![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
[semi-open] harbinger of suffering and grief
WHO: Ryoji and whoever doesn't sleep at night, I guess
WHERE: Apprassage to various places around the city, Recollé Woods
WHEN: midnight 5/17 and onward towards the end of the month
WHAT: Ryoji regains his Thanatos form; unable to control his powers, he flees, leaving destruction in his wake. He's generally very upset about it all. Please help.
WARNINGS: fighting, violence, mentions of death and suicide
[ —a screech pierces the stillness of night over the quiet streets of Apprassage, the bite of burnt rubber and asphalt filling in the space where a car now lies turned around and stalling traffic, shattered windshields spilling glass onto the street and the crumpled hood sending smoke into the air. The blaring of the car alarm falls on deaf ears of the boy standing before it, eyes wide and unseeing as he clutches his head and screams, the shimmering barrier around him dissolving back into darkness and then— ]
A. midnight, 5/17, various (CLOSED to those I talked to on May's plotting post here)
[ A brilliant flash lights up the sky outside, brief, overwhelming, then everything is plunged back into darkness. Whether the noise had woken you up, or you were awake in the dead of night to begin with, eyes lifted towards the sky might spot a shadow take off past the rooftops, deep rumble felt through the earth behind it.
Those who venture closer— the curious, the brave, the foolish— would find deep gashes on the roads, dragged long as if a sword pulled across the ground, scattered potholes still burning with the last wisps of an eerie glow. The sky flashes again, the shadow in the middle a dark hole that swallows up all light, monstrous figure apparent with the stark contrast that makes it easy to follow; even blind, one can do so by listening for the unearthly wail that cuts through the air and may dizzy the mind even from so far.
Close, it's hard to see, harder to believe: a sharp white mask reflecting the moonlight; serrated sword out of its scabbard and caked with dirt and rubble; coffins draped across its shoulder, rattling and coming for you. Every encounter brings it further and further out away from the innermost parts of the city, and each time, Thanatos stops and turns, breath visible as it chills the very air around it, waiting.
>> Hollingberry Field
>> Recollé Woods
>> Peach Beach
>> The ocean
>> ???
Select your arena, and let's go. ]
B. nights, 5/18 onward, Recollé woods (CLOSED to those above, and anybody who has interacted with Ryoji at least once before)
[ The pain disappears faster than it should have, but Ryoji would have preferred it to the emptiness in his chest, the way his hands won't stop shaking. He fumbles with his phone, startling when a twig snaps underfoot and he throws it from himself as if it burnt his hands.
He leaves the phone there for the time being, nestled on top of damp, rotting leaves as he picks his way a little deeper into the woods, a mutter under his breath: "Keep yourself together." Because whatever... whatever happened yesterday, he can't let it happen again, losing control and hurting others— killing, for all he knows, because he'd fled to the woods and hasn't gone back since the night before, hasn't talked to anybody in person except for some texts on the phone.
He's got to figure it out. Somehow.
It's here in the woods he'll stay until he can, out of the way and hoping nobody would come near after the unnerving draw of the woods earlier in the month, practicing under the veil of night. He'll manage it eventually, the flicker of shadow and a rumble, a light show, the splintering crack of felled trees. He's not as careful as he could be, frustrated, exhausted, distracted enough not to notice whoever approaches to see the arched back of a boy, head bowed and clutching his knees as he struggles back to his feet... or the back of a monster, sword in hand gleaming with the moon. ]
C. days, 5/22 onward, various (OTA)
[ Days pass, and it feels like he understands less and less of who and what he is... and why... The first time it happened, only a handful of days ago, it was a car accident. He'd frozen there in the middle of the street, staring down the pair of headlights as they approached. He had not died. He should have...
...Ryoji shakes the thought out of his head. Something had protected him, a power that welled up from within and then- gone. He couldn't do it again, hold out his hands and block the fluttering of petals onto his head in the park, or the cat that meets him on the road, rubbing its head against his ankles twice and then runs.
Maybe it had to be something similar, either to the situation or the feeling; there's no way he can know but to try, reckless and stupid as he stands by the busy streets of Tisse contemplating stepping out into traffic; holds a switchblade in his hand on the rooftop of an apartment building in Apprassage, flicking the blade in, out, in, out; up high on the bridges of the Towers, leaning dangerously over the edge as he stares down at the ground far, far below; at the zoo in front of the lion's cage trying to get it to wake up so he can climb the fence and stick his head inside its mouth; he doesn't know, nothing's working and he needs to know. ]
D. 5/26 onward, various (OTA)
[the one lighter prompt, save me ]
Hey. Hold out your hand for a moment? I want your opinion on something.
