The Great Search! (Blink)

[prythian]

"Hear ye, hear ye! Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, has something to say!"

The large, perpetually red queen rose up gloriously in her seat, tapping her heart scepter impatiently. "There will be a great scavenger hunt!" She declared. "All of you are required to participate, and the winner shall earn a great prize! Lose, and it's OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" She sat back down as the cards scattered, handing out lists to all who were in the vicinity.

List:

1. 1(One) diamond.

2. 1(One) playing card, made of metal, the Ace of Hearts, a ruby in the center.

3. 1(One) Vorpal Sword. Able to cut through anything.

4. 1(One) unbroken teacup.

5. 1(One) shovel or spade.

6. 5(Five) tarts.

[Blink [whalen]]

Blink blinked. The fireflies orb-like amber eyes flashed with curiosity, staring at the bulletin board posted up just outside the Kingdom gateway, left open most of the day. The bulletin board read, quite simply, ”The Great Scavenger Hunt”[/color] Somewhere below these red paint characters was a small sentence, almost too small for anyone to see. If Blink were not as observant as he was, he most certainly would have missed the small print entirely. The small print, a faded brown that almost blended in which the bulletin board, read, ”Lose, and it’s OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”[/color] Giving a chuckle at this phrase, a favorite of the Queen of Hearts that overruled this Kingdom, Blink shook his head and slowly turned around, walking towards the forest edge to return home. The only reason he had ventured out this far was to check the Munderday sales, of which there were none this fine Sladderday. Though this may seem a bit peculiar to an outside, checking for Munderday sales whether it was Munderday or not was almost ritualistic of those that lived in Blink’s neck of the woods, even though there were never any Munderday sales unless it actually happened to be Munderday. After all, what if one day there were Munderday sales on a Sladderday, or a Fritterday? What then? Blink and the rest of the woodland inhabitants would be out of luck, hm? And so, just in case, Blink always made the trip out of his home and down to the daily bulletin board in search of Munderday sales.

As this visit had turned out to be fruitless, Blink decided that he would retire for the day, despite it still being early morning; he could sleep all day today so that he would overly energized for the next two days. At least, that was Blink’s belief, and because of personal experiences, he had found their theory to be quite true. So, walking home and pondering his plans for the next day and the day after that, of which he had decided he would stay completely awake with no naps, Blink did not notice the two card guards coming from outside of the gate to ambush him. Before he knew what was going on, the cards had picked him up by his arms, raised him up off the ground so that his feet were still moving, mind lost in thoughts, and then set him down in the direction of the gateway. Obliviously lost in thought, Blink found himself ten or so minutes later in the heart of the Kingdom, within a crowd set before the Queen of Hearts. It was her booming, horrendously low voice that alerted Blink out of his reverie.

”There will be a great scavenger hunt!”[/color] she boomed, serving the townspeople with squinty eyes, angry as always for no particular reason at all. Blink concluded that, since he was here, he would simply have to scrap his previous plans and adjust. After the Queen spat out her harsh words of beheading those that lost, Blink saw that a group of cards had infiltrated the crowd and were handing out papers pertaining to what the scavenger hunt. Once Blink received one, he peered down at the fine print, and mumbled to himself the contents of the list. He was to bring to the Queen a diamond, a metal, ruby-embedded ace of hearts playing card, a Vorpal sword- Here Blink’s eyes widened in surprise, though he decided to ponder what he knew about this sword later for fear of his thoughts getting him off track again- an unbroken teacup, a spade, and five tarts. Giving a quiet snort, Blink noted that half of these items could be retrieved from his home, but once he turned to walk in the direction of the forest he found that the guards stood in front of the gate, preventing any exit until the scavenger hunt had been successfully completed.

Shrugging, Blink stared around for an exit that may lead to where some of the items could be found, wondering if there were maybe a forest the items were hidden on, or if they were just scattered haphazardly throughout the Kingdom. Concluding that “The only unintelligent question is the one unasked or the one having to do with orange marmalade tars.” Blink politely raised his hand to the Queen and shouted up to her, ”Most Merciless Queen of Hearts, my Overseer and Executioner, may I request a general description of where the items in question may be found?”[/color] Yes, even a firefly can wheel-and-deal with a Queen who thrived on attention and flattery, whether he meant it as flattery or was just simply stating the truth.-[/size]

[prythian]

"You may request that information. And if, indeed, you were to request that information, I would tell you that they can be found where you may find them!" The Queen boomed out, looking incredibly smug, though with a hint of annoyance on her face at being questioned. At this point, it would probably become obvious that this scavenger hunt was being put on because she'd lost the items on the list.

All pathways exiting the courtyard were soon unblocked, though anyone heading home would certainly most likely find themselves in trouble. While there weren't any real rules laid down, the fact that they were required to participate certainly left them unable to retrieve items from their house.