#Binding Arbitration (Dave IC)

[superlativesamsara]

Things have been far too quiet... Be The Other Guy==>

>The scene opens upon Rosalie, sat at a desk, quickly beginning to chatter on about knives and proper care of them, starting with a reminder that the proper bevels and techniques for sharpening are themselves heavily dependent on the knife in question, whether you're using belt-sanding or traditional blocks, and of course what you're intending to use the knife for. In this case, she'll be touching up one of her throwing knives, which she just had to melt down and reforge from scratch where it broke against some remarkably well enchanted armor, because someone actually remembered to wear their gorget for once. She explains a little bit about how to choose the right stone and angle for the task, starting with an extra coarse one since she's starting from what's essentially a blank that was forged in high heat, and quickly starts to rasp it in slow, smooth strokes, speaking of more experience than she'd likely admit to in doing exactly this...

>Then, the ask comes.

>Reality itself seems to grind unsteadily to a halt, as if processing... a little buffering wheel even appears for a moment before, quite abruptly, everything seems to almost pivot, the faint sound of clockwork clacking away, chains rattling over cogs, the shapes and colors seeming to blur in a distinctly unpleasant and unnatural manner, before alighting in a dimly lit throne room, where a figure sits in regal, knightly armor, illuminated only from about mid-chest down...

'Enter Name==>

Your name is David Ezra Strider. Your Title is the Knight of Law. You have an interest in the orderly arrangement of notes into disorderly tunes, some might even call them Sick Beats. Maybe. It's been a long time since it's happened, but you're sure they'd still qualify, if you ever showed them to anyone. You don't do that anymore. There's a lot of things you don't do anymore. More presently, you were inserted into this somewhat primitive backwater of a universe because your nominal 'employer', who is also your elder brother, received a tip that your wayward sister might be here.

Having an urge to be a bit dramatic, you figured the easiest way to find her would be to seize power in a local kingdom, figuring that with that kind of resources, you'd be bound to find her if she's here, or perhaps she'd find her way here on her own, since it is after all the seat of an empire of some sort. You didn't really let the former emperor finish his spiel before taking him out, and sure, Jade could've played you the intended course of what he was going to say before trying to have you executed, but that's really not your thing.

Eventually it comes to light that she's a bit of a hero type in this world, and is even one of the spearheads for this rebel alliance that's been slowly building momentum to depose the last guy, making your new choice of occupation all the better. That said, it wouldn't do to let her get here too easy. If you don't at least pretend to make an effort to "deal with her", the boss might decide he's feeling decapitation happy, and as you've always said, in every universe, Dead Daves Are The Enemy. Well, all the universes you can remember, anyhow. They all kind of blur together, after enough of them.

Regardless, both to make yourself just the tiniest bit more obvious, and also to challenge her better, you offer each and every guardsman a single link from your chains. One Oath, that they can bargain however they see fit, so long as what they give up is at least equal in worth to what they'll gain. Equivalent Exchange may not be an inviolable Law, but then, it too has quite the hefty cost for trying to cheat it, as any Law does.'

'But what's with all the monologuing, Dave?', well, that's a really good question hypothetical observer who definitely didn't just tune in at this exact second and thus make it odd that you'd just so happen be narrating all this at the perfect time? Well, you see, little bird, it all comes down to this wonderful thing called Time Travel, and how I know someone who can do it, and they told me exactly when they spotlight would turn. Funny how that works, right? But to answer your question, someone has to exposit and waste your time while dear old sis is beating down the door, and, of course, who better than little old me, who can simply Decree that certain narrative conventions will be upheld?

That's right, dear viewer, I took the time to stage this whole little second person aside just for you, to bring you a bit more up to speed, since, of course, we all knew dear darling Rose would never do such a thing. She loves her secrets too much, but me? I've got plenty of Time to spill the beans for you. She's a criminal... well, more a fugitive from the Law since she's not been convicted of any crime, but, semantics. A little bit of treason here, sedition there, conspiracy to commit regicide and fratricide in one go... yes, indeed, her record isn't very pretty.

But! We're not here to talk about that, no, we're here to sew a little doubt in your mind. She can have all the fun she wants telling you about all those skeletons in her closet, I hear she's got quite the collection. No, we're here for me to deliver a little Decree, from me to you. You won't be helping her. You won't be taking sides. You won't interfere at all, not even a toe over the dimensional borders.

Now then, I have some unwelcome guests to prepare myself for, and you? Well, you can't really warn her I know what's going on, can you? That would be interfering. But, I will say this... enjoy the show, dear audience~ Ta-Ta~

>As Dave rises from his throne, grabbing the ivory-white blade propped up against the left arm, there's a brief flash of static, or green eyes peering through it, and the scene abruptly snaps back to Rose, still frozen halfway through the stroke of sharpening one of her blades, a motion that, like the rest of reality, seems to almost shudder and stutter and finally begin to move, slow as if through molasses at first before smoothing back out to normal. Immediately, she looks alert, glancing to and fro, before spotting the errant camera wisp, seeming to sense something amiss about it as she flings out her hand, a blast of silver energy leaping from her fingertips to strike the viewpoint and sever the connection.