[ If you comply, Ryoji tugs out from beneath his collar a thin silver chain, on the end of which a gold ring dangles momentarily before he presses it into the palm of your hand, closing your fingers back over it. Despite having been tucked under his shirt, the ring is cold against your skin, a faint glow emitting from in between your fingers while no sun reaches it inside your hand. ]
...How does this make you feel?
[ Stupid, probably, as if holding a ring would evoke some sort of emotion, but that's what it does for Ryoji, looking equal parts expectant and hopeful as he looks from you, to the ring delivered to his door courtesy of Retrospec, and then back. ]
--
( ooc: Aside from being able to shift into the form of Thanatos, Ryoji's powers include: ghastly wail (fearful opponents fall unconscious), tempest slash (sword attack), megidola (almighty magic attack), moonless gown (barrier that reflects all attacks, max three activation per day))
WHERE: Apprassage to various places around the city, Recollé Woods
WHEN: midnight 5/17 and onward towards the end of the month
WHAT: Ryoji regains his Thanatos form; unable to control his powers, he flees, leaving destruction in his wake. He's generally very upset about it all. Please help.
WARNINGS: fighting, violence, mentions of death and suicide
[ —a screech pierces the stillness of night over the quiet streets of Apprassage, the bite of burnt rubber and asphalt filling in the space where a car now lies turned around and stalling traffic, shattered windshields spilling glass onto the street and the crumpled hood sending smoke into the air. The blaring of the car alarm falls on deaf ears of the boy standing before it, eyes wide and unseeing as he clutches his head and screams, the shimmering barrier around him dissolving back into darkness and then— ]
A. midnight, 5/17, various (CLOSED to those I talked to on May's plotting post here)
[ A brilliant flash lights up the sky outside, brief, overwhelming, then everything is plunged back into darkness. Whether the noise had woken you up, or you were awake in the dead of night to begin with, eyes lifted towards the sky might spot a shadow take off past the rooftops, deep rumble felt through the earth behind it.
Those who venture closer— the curious, the brave, the foolish— would find deep gashes on the roads, dragged long as if a sword pulled across the ground, scattered potholes still burning with the last wisps of an eerie glow. The sky flashes again, the shadow in the middle a dark hole that swallows up all light, monstrous figure apparent with the stark contrast that makes it easy to follow; even blind, one can do so by listening for the unearthly wail that cuts through the air and may dizzy the mind even from so far.
Close, it's hard to see, harder to believe: a sharp white mask reflecting the moonlight; serrated sword out of its scabbard and caked with dirt and rubble; coffins draped across its shoulder, rattling and coming for you. Every encounter brings it further and further out away from the innermost parts of the city, and each time, Thanatos stops and turns, breath visible as it chills the very air around it, waiting.
>> Hollingberry Field
>> Recollé Woods
>> Peach Beach
>> The ocean
>> ???
Select your arena, and let's go. ]
B. nights, 5/18 onward, Recollé woods (CLOSED to those above, and anybody who has interacted with Ryoji at least once before)
[ The pain disappears faster than it should have, but Ryoji would have preferred it to the emptiness in his chest, the way his hands won't stop shaking. He fumbles with his phone, startling when a twig snaps underfoot and he throws it from himself as if it burnt his hands.
He leaves the phone there for the time being, nestled on top of damp, rotting leaves as he picks his way a little deeper into the woods, a mutter under his breath: "Keep yourself together." Because whatever... whatever happened yesterday, he can't let it happen again, losing control and hurting others— killing, for all he knows, because he'd fled to the woods and hasn't gone back since the night before, hasn't talked to anybody in person except for some texts on the phone.
He's got to figure it out. Somehow.
It's here in the woods he'll stay until he can, out of the way and hoping nobody would come near after the unnerving draw of the woods earlier in the month, practicing under the veil of night. He'll manage it eventually, the flicker of shadow and a rumble, a light show, the splintering crack of felled trees. He's not as careful as he could be, frustrated, exhausted, distracted enough not to notice whoever approaches to see the arched back of a boy, head bowed and clutching his knees as he struggles back to his feet... or the back of a monster, sword in hand gleaming with the moon. ]
C. days, 5/22 onward, various (OTA)
[ Days pass, and it feels like he understands less and less of who and what he is... and why... The first time it happened, only a handful of days ago, it was a car accident. He'd frozen there in the middle of the street, staring down the pair of headlights as they approached. He had not died. He should have...
...Ryoji shakes the thought out of his head. Something had protected him, a power that welled up from within and then- gone. He couldn't do it again, hold out his hands and block the fluttering of petals onto his head in the park, or the cat that meets him on the road, rubbing its head against his ankles twice and then runs.
