this?" she demanded, inching forward lightly. she came to stand behind him, the pit of her stomach beginning to skink as realization set in. she still considered herself to be brand new to flintlock, and especially now that she was on the better half of the healing timeline? although still in bandages, she was no longer bleeding through them, and they didn't have to be changed nearly as often. her body was healing. her heart was not. disappointment cut like a razor sharp vine, but- is she really surprised at her luck? brand new to the lodge and already, someone has tried to weasel their way in and detonate the life that wren had sacrificed galaxies for. at this point, there was no use in crying. wren had done plenty of that and frankly, she felt like she had nothing left to give.

turning her attention back to eddie and the box of explosives in front of him, wren seemed to snap back into reality. "do you need help?"