Maybe it had to be something similar, either to the situation or the feeling; there's no way he can know but to try, reckless and stupid as he stands by the busy streets of Tisse contemplating stepping out into traffic; holds a switchblade in his hand on the rooftop of an apartment building in Apprassage, flicking the blade in, out, in, out; up high on the bridges of the Towers, leaning dangerously over the edge as he stares down at the ground far, far below; at the zoo in front of the lion's cage trying to get it to wake up so he can climb the fence and stick his head inside its mouth; he doesn't know, nothing's working and he needs to know. ]
D. 5/26 onward, various (OTA)
[
Hey. Hold out your hand for a moment? I want your opinion on something.
[ If you comply, Ryoji tugs out from beneath his collar a thin silver chain, on the end of which a gold ring dangles momentarily before he presses it into the palm of your hand, closing your fingers back over it. Despite having been tucked under his shirt, the ring is cold against your skin, a faint glow emitting from in between your fingers while no sun reaches it inside your hand. ]
...How does this make you feel?
[ Stupid, probably, as if holding a ring would evoke some sort of emotion, but that's what it does for Ryoji, looking equal parts expectant and hopeful as he looks from you, to the ring delivered to his door courtesy of Retrospec, and then back. ]
--
( ooc: Aside from being able to shift into the form of Thanatos, Ryoji's powers include: ghastly wail (fearful opponents fall unconscious), tempest slash (sword attack), megidola (almighty magic attack), moonless gown (barrier that reflects all attacks, max three activation per day))
no subject
Yato-sama, I hope you remember this one thing...
His jaw clenches and his throat seems to tighten. As they always do when he remembers that voice. ]
I don't know anything about some figurative hundreds of lives. All I know is I'd be taking away one real life.
And Yuuko? Your mom? Minako? Their feelings don't mean anything on your big made-up scale?
no subject
They'll hurt, but they'll learn to move on. He wants to say that, but he can barely bring himself to entertain the thought of being forgotten so easily, even if it's for the better. ]
That's not fair.
[ Hatred. Defeat. He points them at himself because he cannot bear to direct them towards anybody else, he loved them too much and it's undoing him. ]
I would die for them... but I know that's not what they want. Still...
no subject
"Still" what? It's easier to die?
no subject
[ If he'd died, he wouldn't have to suffer the consequences, or see anybody cry, or pretend for the rest of his life that he is happy.
He would never see the sunlight again. He wants to, more than anything. It's so selfish. ]
I know what you would say. Dying is easy. Life is hard. But there's always something worth living for. [ He falls silent, eyes off Yato and lifted to the sky. There's a moon somewhere, above the canopy of trees, that he cannot see but knows is there. ] ...Would you really help me?
no subject
[ But he sighs, and the tension leaves his shoulders. If Ryoji knows what Yato will say, then he won't repeat himself. Ryoji's understanding -- even if it's reluctant, not truly taken to heart -- will have to be enough.
It's funny. They don't speak regularly, but in the dire matters of life, death, and love, Ryoji might know more about Yato than anyone else. Yato is certainly learning more than he ever bargained for about Ryoji. And what he learns sometimes wisps into a ball of ungracious thought. A cold thought.
If Ryoji wants to die so badly, then why not let him? A person who doesn't enjoy life might as well be dead. It's his life to keep or give up.
Maybe it's Yato's disgust that keeps him arguing. Maybe it's the grief Ryoji would leave in his wake, the waste he'd lay to the good people who have chosen to let him into their hearts. It really would be just that: a waste.
But there's a glimmer of hope there. Yato gazes at Ryoji for silent seconds, considering that question. Even if there's only one answer. It's so self-evident that even he can't explain why it is so. ]
Yeah. I must be an idiot, because I'd really help you.
no subject
But Ryoji is grateful, pulling away from Yato and considering him, carefully putting himself back together so he doesn't laugh in his face at such honesty. Yato is stupid because he owes Ryoji nothing, because Ryoji can't give him anything in return, because he hasn't given up when Ryoji already has. So, he's grateful. ]
It's not reading your mind, not really. You say what you want, what you believe in, what you will and will not do, so I never have to guess at your words. Your conviction makes them sound like truth, and I can't help but believe and have faith.
[ That's why a god, Ryoji supposes. To be able to inspire... something. War, or whatever Yato's supposed to be a god of, but more than that. Strength. ]
So, alright. Pick up your sword. Let's go.
no subject
[ Yeah, Yato's been telling Ryoji to have faith in him all along, but the way Ryoji puts it is weirdly embarrassing. Here's Ladykiller Mochizuki making a comeback...
When Ryoji tells him to pick up his sword, Yato startles. So soon? God he just wanted to sleep by the river!! But this is technically what Yato wanted so he can't complain... He bends to pick up his sword, eyeing the blade's scuffed edge before swinging it up easy into a relaxed battle stance.
His sword isn't good enough. It's serviceable, but missing a certain something. It might be an issue if he were aiming to kill, but he isn't, so it's pointless to worry about. Though at this rate, he might have to look into buying a replacement in the near future. That giant bread knife isn't kind to other blades. ]
Don't get lazy on me, you hear? This is a team effort. You believe in me, and I'll believe in you.
[ Specifically, he'll believe in Ryoji to keep the creature in check before it can murder him with magic because HAHAHA boy. Yato might or might not be a god, but he's still just one guy with a sword off the internet.
He waits for Ryoji to begin. ]
no subject
Stepping back, Ryoji closes his eyes to call upon Thanatos. It has always been disturbingly easy to do so, simply looking inward and seeing it there, waiting to manifest the moment he extends the words.
"Hello darkness, my old friend."
A shining mask, gleaming sword, Thanatos is here to play. ]
no subject
The demon thing is back (he probably should've asked for info before diving back into this) and all of Yato's senses are on alert, but this time it isn't so frightening. Even if he knows that it's capable of mass destruction, he knows that Ryoji can control it -- will control it. He isn't alone. ]
Can you talk?
[ He might be addressing the demon, Ryoji, or both. He figures the answer will make it clear. ]
no subject
Yeah! I'm here.
[ Can you imagine Thanatos going "Yeah! :D"... ]
no subject
[ thanatos used to be so cool and now ]
Alright, let's see what you can do. Move a hand or something... and keep talking.
no subject
It's his sword hand.
Holding the sword.
Swinging it at Yato's face. ]
no subject
Not like that!! The other hand!!
no subject
no subject
I said talk to me, dammit!
[ He swings his sword around in a lightning-quick arc at Thanatos's mask -- but with the blade turned sideways at the last moment. He'd like to bat that mask around and make Thanatos look as dumb as Ryoji makes him sound!! ]
no subject
It's hard! Talking and fighting-- no one makes conversation while fighting!
[ He doesn't know what to say, either, when there's a sword coming at his face and he'd like to cower against it, but Thanatos does not cower, it takes that sword without fear of pain and swings its sword around while Yato's sword is raised. ]
no subject
no subject
Yato being so close isn't something Ryoji expected, and he tries to simultaneously force Thanatos back and at the same time pull the punch— the result being... less hilt and more that jagged serrated section of the blade that he barely manages to turn sideways at the last minute like Yato had done for him before. ]
—Yato, talk to me!
[ It's easier to care and be present when he talks, but also more easily frightened, more tempted to relinquish control because if he hurt Yato here? It's on him, and there is no excuse he can hide behind. ]
no subject
Me? I'm the one with lungs to worry about!
[ He glances back to see he's about to retreat into a tree. He swerves around it, away from Thanatos's sword arm. Buying a bit of time to chat. ]
Tell me about this thing you've turned into. What is it?
no subject
I'm the embodiment of all Shadows...
[ The voice coming from Thanatos is slow, tempered, as if simply repeating something once heard instead of speaking from knowledge. Because that's how it was: Ryoji knows what he is because he'd said these words himself once in a memory, explaining what he is, and what he means. ]
I came into being ten years ago in a laboratory, from the unification of many Shadows of the twelve Arcana. Something had gone wrong, then, and I was almost destroyed. Instead, I was sealed away. [ Thanatos shakes its head. Rather than answering the question, it feels like it raised even more. ] That's all I remember.
no subject
You're saying the you right now was sealed into... your human form? That's one hell of a laboratory.
[ Sounds more like black magic than science. ]
When you say shadow, you mean more than your typical daytime shadow, don't you?
no subject
[ That's as far as he can tell, anyways, from what she's told him of fighting the things. ]
They're not supposed to exist in this world, in this time. I'm not supposed to exist, as I am now.
no subject
[ yato always has time for rudeness ]
Anything special about fighting a Shadow? You need a light sword or something?
no subject
A regular sword works. Aki's did.
[ Light would probably work too...? He'd never transformed during the day, and in his memories, the Shadow was always cloaked in darkness as well, but his strengths and weaknesses aren't something he explicitly knows without fighting and seeing. ]
no subject
[ The name comes like a punch. Yato's seen her point her sword around a bit. But facing off against this kind of opponent? Was it her, or just someone borrowing her sword? Yato can only assume she's not dead because of how casually Ryoji mentions her. ]
She fought you too?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)